Most fans feel connected to professional sports teams that play in or near their hometown, but Derek Carr wants Raiders’ faithful who grew up in the Oakland area to make an exception when the team moves to Las Vegas.
The Raiders are officially moving to Nevada, but it may not happen until their new stadium is ready in 2020. Fans in Oakland could decide there is no point in supporting the team in the meantime, but Carr said Monday that he is not worried about that group of people.
“We’re not going to split up like you’ve seen other cities do,” the quarterback said, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com. “We’re not going to do things like that. For the ones that do, I don’t really believe that they’re true Raider fans. I feel their hurt. I’m with you. I hurt, too. But at the same time, we’re all in this together and we’re just going to do it together.”
That seems a bit unfair. For many fans, the whole “our team” thing is directly related to the town that a team represents. But in Oakland, Carr feels that is only the case with a small fraction of the fan base.
“Out of like 1,000 people, you’re going to get one or two that have something to say and that’s with everything,” he said. “Hopefully y’all don’t focus on that kind of stuff because there’s the 99 percent that are loyal, faithful fans that are going to ride with us wherever we’re at.”
The Raiders went 12-4 last season and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2002. If not for Carr getting hurt, they may have been able to make a run in the AFC. Fans in Oakland should be excited for the future of the team, but can you blame them if they’re devastated that said future will be unfolding more than 500 miles away?
While there will be some new fans in Las Vegas that join Raider nation (as evidenced by this video), Sin City is comprised of mostly tourists. The Raiders need some of their supporters in Oakland to brush the bitterness aside and continue to follow the team. Time will tell if as many people are willing to do that as Carr expects.
