Raiders’ Gruden on Coliseum: `It’s a real football stadium’

Raiders confront possibility of last game at their home since 1995

ALAMEDA – Coach Jon Gruden was talking about quarterback Derek Carr Monday and the future of the franchise when he noted “I think he’s really excited about where we’re heading.”

If Carr has the answer as it pertains to where the Raiders will play their home games in 2019, there are a lot of people that would love to have that information. That includes the head coach and the local fan base.

The Raiders are scheduled to play in their new stadium in Las Vegas in 2020. There is no such clarity about 2019 after the City of Oakland filed an anti-trust lawsuit last week against the Raiders and the NFL over the move. Raiders owner Mark Davis then rescinded a rent offer to play another year in the Coliseum, their home since 1995 and also from 1966 through 1981.

At the same time, Davis said at the NFL owner’s meetings that he had not ruled out the possibility of playing in Oakland for another season.

It makes for a strange week going into the home finale, with the Raiders hosting Monday Night Football on Christmas Eve against the Denver Broncos.

“I’m real sensitive about hearing that,” Gruden said at his weekly press conference the day after a 30-16 road loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. “It’s going to be a great atmosphere, Monday night, Christmas Eve, Denver coming to town. I get excited thinking about it ... hopefully we can get it all resolved and continue to play here.”