‘Fresh start’ for Derek Carr and teammates as Las Vegas Raiders is unveiled
Bye, bye Oakland.
That iconic football team in silver and black is officially now called the Las Vegas Raiders.
The unveiling of the Las Vegas Raiders took place Wednesday afternoon in front of Allegiant Stadium.
Current players were on stage for the announcement, including quarterback Derek Carr.
“Honestly, it’s unreal,” said Carr, who prior to suiting up for the Raiders played college ball at Fresno State.
“It reminds me a lot of when I played at Fresno State — very college-like atmosphere,” Carr added. “Everywhere we go in town, go to dinner and all these kind of things, we got people waiting at the tables just waiting to say hi. Just telling us how excited they are to have us.
“It is a fresh start for everybody, and I think it’s exciting.”
The Raiders had played in Oakland at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum since 1994.
Raiders owner Mark Davis initially sought to renovate or replace the stadium in Oakland in hopes of keeping the team in the East Bay.
Those efforts failed.
Then in March 2017, NFL owners approved the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas in a 31-1 vote.
Allegiant Stadium construction started in Nov. 2017, built near the famous Las Vegas strip but on the other side of Interstate 15.
The new stadium is scheduled to open in July 2020 and will hold a maximum capacity of 65,000 (72,000 expandable).
Carr checked out the stadium from the outside and one thought came to mind: Raiders owner Mark Davis.
“You can see it on our owners face how much it means to him,” he said. “You can see it on his face that the peace he has and the excitement he has. When the leader of our organization feels that, that’s exciting for everybody.
“Everything that they’re doing over there is for football and for our team,” Carr added. “It’s for us to win. Just coming here and seeing the stadium and seeing the facility you know our owner is trying to help us win. What that does for a team is just unreal.”
