49ers Valiantly Defend SF; Send Raiders Crawling Back to Oakland Coliseum

by
Former Writers
February 15, 2019

Drew Geraets via Flickr

49ers Valiantly Defend SF; Send Raiders Crawling Back to Oakland Coliseum

Back in December, the Raiders walked away from negotiations with the Oakland Coliseum over a lease for the 2019 season. The Raiders made a rare logical decision here, as they were being sued by the city of Oakland over their impending move to Las Vegas. Now I’m no expert, but I think a general rule of business is that you probably shouldn’t work with people that are currently suing you.

The problem for the Raiders, though, is that the lease for their new Las Vegas stadium doesn’t begin until 2020. (I know this is a little complicated, and I promise to not make you do math again, but 2020 is a year after the 2019 season). So, the Raiders were in a little bit of a pickle as to where they were going to play in 2019. But now, the Raiders have come back to the negotiating table with the Coliseum. It appears the Raiders could actually be returning to the Oakland Coliseum.

Why is that? Well, a major factor was the valiant efforts of the San Francisco 49ers. Allow me to tell you a tale of great heroism.

Attempt to Play at Oracle Park

Oracle Park* (*the stadium formerly known as AT&T Park) is where the San Francisco Giants play their home games. Not to exaggerate, but it is one of, if not the most beautiful sports venue in the world. While I am from the Bay Area, I don’t really like baseball that much, so I believe my biases about the stadium even out to give me some objectivity here.

🐪 day view 🌥 pic.twitter.com/A79C0UtHTi

— Oracle Park (@OracleParkSF) January 9, 2019

The Raiders were reportedly interested in playing their home games in Oracle Park for the 2019 season. It makes sense, too. After all, they wouldn’t want to put their players through the stresses of having to play on an actual football field. If I were the Raiders, I would want to play there too; as mentioned before, it’s beautiful.

Obviously though, this could not be allowed to happen. Having a team play out of San Francisco – while the team named for San Francisco plays out of Santa Clara – would be way too confusing for the world. I lost track of it just writing that sentence. Also, as a 49ers fan, I don’t know how I would feel with all of the ‘San Francisco Raiders’ jokes I’d have to hear. But, luckily, the Niners realized the threat they were facing and stepped up big time.

Get Out of Our Turf

Update on the #Raiders stadium situation: #49ers are still not expected to waive their territorial rights for San Francisco, sources say. With the SF Mayor going public against the Raiders playing at Oracle Park, SF is off the table. It’s Oakland or Levi’s Stadium for the Raiders

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 6, 2019

You tell ’em Niners! The 49ers did not blink. They heard the proposal and said, “Nope, figure it out yourself.” They shut the Raiders down. No way are they going to let the Raiders be the “Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders of San Francisco” while they are the “San Francisco 49ers of Santa Clara.” Also, shoutout to the San Francisco Mayor for coming in clutch and using her powers on the important stuff. I know nothing about her, but she definitely has my vote on the off chance I ever move to San Francisco. Personally, I like to imagine that the 49ers had Nick Mullens tell the Raiders their decision, just so he could destroy them one more time.

Nick Mullens threw 3 TDs in his NFL debut, leading the 49ers to a season-high 34 points in 34-3 victory over Raiders. He became the first player in 49ers history to throw 3 TDs in his debut

His 151.9 passer rating is the highest by any player in his NFL debut since 1970 merger.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 2, 2018

Return to the Coliseum

Now, the story breaks that the Raiders are back to asking the Coliseum for a new lease. The 49ers sent them packing, right back to where they belong, in a stadium that’s not even really theirs. The Raiders are too proud to even ask to play at Levi’s Stadium, but I have to imagine that if they did, the 49ers would shut that down too. They’ve made it clear where they stand on the Raiders playing on their turf. (It would be fun to watch the Raiders play surrounded by the 49ers’ colors, though).

At this point, it seems like there is a solid chance that the Raiders are back in Oakland for 2019. Right back where they started. They can save the big move until next year. Although, I am seeing reports of a pitch to have them split their home games between Tucson, Arizona and Birmingham, Alabama — but that just seems way too complicated to actually happen. Mark Davis is definitely going to do the simplest thing here and stay in Oakland for another season.

I’m Sorry, Oakland

I genuinely feel bad for Oakland, all of their teams are leaving them. The Warriors leave for San Francisco after this season. And, even if the Raiders return to the Coliseum for this season, they’ll be gone in a year. On top of that, nobody even knows if the Oakland A’s are going to stay long-term. It’s sad to see an area that was such a hub of Bay Area sports fall apart. But, I guess that’s just the way it is.