Anyone with an iota of interest in sport should browse through the full list of ESPN’s 30 for 30 series. And I can guarantee two things. They’ll find an episode relevant to them and their interests and that they’ll thoroughly enjoy it too. One evening some years ago, Irish sports broadcaster Setanta Sports were showing ‘17th July 1994’. This was one such ESPN effort that relayed the events of that fateful day when several high profile sporting events coincided with mass media event that was OJ Simpson’s car chase. It was a well-crafted piece of television that I enjoyed. It would be a year or so later, when in search for this episode, that I came across many more. They were all a part of a series ESPN were creating in honour of their 30th anniversary as a broadcaster. Although my main interests of Soccer and GAA weren’t well represented, there was still some titles that immediately jumped out at me. ‘The 16th Man’ (Nelson Mandela’s impact on the South African Rugby team and the country in the 1995 World Cup) and ‘The Two Escobars’, widely lauded as one of the best sport documentaries ever made. A lot of the American Sport stuff went over my head except for one. Straight Outta L.A.
I have ESPN and in particular Ice Cube to thank for starting my devotion to an NFL team on the West Coast of America.
The Oakland Raiders.
I like Ice Cube as a rap artist and a film maker (he’s done some good stuff to be fair). And even before I watched Straight Outta L.A., I came across a song he recorded called “Come And Get It”. It was a song for the Oakland Raiders and their fans, collectively called the Raider Nation. He was listing off names that at the time had no meaning or relevance to me. It sure as hell sounded good though. Ice Cubes lyrical flow was one thing, the names he was dropping was another. And I would soon put faces and reputations to these names in watching the documentary itself. In 1982, the Raiders moved from Oakland to Los Angeles. It wasn’t long before they began to captivate the minority communities in the city with a swagger and charisma that personified their new home. This swagger and charisma soon found itself inspiring one individual in a rap group called N.W.A. Both the Raiders and N.W.A. would ascend to the top of their respective environments and would inspire each other to a new generation. As N.W.A broke new ground in hip-hop music, the Raiders would swagger their way to winning Superbowl XVIII. Under the leadership of Tom Flores and key players such as Marcus Allen, Lester Hayes, Howie Long, Jim Plunkett et. al. the source of this charisma stemmed from the top, from their owner. From Al Davis.
While watching this documentary, I was fascinated by Davis. At the time of filming, he was 80 years of age, and his body was failing him. However, you could immediately sense his passion, his desire, his pride in talking about the Raiders and their mystique. He was still the owner and general manager yet to quantify his contribution to the Raiders in titles would be remiss. Quintessentially, he was the man who defined the Raiders from when he first joined them in 1963 to his death in 2011. Unlike any other team owner, this was an individual who did it his way. He never let the culture of the NFL or the America itself at any time tell him what to do. He moulded the team in his own image and philosophy. In his own words, he wanted “to build the finest organisation in professional sports”. However he wanted to give certain traits if he was going to do so. To give them a distinct identity of a fearless attitude and take all mentality. He started out as a coach in Los Angeles before moving to Oakland and immediately applied this bravado to his coaching. When asked to define his philosophy, he replied “Take what they give you.’ That all sounds good to everybody but I always went the other way, ‘We’re going to take what we want!” 5 years coaching the Raiders laid the groundwork for the culture that followed. When he returned as general manager a few years later, his approach transferred to the management of his team. Even in conversation with Ice Cube, he still oozed a defiance and an authority that made him one of the most iconic people in the NFL’s history. He said “history will dictate what my legacy is. Maverick is fine, cause I am”.
