SAN LEANDRO, Calif. (KRON) — The Raiders call Las Vegas home now. However, as we all know, that has not always been the case.
KRON4 spoke with East Bay Raiders fans who say the team’s heart still beats in Oakland. A new city, a change of venue, but not a change of heart.
“Once a Raider always a Raider,” said fan club president Wayne Deboe.
“I love my team — I really do,” said Bay Area resident and former season ticketholder Arterlia Goodwin.
From thick through thin and thinner, one is where the heart is and always will be.
“They’re my Raiders, man,” said current season ticketholder Jim Richardson. “It don’t matter where they’re playing. They could be playing on a barge — wouldn’t care.”
And for these Silver and Black lifers, a relationship with the Raiders is for eternity.
“Last year, I went to two games. This year, I’m scheduled to go to three games: one in Vegas, one in New Orleans and one in Jacksonville,” Deboe said.
In the week before the Raiders play their second preseason game, more than a dozen members of the original Oakland Raiders Booster Club met at Harry’s Hofbreau in San Leandro.
They discuss the schedule, where they intend to watch games as a group for the season and bounce road game travel plans off one another.
“I was very ill at one time, and they were there for me,” Goodwin said. “They prayed for me. We’re a family. We take care of each other. Someone’s in trouble — and we share our stories about the games and tailgates were phenomenal.”
For decades, this group met at Ricky’s Sports bar in town, but they too are on the road now since the famed bar closed during the pandemic.
The allure of joining the group is evident by the a-listers who show up for them.
“You see Raider gear all over the world, and I think you can probably say, if you see someone with Raider gear on, you’re gonna be immediate friends,” Richardson said. “That breaks down a lot of barriers, and I think Raider fans recognize that everywhere.”
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The Raiders may have swapped zip codes again, but the franchise is more than just a name — it’s a lifestyle — and, it’s been fully embraced. Though, if you pin an Oakland fan down, the orginals haven’t fully subscribed to Vegas.
“Being an Oakland native, I followed them very closely,” Deboe said. “It took a lot of pride, you know, to say the Oakland Raiders. And, now, you know, its still a lot of pride, even though they’re in Las Vegas.”
Oakland, Los Angeles, Las Vegas –regardless of where the Raiders call home. Raider Nation will follow.
