Raiders end Oakland era on low note in defeat

OAKLAND, Calif. – They said farewell to the Raiders, and along the way a football game broke out Sunday.

The Raiders fell 20-16 to the Jaguars as their opponent completed a lastminute comeback, but that was merely background music for the huge party at RingCentral Coliseum to mark the end of an era.

That’s it, folks, for Raiders football in Oakland. With the franchise headed to Las Vegas next season, the final home game of this campaign was one last nostalgic revival in The Black Hole.

There were legends in the house galore. Marcus Allen. Tim Brown. Charles Woodson. Fred Biletnikoff.

And when Woodson – who actually had two stints with the Raiders that sandwiched a Super Bowl experience in Green Bay – took the mic at halftime, the place roared. Surrounded by at least three dozen other former Raiders gathered at midfield, Woodson capped off his speech by leading the crowd in the familiar “Raaaiders” chant.

Al Davis, the late Raiders owner, would have been proud to sense such an electric connection between the former headliners and faithful followers. That’s what the NFL and iconic franchises thrive on, the passion that keeps the viewers watching and the paying customers engaged.

And like his son, Mark, the current owner, Al likely would have also pulled up stakes and bolted town with his franchise, in search of greener pastures. After all, the Raiders moved to Los Angeles in 1982 before returning to Oakland in 1995 after a 13-year hiatus.

Las Vegas, with a $1.9 billion stadium to open in 2020, won’t be so temporary.

That’s sad for the fans in Oakland, who this year lost the NBA’s Warriors to a move across the Bay to San Francisco.

Now the Raiders are gone from Oakland, only to leave the memory of what once was.