Eight years after fleeing town, Al Davis and his Raiders got a $602 million welcome home.
The Raiders' planned return from Los Angeles went from rumor to reality Monday in a dizzying 12-hour period. Davis gave his support to the 15-year, multimillion-dollar deal minutes before a noon deadline, and the City Council and Alameda County supervisors followed suit at six minutes to midnight to make it final.All that's left is for papers to be signed and for the Raiders to play out the two seasons left on their Los Angeles Coliseum lease - unless Davis can work out a settlement to bring them north sooner.
"He's the prodigal son coming back," said Tom Keating, a former Raiders player who lives in the Oakland area. "When they left, I lost my season tickets like everyone else. I want them back."
Davis left city officials angry and fans brokenhearted by moving the team in 1982. The city spent more than $7 million in an unsuccessful legal fight to get the Raiders back.
NFL approval of the Raiders' next move, while expected, won't make or break the deal. Davis proved that when he moved the Raiders against the will of his fellow team owners after the 1981 season. Rabid Raiders fans who sat through Monday night's often raucous five-hour session knew that when they swarmed jubilantly into the street after the vote.
"It's ecstasy," bellowed Cliff Goldberg of San Leandro, a 29-year-old beverage distributor who helps publish a Raiders fans newsletter. "I can't express it.
"People laughed in our faces when we said three years ago that the Raiders should come back. It's like the fans just won the Super Bowl."
Supervisors voted 3-1, with one abstention, to make the $602 million offer official and the City Council approved it by a 5-3 vote during an emotional joint hearing that one opponent aptly compared to a pep rally.
Details of the financial package include $53.5 million for expansion and improvements of the Oakland Coliseum and a guarantee of $29 million a year in ticket sales over the 15 years of the lease.
"There is tremendous risk in this proposal," council member Wilson Riles Jr., a leading critic of the plan, said. "I think any number of businesses across the country could provide more for the city and county if they were guaranteed $600 million."
Before leaving for Los Angeles, after the Oakland Coliseum lease had expired, the Raiders provided hundreds of thrills for their fans. The team in Silver and Black won nine division titles and Super Bowl championships in 1977 and 1981, strung together an NFL-record 16 consecutive winning seasons and had 12 consecutive sellout seasons at home.
Davis was coach of the Raiders' first winning team, which went 10-4 in 1963.
As managing general partner, Davis made the decision to move to Los Angeles after a dispute over his demands for improvements in the Oakland Coliseum.
The Los Angeles Coliseum offered the potential of much higher income, with more tickets to sell, but the Raiders were never able to fill the seats on a regular basis.
"I just want to get the Raiders settled," Davis said Monday at Orlando, Fla., where the NFL owners are meeting. "I regret that all this (moving) has affected the team. I regret that all this has affected my life and the lives of a lot of people."
The Raiders won their third Super Bowl title following the 1983 season, but have failed to make the playoffs the last four years and have played before some crowds of under 40,000 at home.
"I was playing for the Raiders in 1980 when the whole thing started and in `82 when we packed and left," said Art Shell, the former offensive tackle who now is the team's coach. "We'll all pack again."
Only one player on the current roster, defensive lineman Howie Long, was on the team when it last played in Oakland.
The stars on the 16 straight winning teams of the 1965-1980 period included Shell, Gene Upshaw, Jim Otto, George Blanda, Willie Brown and Fred Biletnikoff, all members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others included Daryle Lamonica, Ken Stabler, Jim Plunkett, Cliff Branch, Dave Casper, Art Powell, Ted Hendricks, John Matuszak, Phil Villapiano, Jack Tatum, Ben Davidson, Clarence Davis and Keating.