Thursday's NFL-sponsored town hall meeting in Oakland discussing whether the Oakland Raiders would move to Los Angeles received an unexpected visitor: team owner Mark Davis.
According to a report from CBS San Francisco, Davis made his surprise appearance and stressed that he is “still committed to keeping his team in Oakland.”
In addition to Davis, Mayor Libby Schaaf and NFL representatives were in attendance, and fans were given the opportunity to voice their concerns, questions and opinions about the Raiders’ potential move to Los Angeles.
Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times noted Davis was popular at the event:
Despite the warm welcome, the CBS San Francisco report pointed out the Raiders and San Diego Chargers “announced plans for a joint stadium in Carson in February in response to the stated desire of St. Louis Rams owner Stan Kroenke to build a new stadium in Inglewood.”
What’s more, the Raiders have set up offices in Los Angeles and are looking for more space in Southern California in case the NFL allows them to move. It wouldn't be the first time, considering Davis' father, Al, moved the Raiders to Los Angeles after the 1981 campaign (although he moved them back to Oakland in 1995).
Even after those preliminary steps, Mark Davis pleaded his case for remaining in Oakland, per the CBS San Francisco piece:
We need help from the community as well to get something that our fans in Oakland can be proud of. We don’t have that right now and we want it. It can be done in Oakland. We’ve talked to three mega developers to get this going. We have been trying for at least the past six years, every day, hundreds of hours, to try to get something done here in Oakland.
Raj Mathai of NBC Bay Area commented on Davis’ approach at the town hall meeting:
This week, there w...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