The Raiders would soon be regarded as footballs evil empire and Davis never held back in perpetuating that image. Throughout his career, he was embroiled in lawsuits and legal battles with the League and many others. Everything ranging from rule changes to relocation matters, Davis fought tooth and nail for his Raiders. It took two years of court cases alone for him to successfully move his franchise from Oakland to Los Angeles. It wasn’t because he thrived upon conflict, or sought confrontation. He felt it wasn’t important to be consistent, it was important to be right. Such views on life saw him pave the way for minority coaches in the NFL, and provide an outlet for those players whose careers had stalled. He was an individual who did it his own way, and wasn’t interested in seceding to popular opinion or tradition. His facet for creative slogans could have fooled you into thinking he was a marketing genius. Coining phrases such as “Commitment To Excellence” and “Just Win, Baby” became slogans for the franchise, for the Raider way of life. And winning, was something he done a lot. The move to Los Angeles saw them win a third Superbowl. It also gave them a whole host of new fans. N.W.A. often wore Black Raiders memorabilia in promo shoots or press conferences to match their rebellious outlook on life. Snoop Dogg followed suit. The minority communities of the city and county aligned themselves to the Raiders and would soon be selling out the 90’000 seated capacity of the Los Angeles Coliseum. While the Raiders would eventually return to Oakland in 1995, the impact of their time spent in LA is still felt to this day. Fans actively campaigned to have them return to Hollywood two years ago. However, their fanbase stretches far beyond those two cities.
The NFL has a growing worldwide presence. The most recent Superbowl viewing figures peaked at 172 million. Social Media accounts of the 32 teams in the NFL are always on hand to present images of fans across the World. The NFL has been hosting regular season games in London since 2007 and last year returned to Mexico City for a match-up that involved the Houston Texans and yes, the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders will once again be returning to the Azteca Stadium in 2017 for an eagerly awaited match-up with the reigning Superbowl champions New England Patriots. What influenced Al Davis’ decision to perpetuate an image of outlaws and villains for his franchise was the city of Oakland itself. It’s working-class background, compared to its neighboring city of San Francisco lent itself to an underdog status. Davis set the mould in place. Players, like Ken Stabler, Jack Tatum, Ted Hendricks and many more played a kind of football that followed suit. Before long the fans embraced every aspect of a rebel pirate fantasy that is cited as the foundation of the Raider Nation and its image. Elaborate costumes, alter egos, a distinct silver and black colour scheme centered around a section of the Alameda Coliseum called the Black Hole. These fans would take pride in the image associated with Raiders. Aside from Ice Cube, other celebrity fans of the Raiders include: Metallica lead vocalist James Hetfield, actor Tom Hanks (who grew up in the nearby city of Concord, CA), rapper and Oakland native MC Hammer. When the team moved to LA in the 80’s, Tiger Woods became an instant life-long fan. The aforementioned allegiance amongst minorities in the city, coupled with a return to Oakland in the 90’s gave way to the label of a Raider Nation. Their support spread throughout the US and turned the team into an internationally transcendent brand; notorious for their culture and their unrelenting devotion.
The very next day after watching this 30 for 30 documentary, I logged onto a Sport streaming website and saw American Football games on. The Oakland Raiders were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in a regular season game. I turned it on and saw the Raiders prevail 21 points to 18 points. It wasn’t a classic but from that evening on I have followed them. It wasn’t my first introduction to American Football. I had watched a couple of Superbowls previously. I would not watch a single second of the regular season or playoffs before it but once the Superbowl was on the TV listings, I thought, Why Not? Of course my parents wouldn’t have let me stay up til 4 on a school night back then even if Ireland were in the World Cup (although that scenario never did arise sadly). I would watch the first quarter live before taping the rest and going to bed. I bucked that approach in 2008 for Superbowl XLII. I thought I found an allegiance to the New York Giants based on their blue uniforms, and their stunning upset victory in that Superbowl over the New England Patriots. I was wrong. The next time I made an effort to watch the Giants was 4 years later in Superbowl 46, against the Patriots again. And the next time I watched them after that was in Week 9 of the 2013 season against the Oakland Raiders. I couldn’t identify with the Giants. And maybe deep down, no part of me would shout for the Patriots. Which makes a lot of sense as a Raider fan today.
