December 15, 2019: The Raiders Play Their Last Game In Oakland

Derek Carr, the last Oakland quarterback

December 15, 2019: The Raiders play their last game in Oakland. No, no, really, they mean it this time.

Team owner Mark Davis fulfills his destiny, and gets the team moved out of the East Bay -- not to Los Angeles, because the Rams and Chargers have taken the market away, but to Las Vegas. The government of Nevada actually put out a statements saying that the Silver State was now the Silver and Black State.

Knowing that it was probably their last season in Oakland, the Raiders looked like they might go out on a good note. They started the season 6-4, including a win over the Chicago Bears in London. But they lost 3 straight going into their last home game, and were out of Playoff contention.

The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum has often been beset with bad weather, but it couldn't have been better for the last Raider home game, against the Jacksonville Jaguars, as it was 59 degrees and sunny as the kickoff came at 1:05 PM Pacific Time.

There was some irony in the opponent: Because the Jaguars had been having attendance issues in Jacksonville, and had also willingly forsaken home games to go to London, they had often been considered the next team to move. But the Rams left St. Louis for the 2016 season, and the Chargers left San Diego for 2017, both to go back to Los Angeles from whence they came.

The Raiders opened the game by scoring on their 1st drive, as Derek Carr threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Tyrell Williams. Then the field goals started: The Jags got a 28-yard kick from Josh Lambo, and the Raiders got them from Daniel Carson, 33, 34 and 27 yards, giving them a 16-3 lead at the half. Lambo kicked a 43-yarder at the end of the 3rd quarter.

In the 4th quarter, Gardner Minshew combined for touchdown passes to Chris Conley, 6 yards with 5:15 to go, and 4 yards with 31 seconds left, giving the Jags a 20-16 win. The crowd of 52,788 booed the Raiders as they left the field for the last time.

William Shakespeare put words in the mouth of Julius Caesar: "Cowards die a thousand times before their death. The valiant taste of death but once." The James Bond franchise introduced the saying "You only live twice." Now, the Oakland Raiders had died twice.

And now, the Raiders were leaving Oakland for the 2nd time, going from the hometown of the Hell's Angels, who were often among the less aggressive denizens of the Coliseum parking lot, for the real "Sin City."

The next week, the Raiders beat the Chargers in Carson, California. But the week after that, they closed with a loss to the Broncos in Denver, finishing 7-9. On September 21, 2020, they played their 1st home game as a Las Vegas team, beating the New Orleans Saints, 34-24 at Allegiant Stadium in the Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

From 1971, when the San Francisco Warriors moved across the Bay to the Oakland Coliseum Arena, becoming the Golden State Warriors, until 1976, the City of Oakland had teams in all 4 major league sports. But in 1976, the NHL's California Golden Seals moved to become the Cleveland Browns, where they failed, and merged with the also-bankrupt Minnesota North Stars. Baseball's Oakland Athletics came very close to moving to Denver for the 1978 season, seriously threatened to move to New Orleans for 1979, and made an effort for Denver again in 1980, before being sold and staying put.

The Raiders left for Los Angeles in 1982, returned in 1995, and now, in 2019, had left for Las Vegas. Earlier in 2019, the Chase Center had opened in San Francisco, and the Warriors moved into it, though they kept the "Golden State" name.

The A's were now the only team left in Oakland. And they began maneuvering their way out of Oakland for Las Vegas as well.

UPDATE: In 2023, the A's announced they were moving to Las Vegas, and the MLB team owners approved the movie unanimously. They will play the 2024 season in Oakland, then move to the small Las Vegas Ballpark for 2025, before a new stadium opens, most likely in 2028.

The Raiders have never retired a uniform number. Nor do they have a team Hall of Fame. But, as of the 2025 NFL season, there are 16 Raider figures in the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame. From their 1967 AFL Champions, who lost Super Bowl II: Quarterback George Blanda and center Jim Otto.

From their Super Bowl XI winners of the 1976-77 season: Quarterback Ken Stabler, receiver Fred Biletnikoff, tight end Dave Casper, guard Gene Upshaw, tackle Art Shell, linebacker Ted Hendricks, cornerback Willie Brown, punter Ray Guy, and head coach John Madden. From their Super Bowl XV winners in the 1980-81 season: Upshaw, Shell, Casper, Hendricks, Guy, quarterback Jim Plunkett, tight end Raymond Chester, and head coach Tom Flores.

From their 2002 AFC Champions, who lost Super Bowl XXXVII, so far, only receiver Tim Brown has been inducted. And, as you might guess, the Raiders' "godfather," Al Davis, has been inducted.

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December 15, 2019 was a Sunday. These other NFL games were played that day:

* The New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins, 36-20 at MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands.

* The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Washington Redskins, 37-27 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The Seattle Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers, 30-24 at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte.

* The Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, who used to be the Houston Oilers, 24-21 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the Los Angeles Rams, 44-21 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Buffalo Bills beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 17-10 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 34-13 at Paul Brown Stadium (now Paycor Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Detroit Lions, 38-17 at Ford Field in Detroit.

* In the NFL's oldest rivalry, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 21-13 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

* The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos, 23-3 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* The Arizona Cardinals beat the Cleveland Browns, 38-24 at State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Arizona.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Los Angeles Chargers, 39-10 at Dignity Health Sports Park in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California.

* The Atlanta Falcons beat the San Francisco 49ers, 29-22 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

Three days earlier, on Thursday, December 12, the New York Jets lost to the Baltimore Ravens, 42-21 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

And the day after, on ESPN Monday Night Football, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts, 34-7 at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Baseball was out of season. There were 6 games in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Denver Nuggets, 111-105 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.

* The Brooklyn Nets beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 109-89 at the Barclays Center.

* The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 101-96 at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

* The Orlando Magic beat the New Orleans Pelicans, 130-119 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Charlotte Hornets, 107-85 at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse (now the Gainbridge Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis.

* And the Sacramento Kings beat the Golden State Warriors, 100-79 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.

There were 4 games in the NHL:

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-2 at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Minnesota Wild, 5-3 at the United Center in Chicago.

* The Winnipeg Jets beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 7-3 at the Canada Life Centre in Winnipeg.

* And the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-3 at the T-Mobile Arena in the Las Vegas suburb of Paradise, Nevada.

And in English soccer, Arsenal lost to Manchester City, 3-0 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.