Raiders Host Old Bay Area Rival As San Francisco 49ers Practice At Raiders Training Fields In Henderson Thursday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher-Writer
The Raiders are playing host this week.
On Thursday morning, the San Francisco 49ers were practicing drills on the Raiders training fields at the Las Vegas team’s headquarters in suburban Henderson. It marked a chance for former 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to practice for the Raiders against his former mates during the joint Raiders-49ers practices.
The two teams last played on New Year’s Day when the 49ers defeated the Raiders, 37-34, in overtime. At the time, the Raiders fell to 6-10 before finishing the season with a 6-11 record, while the 49ers made the playoffs and reached the NFC championship fame before losing to the Philadelphia Eagles.
That day was a little more than eight months ago. But for the Raiders, it seems long ago. The Raiders said so long to longtime quarterback Derek Carr, who did not even play in that loss to the 49ers.
The Raiders have struggled in the standings for the last 20 years, but they welcome alumni from three Super Bowl-winning teams from the glory days this weekend. About 300 Raiders alums and their guests will be at the preseason-opener at Allegiant Stadium Sunday for the Raiders-49ers exhibition match.
Ted Hendricks will be among the Raiders from the 1980 and 1983 Super Bowl champion teams.
Sadly, much of the Raiders’ winning has been in the past.
The team does not project to make the playoffs this season and have made the postseason only twice in the last 20 years.
Owner Mark Davis emphasizes the Raiders alums — a theme he he carried over to his ownership of the WNBA Las Vegas Aces.
The 49ers and Raiders were rivals when the Raiders were based in Oakland. But that’s three years removed, so the rivalry heat doesn’t simmer like it used to.
