The Oakland Raiders dissing of Oakland, California, it’s birth home, continues. Just not too long ago, the Silver and Black under Mark Davis as Manager of The General Partnership, openly misled the City of Oakland and the County of Alameda on its new stadium intentions.
Oakland City Councilmembers and the Mayor of Oakland, Libby Schaaf, all have personal stories of how the Raiders made them believe that a new stadium in Oakland was desired, only to have the wool pulled out from under them. And even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the Oakland Raiders share some of the blame for not having a new stadium in Oakland.
Now comes the Oakland Raiders latest example of disrespect to Oakland, and really for no good reason: not having an NFL 100th Season Celebration in Oakland. So where are the Raiders holding their celebration? London.
The NFL press release on the NFL 100 Celebrations read as follows:
OaklandOct. 6 vs. CHI (London)Trafalgar Square live entertainment, NFL Academy students, Raiderettes, Raider legends, Raiders fan fest in London
So, let’s get this straight: Oakland Raiders Legends who live in Oakland and the Bay Area are to travel to London to be with Oakland Raiders Fans? Right? All of that, when Jack London Square, where the Raiders of the past that were ran by Amy Trask, had their fan fest, is still right there, and teaming with Oakland civic life, and also what will be some pissed off Raiders fans when they get this news.
Considering the NFL list, and one quickly can see that the Oakland Raiders are the only NFL organization that’s not having an NFL 100 Celebration in its home city. This continues a behavior toward the home city that’s against the league’s own unstated but by action expressed policies – the Raiders have seldom shown Oakland any respect. The dissing of Oakland even started after 2011, when Mark Davis started noise about relocating Oakland to Los Angeles. In fact, Davis never fully locked on Oakland as a home for the Raiders since he took control of the team. In actions, Davis has shown what to this blogger looks like a hatred for Oakland.
Why?
Word to Mark Davis and the Raiders Brass who greenlit this awful idea: stop blaming thousands of Oaklanders for stadium problems you, yourself, created over time – and that caused the Las Vegas relocation action. You could have borrowed $200 million from the NFL to improve the Oakland Coliseum Stadium. You could have worked with Oakland to make the new stadium drawings from MEIS Architects the Coliseum Authority saw in 2016 (and are to the left) behind the scenes a reality.
Oakland’s not going away just because Las Vegas is in your future. You can’t run away from your past. You owe a massive debt of gratitude to Oakland Raiders Fans in Oakland, not in London. It’s time to start paying that debt. Have some NFL 100 Celebrations in Oakland – it’s the right thing to do.
Stay tuned.