I wasn’t so much watching for the sport back then but for the hype, the glamour, the event that was the Superbowl. When I first began to follow the Raiders, there was none of that. The franchise was so far removed from the Superbowl that it was almost a relic of the NFL. Its glory days well past, its brief resurgence in the early 00’s a tragic story. What followed since their heavy defeat in Superbowl XXXVII to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was a decade and more of inferiority on and off the field. No winning season, no divisional playoff, no playoff appearance, few players worthy of mention on the highlight reel, games and plays that were often featured on a gag reel if nothing else. Coaches who were inept and an owner who seemed a shadow of the maverick figure who created a dynasty of greatness. Draft picks had bombed. There was a growing consensus amongst American Football fans that Davis had lost it. He was now a crazy old man stuck in the past with his ideals. Much ignored is the fact that Al Davis was on the verge of creating a team just about to make the playoffs once again. In hiring his sixth head coach in nearly a decade, Hue Jackson, the Raiders almost made the playoffs under his guidance in 2011. They lost their final game to the San Diego Chargers where a win would have guaranteed their place in the postseason. Davis wouldn’t live to see this, passing away 2 months earlier at the age of 82.
The organisation has taken a different road since his passing. However it’s not been without its setbacks. When I started watching the Raiders, they were midway through the second season under head coach Dennis Allen. Allen was a high pitched unintimidating young man who didn’t inspire confidence in either me or, it seems, his players. Two consecutive seasons were spent winning 4 games and losing twelve. I’m keen to stress at all times, that I never jumped on any bandwagon. In that 2013 season, I watched two wins against Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans. In between and after those games, I saw disasters. Conceding 56 and 49 points respectively to Kansas City and the Philadelphia Eagles, last minute defeats in high scoring but ultimately one score margin of defeats. The Raiders of 2013 generally played terrible football. It continued into 2014 when, even after sacking Allen after four games, the Raiders would go onto lose their first ten games of the season. They were a laughing stock and expected to finish the season without winning a game.
Why did I stick around? I was watching these games that
stretched 3 or 4 hours long to see a team lose week in week out? There was
talent, a brilliance in the Raiders that just wasn’t consistent enough. Part of
me easily related to the defiance of following a struggling team, against the
odds. Ireland was the prime example, underdogs who always punched above their
weight. We’d reach World Cups during the 90’s and again in 2002 but miss out
ever since (to this day). In GAA, since I’ve been born, Galway have ended
droughts of 32 years in football and 29 years in hurling before they would win
All-Ireland titles. In Soccer, I followed Liverpool and Celtic when I was
growing up. Liverpool’s trials speak for themselves whereas Celtic were struggling
to finish 2nd, never mind 1st in their domestic league
during the 90’s. They would of course famously stop their great rivals Rangers,
from doing 10 in a row in 1998 when I was only 7 years old. In Europe, the
allure and prospect of facing the big teams and recording an upset captivating
the imagination of many football fans. While I would love for teams I follow to
be consistently successful, the moments where droughts end, upsets happen, or
performances where everything clicks are a joy to watch. You’ve been there when
it’s woeful, and don’t know what to do with yourself when everything goes
perfect.
Aside from the Raiders mystique and their brief sparks of light, I studied their entire history while waiting for the 2014 NFL season to begin. I learnt of their dominance, their Superbowl success, their great players and near misses. The highs and lows of the entire franchise I recounted through documentaries, YouTube and articles online. I began to develop an affinity to a team and a sport I never gave a seconds thought years previous. Their culture and identity just resonated with me in a way no other NFL team could ever do. The Raiders were my team and that was that. I see far more Tom Brady jerseys in Ireland than Raiders apparel but I feel content in the knowledge he cheated his way past them on his way to his first Superbowl. It’s not important to be consistent, it’s important to be right. Soon Sunday evenings in the Autumn were all about sitting back in my chair, maybe with a drink or two by my side, firing up the laptop, finding a good stream and watching the Raiders in action. At half-time, there would usually be a Pizza, (another great love affair I’ll speak about if I ever have a food blog) and all the while I would be tweeting about the game in progress. I’ve 256 followers on Twitter, nearly half of which are Raider fans or relevant accounts. We’d laugh, cry, curse to the high heavens and celebrate for the Silver and Black until the final play had passed.
