Any Oakland fans who are no longer supporting the Raiders because they’re moving to Las Vegas aren’t real fans, according to quarterback Derek Carr.
Carr said at the start of the team’s offseason workout program that he expects Oakland fans to remain loyal to the team, and doesn’t think they were ever really fans if they don’t.
“We’re not going to split up like you’ve seen other cities do,” Carr said, via ESPN. “We’re not going to do things like that. For the ones that do, I don’t really believe that they’re true Raider fans. I feel their hurt. I’m with you. I hurt, too. But at the same time, we’re all in this together and we’re just going to do it together.”
Carr believes only a tiny minority of fans will ditch the Raiders.
“Out of like 1,000 people, you’re going to get one or two that have something to say and that’s with everything,” he said. “Hopefully y’all don’t focus on that kind of stuff because there’s the 99 percent that are loyal, faithful fans that are going to ride with us wherever we’re at.”
That’s all easy for Carr to say. It’s harder for Oakland residents who have supported the team with their hard-earned dollars for years to accept that the team will abandon them.
Dear Derek -
if you are dissing fans po'd about the team leaving their city, then no, you DON'T understand or feel their hurt
you come across to me as an arrogant clueless douche, not someone who understands the situation
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things." George Carlin
I don't consider fans who abandon the team because of their (eventual) move to Las Vegas to be fair weather fans ... and those are the fans he's referring to ... he's calling those fans out by saying they aren't true fans if they let a little thing like the team moving to a different city make them upset and uninterested in the team any more
if the Bears had done this, would you still be a loyal Bears fan while they played 2 years in Chicago before leaving for good to Vegas? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be
"Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things." George Carlin
I think players should only have positive things to say about fans. Being critical of fans after their playing career is fine. While you're under contract and a hero to a lot of people, be positive even if you secretly loathe them/a portion of them.
Boris13c wrote:I don't consider fans who abandon the team because of their (eventual) move to Las Vegas to be fair weather fans ... and those are the fans he's referring to ... he's calling those fans out by saying they aren't true fans if they let a little thing like the team moving to a different city make them upset and uninterested in the team any more
if the Bears had done this, would you still be a loyal Bears fan while they played 2 years in Chicago before leaving for good to Vegas? I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be
I think it's not the same thing. They've bounced back and forth between Oakland and LA since their inception.
Vegas is actually closer to LA than Oakland is. It would be like the Bears moving to Iowa City.
i'm kind of with boris on this. wab is right, and the raiders have always been sort of mercenaries going where ever they please, but this is still a team saying fuck you to the city of oakland. it's like some pick up artist negging type shit, where they are like "oh, you never actually cared about us" but who cares if we never actually cared about you?
i think the issue is that alot of people, (obviously!) take football very seriously. fandom is emotional. if i were to go watch hester run back the opening kickoff of the SB right now i'd get all flush and tingly, despite having seen it a million times.
from the start, oakland has told these fans "you know, that's great, but this is about the money for us." and to have that explicitly spelled out? that's a tough thing to reconcile.
