GONE TO VEGAS
Bringing in Brady as part owner further distancess Raiders from their East Bay past
All that's left is the laundry.
You knew the Raiders would change once they left Oakland. Considering they were one of the NFL's bottom feeders during their 25-year second act at the Coliseum, change was merited other than tinkering with the classic silver-and-black uniforms and the Raiders shield.
With Tom Brady reportedly having agreed to a minority ownership stake Monday, the news will be greeted with mixed emotions among the fan base. Some will harken back to the “Tuck Rule” and hate it — the further Patriotization of a franchise that owner Mark Davis is running as if his late father were Robert Kraft and not Al Davis.
“We're excited for Tom to join the Raiders,” Davis told ESPN, “and it's exciting because he will be just the third player in the history of the National Football League to become an owner.”
One wonders if Brady drops his briefcase on Day 1 if Greg Biekert will be there to jump on it.
Some will love it. If you can't beat `em, join `em. Some won't care in the least because Brady's influence will be limited to a suite wearing a suit, not with a jersey and helmet challenging his former backup Jimmy Garoppolo.
But it serves as one more brick in the process of walling off the Raiders from an era in which they triumphantly returned a franchise to its rightful home only to produce just four good teams (above .500) in 25 years — 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2016.
Brady, the San Mateo native, would have had no interest in joining the Oakland Raiders. It was Las Vegas, and everything that comes with it, that made it possible.
A check of the Raiders' roster shows
eight players who were at the Coliseum on Dec. 16, 2019 when boos, garbage and a helmet full of nachos rained down upon the home team after a 2016 loss to Jacksonville.
Left tackle Kolton Miller, defensive end Maxx Crosby, running back Josh Jacobs and specialists Daniel Carlson and A.J. Cole, as well as offensive linemen Brandon Parker and Andre James and wide receiver Hunter Renfrow are still around.
An influx of slot receivers suggests Renfrow may be sent packing in the same manner as Darren Waller, the tight end who the Raiders rejected a second-round pick for only to ship him to the New York Giants for a third-round pick.
Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler were hired in tandem to put a spin on their Patriots' success, although as we've learned, that had a lot to do with Brady on the field and not in management.
In the front office, executives Marc Badain and Dan Ventrelle, both of whom were vital to the move to Las Vegas, were moved out. Marcel Reece came in as “chief strategy officer” for Davis but didn't last long.
Davis hired Sandra Douglass Morgan as president because it made sense to have someone with experience on the Nevada Gaming Board as well as the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
The fans got plenty of lip service paying homage to silver and black and pride and poise in addition to the most expensive game ticket in the NFL at an average of $501.84 last season.
The move gave Davis enough capital to build a state-of-the-art practice facility in nearby Henderson and more liquid cash for signing bonuses, which was always an issue in Oakland (goodbye, Khalil Mack). He bought the WNBA's Las Vegas Aces, who are the defending champions and in whom Brady also has a minority ownership stake.
The Aces helped Davis' profile, but as an NFL owner, he's still the guy who can't figure out how to get the Raiders somewhere in the vicinity of where they were in the glory days of the late 1960s through their last Super Bowl in Los Angeles in 1983.
In contrast to A's owner John Fisher, Davis is at least trying. He would have kept the team in Oakland but didn't have the deep pockets, savvy or gravitas to get a deal done. The NFL thumbed its nose at Davis when the Rams and Chargers got the L.A. opportunity, and Davis thumbed it right back when $750 million of hotel tax money came his way from Las Vegas.
Lord knows Davis is unafraid to take a big swing. The re-hiring of Jon Gruden and the move to Las Vegas are evidence of that, even if the first move blew up in his face and the second has yet to produce anything but revenue and a palatial home stadium and club facility.
Bringing in Brady is a splashy move, although there is the issue of him being a Fox analyst in 2024, reportedly for 10 years and $375 million while being part-owner of one of the teams. However that sorts itself out, Brady is a fancy hood ornament that will generate some traction in terms of publicity but have little to no effect on winning and losing on the field unless he's given some say in personnel.
And just another reason for a slowly dwindling core of diehard East Bay fans who admire the Raiders from afar to gradually lose interest in the franchise that was a central part of their lives.
The Raiders have moved on, and much of a forgotten local fan base will continue to do the same.