The Raiders turned a corner in that 2014 season. After going 0-10, they would record their first win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football. I roared to my hearts content at 4:30am when they secured a late win. I roared like they’d just win a Superbowl. Primetime games meant extremely late nights for myself. Regardless if I’m working the next day, I would follow every play as usual and suffer for it the next morning. They would win twice more that season but it was beginning to become apparent that their draft picks, under new General Manager Reggie MacKenzie, were the cornerstones to better things ahead. Derek Carr at Quarterback and Defensive End Khalil Mack signified the beginning of a new era. They would find guidance under a new head coach Jack Del Rio and they not only began to be competitive, they started winning games more regularly. The 2015 season saw the Raiders finish 7-9, another losing season but one that held positives throughout. It was the benchmark for what followed. In 2016, the Raiders would end the regular season with a 12-4 record. Their first winning season in 14 years, confirming their first post-season appearance in the playoffs in the same period. The majority of those wins were often secured with the last play of the game, in the final seconds. The mantra for the season was set in the very first game. Down 34-27 to the New Orleans Saints, Carr led the Raiders down the field to an equalising touchdown score. However, instead of going for an extra point to tie the game, Del Rio decided to go for two, an incredibly risky move. However, Carr found Wide Reciever Michael Crabtree for the two-point conversion and the win. The Silver and Black were Back!
It was incredibly exciting watching the Raiders dominate once more. They were winning, but they were doing it in such an exciting passion that it was liable to give you a heart attack watching them win. I hear such distain for American Football that it irritates me greatly when anyone dismisses it. Sure the broadcasts are long, but once you understand the game, it can be the most exciting thing you can watch in sport. There was never a dull moment following the Raiders in 2016 and talk began to surface that this team were dark horses for the Superbowl. They had a porous defence defending the deep pass but their attack was unstoppable. They had a young fearless quarterback and a head coach willing to risk everything to win. Everything was going perfect until the penultimate game, where Carr would break his leg being tackled. Despite the efforts of his back-ups, the Raiders were a shadow of the offensive threat they were during the season and exited the playoffs in the first round to the Houston Texans. I sat in a pub that night drowning my sorrows.
Since the 2016 season has ended, Mark Davis, son of Al and current owner of the Raiders, successfully earned the right to relocate the team to Las Vegas in a landmark move for the NFL and indeed the franchise. Davis had sought for years to find a new stadium in Oakland and LA before deciding on building one in Sin City. It’s a move I don’t agree with. Personally it doesn’t affect me one bit living in Ireland but a huge part of the Raiders identity was forged in Oakland and later Los Angeles that it comes across as a smack in the face to the people and city of Oakland. While it is argued the City could have done more to keep them, I don’t think the Raiders themselves did everything they could to stay home. For a local fanbase who stuck by through thick and thin in the last 22 years since they returned, it was terrible to think that just when the team was returning to the top, they were going to leave again. I feel terrible for die hard locals who have lost their team for the second time around. I didn’t know what to think about the future itself but as the 2017 season grew closer, I couldn’t ignore the passion I have for the team itself. I have grave doubts about the move to Vegas and will wait and see how it pans out. However, for the time being, they are the Oakland Raiders. If ice Cube could remain loyal even when they left LA, why can’t I do the same?
Today the 2017 season for the Raiders begins with a trip to play the Tennessee Titans. Just like last year, I have a great excitement brewing inside about the season ahead. Regardless of the outcome, I’m a member of the Raider Nation, no matter what. Ice Cube and Al Davis ignited a passion that will continue burn long into the future.
Aside from the Raiders mystique and their brief sparks of light, I studied their entire history while waiting for the 2014 NFL season to begin. I learnt of their dominance, their Superbowl success, their great players and near misses. The highs and lows of the entire franchise I recounted through documentaries, YouTube and articles online. I began to develop an affinity to a team and a sport I never gave a seconds thought years previous. Their culture and identity just resonated with me in a way no other NFL team could ever do. The Raiders were my team and that was that. I see far more Tom Brady jerseys in Ireland than Raiders apparel but I feel content in the knowledge he cheated his way past them on his way to his first Superbowl. It’s not important to be consistent, it’s important to be right. Soon Sunday evenings in the Autumn were all about sitting back in my chair, maybe with a drink or two by my side, firing up the laptop, finding a good stream and watching the Raiders in action. At half-time, there would usually be a Pizza, (another great love affair I’ll speak about if I ever have a food blog) and all the while I would be tweeting about the game in progress. I’ve 256 followers on Twitter, nearly half of which are Raider fans or relevant accounts. We’d laugh, cry, curse to the high heavens and celebrate for the Silver and Black until the final play had passed.
