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Story by Alan Snel Photos by Ben Robertson
The summer furnace in Las Vegas has cranked into the 100s early in June and it seems ridiculous for professional football players to be out there catching footballs, learning blocking techniques and finding out the best ways to tackle a player to the ground.
But the Las Vegas Raiders were out there on grass practice fields for something simply called OTAs, which stand for organized team activities.
These are not super-intense, high-octane practices and players are not bashing into each other. But the 100 or Raiders players out there were in helmets under a blazing sun in Henderson, Nevada where the Silver & Black headquarters are based in the south Vegas metro area.
The Raiders back in the 1970, ’80s and ’90s were NFL title contenders, winning three Super Bowls and playing a physical and swashbuckling brand of football that was a perfect fit with its blue-collar Oakland fan base.
Now the Raiders play in swanky, climate-controlled and fixed-domed Allegiant Stadium. Many of their home games include many fans from the opposing team visiting Las Vegas. If these fans are staying in a local hotel, they are paying a special hotel room tax created by the Nevada Legislature in 2016 just to pay off the public debt for Southern Nevada’s share of the stadium’s construction bill.
The law specified the public would contribute $750 million to help build the 62,500-seat NFL stadium, but Southern Nevada still has more than $1.1 billion to raise in hotel room tax revenues to pay off the debt on the $750 million.
The Raiders won eight of 17 games in 2023 after firing their coach and general manager midway through the season. But game tickets are always sold out even if not all the fans show up.
The NFL team that has arguably the most defined identity for literally decades under former owner Al Davis more then a generation ago has become known as a team with a mediocre record over the past two decades.
There is legitimate hope because the interim coach who would eventually be named permanent coach, former hard-driving linebacker Antonio Pierce, won five of his nine games in 2023 as the temporary coach. The Raiders often-maligned defense improved drastically under Pierce’s fiery leadership and “Raiders” yells and players like defensive end Malcolm Koonce who did not see much playing time under the previous coaching regime have flourished under Pierce’s guidance.
Three of Pierce’s defensive coaches met the media Tuesday morning: Safeties coach Gerald Alexander, run game coordinator/linebackers coach Mike Caldwell and cornerbacks coach Ricky Manning, Jr. They were all cordial, friendly and enthusiastic.
And Caldwell was even asked about being the uncle of Las Vegas Aces team president Nikki Fargas.
There were no fans for the Raiders OTAs today. And Las Vegas area locals will have to travel to Costa Mesa, California in Orange County to see the Raiders in summer camp because the Raiders’ mid-July to mid-August training camp will be staged at the former Chargers summer training site at the Jack Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa.
The Raiders start their 2024 17-game schedule with two road games against the Chargers Sept. 8 and the Ravens Sept. 15.