Northern California fans hoping for an up-close look this year at the Raiders team that abandoned them for a shiny, new stadium in Las Vegas will have to settle for buying an expensive ticket for an exhibition game in Santa Clara. On Tuesday, the Raiders and the league’s 31 other teams were informed by NFL
Raiders won’t conduct training camp in Napa for first time in 24 years
I kinda hope they go back to Napa next year. Nice move to keep in touch with their ancestral home.
Not missing much in Napa.
It’s beautiful in Napa. Yet have you seen the actual training camp area? It’s a middle school field redone for football. Apartments overlook the field. Not the most professional.
You might not miss Napa, but the Raiders will. Having covered camp there since the team started there in 1996, I can tell you that the Raiders, the teams that participated in joint practices there, and the national writers that parachuted in each year raved about the place. Hard not to admire the setup. Who cares about the apartments, middle school and the Marriott surrounding the place?
Sounds good. I was there and saw the set up at the Middle School. The weight room was also outside, which was interesting.
I will say this – it is a benefit to have the club staying together at one hotel versus dispersing to their individual homes a the end of the day. I like it when teams can bond during training camp.
I am kinda bummed that the training camp won’t be in Napa. Summers in Vegas are miserable. I do get the sense that Mark Davis wants nothing to do with Northern California. He sure didn’t seem sentimental about leaving Oakland and especially did not seem grateful to the fans of Oakland that supported the team. That all leads me to believe, the Raiders will not be back in Napa.
Gruden has expressed interest in keeping TC in Napa, and Mark usually gives him what he wants.