The Raiders turned a corner in that 2014 season. After going 0-10, they would record their first win against the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football. I roared to my hearts content at 4:30am when they secured a late win. I roared like they’d just win a Superbowl. Primetime games meant extremely late nights for myself. Regardless if I’m working the next day, I would follow every play as usual and suffer for it the next morning. They would win twice more that season but it was beginning to become apparent that their draft picks, under new General Manager Reggie MacKenzie, were the cornerstones to better things ahead. Derek Carr at Quarterback and Defensive End Khalil Mack signified the beginning of a new era. They would find guidance under a new head coach Jack Del Rio and they not only began to be competitive, they started winning games more regularly. The 2015 season saw the Raiders finish 7-9, another losing season but one that held positives throughout. It was the benchmark for what followed. In 2016, the Raiders would end the regular season with a 12-4 record. Their first winning season in 14 years, confirming their first post-season appearance in the playoffs in the same period. The majority of those wins were often secured with the last play of the game, in the final seconds. The mantra for the season was set in the very first game. Down 34-27 to the New Orleans Saints, Carr led the Raiders down the field to an equalising touchdown score. However, instead of going for an extra point to tie the game, Del Rio decided to go for two, an incredibly risky move. However, Carr found Wide Reciever Michael Crabtree for the two-point conversion and the win. The Silver and Black were Back!
It was incredibly exciting watching the Raiders dominate once more. They were winning, but they were doing it in such an exciting passion that it was liable to give you a heart attack watching them win. I hear such distain for American Football that it irritates me greatly when anyone dismisses it. Sure the broadcasts are long, but once you understand the game, it can be the most exciting thing you can watch in sport. There was never a dull moment following the Raiders in 2016 and talk began to surface that this team were dark horses for the Superbowl. They had a porous defence defending the deep pass but their attack was unstoppable. They had a young fearless quarterback and a head coach willing to risk everything to win. Everything was going perfect until the penultimate game, where Carr would break his leg being tackled. Despite the efforts of his back-ups, the Raiders were a shadow of the offensive threat they were during the season and exited the playoffs in the first round to the Houston Texans. I sat in a pub that night drowning my sorrows.
Since the 2016 season has ended, Mark Davis, son of Al and current owner of the Raiders, successfully earned the right to relocate the team to Las Vegas in a landmark move for the NFL and indeed the franchise. Davis had sought for years to find a new stadium in Oakland and LA before deciding on building one in Sin City. It’s a move I don’t agree with. Personally it doesn’t affect me one bit living in Ireland but a huge part of the Raiders identity was forged in Oakland and later Los Angeles that it comes across as a smack in the face to the people and city of Oakland. While it is argued the City could have done more to keep them, I don’t think the Raiders themselves did everything they could to stay home. For a local fanbase who stuck by through thick and thin in the last 22 years since they returned, it was terrible to think that just when the team was returning to the top, they were going to leave again. I feel terrible for die hard locals who have lost their team for the second time around. I didn’t know what to think about the future itself but as the 2017 season grew closer, I couldn’t ignore the passion I have for the team itself. I have grave doubts about the move to Vegas and will wait and see how it pans out. However, for the time being, they are the Oakland Raiders. If ice Cube could remain loyal even when they left LA, why can’t I do the same?
Today the 2017 season for the Raiders begins with a trip to play the Tennessee Titans. Just like last year, I have a great excitement brewing inside about the season ahead. Regardless of the outcome, I’m a member of the Raider Nation, no matter what. Ice Cube and Al Davis ignited a passion that will continue burn long into the future.
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