The Oakland Raiders have called the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum home for the last 25 years, but that is coming to an end after this season with the team headed for Las Vegas.
The Raiders shut down the building with a disappointing loss this past Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars, leaving coaches, players and fans emotional that their time in the Bay Area is coming to an end.
Raiders owner Mark Davis, on the other hand, does not feel much emotional about leaving as he stated in an interview during the game that he does not feel any nostalgia, via Sean Cunningham of ABC:
“No, I went through this in ’82…No.”
Davis is right that this is the second time the Raiders have left Oakland, and they also left Los Angeles before returned, so moving is nothing new to him.
He did what he could to keep the team in Oakland but they were not able to come to an agreement with the city council to help fund a new stadium, which left him searching for a new home before settling on Las Vegas.
Davis may not feel may nostalgic about the move, but thousands of fans in Oakland that cheered the team on for some many years certainly do right now.
In a recent interview with Monte Poole of NBC Sports, Davis did recognize that the city of Oakland gave the Raiders their identity and he is thankful for it:
“There’s no question about it,” Davis said. “The Raiders and Oakland grew up together. We were the stepchild of San Francisco. We were just Oakland. And I believe my dad took special pride in that and in building it up.
“The Raiders were born in Oakland, and Oakland will always be part of our DNA. There’s no doubt about that.”
The Raiders may not have won much in their time in Oakland, but they certainly never failed to entertain. They now head to Las Vegas with some talented young players and hopes of getting back to the postseason in 2020 and beyond.
