FOREVER OAKLAND

The Autumn Wind is a pirate, blustering in from sea. With a rollicking song, he sweeps along, swaggering boisterously… The Raider mystique dates back to 1963 when Al Davis changed the team’s colors to the iconic Silver and Black. It was then when the Raider image and more importantly the Raider way took hold. “Commitment to Excellence,” “Pride and Poise,” and “Just Win, Baby”—became mantras for the Raider way of playing football. 

Going to Raider games in Oakland was a lot like going to the circus on Halloween. There was so much weird shit happening that it all felt normal. Oakland fans came in all shapes, sizes, and whatever else you could think of. From an opposing fan’s view, this imposed a threat. From a Raider fan’s view, this created a family-like bond—a nation. As the Raider image grew, so did the fanbase—only to blow up during the team’s stint in Los Angeles. The Raiders became the bad boys of football and the fans became Raider Nation. One of the meanest and most loyal fanbases in the NFL.

The Raiders’ first stint in Oakland ended with two Super Bowl titles and the franchise being coined the Team of the Decades. The team would go on to win another Super Bowl title two seasons after moving to Los Angeles. 37 years later, the Raiders have been to the postseason only nine times with one Super Bowl appearance—an absolute rout that no Raider fan cares to remember.

As a 25-year-old fan, I was brought up in the worst era of Raiders football in franchise history. Thankfully, I was too young to remember the Tuck Rule, trading Gruden, and getting our asses kicked by Gruden the following year. What I do remember is Jamarcus Russell, Darrius Heyward-Bey, Rolando McClain, and every other first-round bust. Through all the bad seasons, I learned a lot about Raider fans and what it meant to be a Raider. Yes, we were often considered the laughing stock of the NFL but as fans, we never gave up hope and we never will. Some might consider it blind faith but we just consider it loyalty.

There’s something about a fanbase sticking with a team through years of shit. The relationships and friendships that are formed as fans are stronger. It’s easy to be a fan of a winning team—it’s a burden being a fan of a losing team. There’s nothing like showing up game after game knowing your team is going to lose. That will bring any person to the brink of insanity. Which is why, like most football fans, we drank. Some of the best memories I have of my times at Raider games were the tailgates. A time when everyone was happy and drunkenly optimistic. Which generally lasted until around the third quarter, when we realized there was no three-touchdown comeback in the works.

The final game in Oakland came with a dreary optimism. At this point, most fans had come to accept the fact that Oakland would no longer be the home of the Raiders. Though some still held out hope of one more season after reports of the Las Vegas stadium being delayed. Being that this wasn’t the first time the fanbase had been dealt this news, the rumors gained some momentum. The first final home game was against the Broncos on Christmas Eve in 2018—a commanding 27-14 victory. In front of a raucous sold-out crowd, the Raiders gave everything they had one last time. A fitting way to leave a fanbase who showed up every game, rain or shine, through years of less than mediocre football. 

What came to be the actual final home game in Oakland was the exact opposite. After starting the season 6-4, the Raiders crumbled down the stretch—losing 5 out of their last 6 games to finish with a 7-9 record. This was capitalized by a late-game collapse against the Jacksonville Jaguars. After the game, the team was booed off the field. This did not in any way represent how the fanbase felt about the team but more of the overall frustration that had been building up over the years. The frustration of loving a team so much only to have them let you down year after year and eventually leave you.

What the Raiders left behind in Oakland was more than a run-down stadium. They left behind a loyal, blue-collar fanbase that gave their blood, sweat, tears and hard-earned paychecks to the team. Every game, whether it was a Sunday, Monday, or Thursday, fans piled into the stadium. It was an escape from reality. A chance to be surrounded by like-minded people who all loved the same thing—the Oakland Raiders. Whether you were White, Black, Asian, or Hispanic; we were all Raider Nation and we were all family. The Raiders left behind a culture that was built by these exact people. We were a mixed bag of every person that walked into the Coliseum. From the sounds of “Hell’s Bells” as the team came out of the tunnel to the sounds of “Blow The Whistle” as we were celebrating a touchdown. The atmosphere created in Oakland will be almost impossible to replicate anywhere else.

The move to Las Vegas became official in January of 2020. Nine years after the passing of Al Davis, the Raiders finally had the state-of-the-art stadium he fought so hard to get. Mark Davis, the son of Al, was able to make his father’s dream a reality. Although it wasn’t in Oakland, the stadium is everything Al could have ever hoped for. Las Vegas may not be the city where most fans wanted the team to end up but this is the stadium the team has deserved for so many years. And at the end of the day, it almost seems fitting for the Raiders to end up in Sin City. 

The Autumn Wind is a Raider, pillaging just for fun. He’ll knock you down and upside down. And laugh when he’s conquered and won... Nobody knows what Las Vegas holds for the Raiders. What we do know is that Raider Nation is global. The fans are loyal and they will travel. It will be a new beginning but never the same. A fresh start the organization has needed for so many years—the chance to start anew. No longer the laughing stock of the NFL. A place where players want to play. A franchise that has been down for so many years now has a chance to become what they once were. The winningest team in professional football.