Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas ‘sad,’ Brandon Marshall says
Oakland Raiders fans gather for a picture before the start of a rally to keep the team from moving Saturday, March 25, 2017, in Oakland, Calif. Credit: AP / Eric Risberg
PHOENIX — Brandon Marshall began his career with the Broncos in the AFC West and said his favorite place to be a visiting player remains Oakland.
“I’ve also been in the league for 12 years playing for several different teams, and it was always in Oakland,” he said on Monday at the NFL’s Annual Meeting in Arizona when asked about the Raiders and their move to Las Vegas. “I love the Black Hole. Before every game I would run to the Black Hole and I would throw trash at ‘em and water bottles and they would throw ‘em back and that got me going, that was my juice for the game.”
Marshall will get at least one more opportunity to play there. The Raiders will not be leaving until at least the 2019 season, and the Giants will play in Oakland in 2017.
“If the Raiders do leave it would be sad because I feel like it’s a great atmosphere, especially when they’re winning, like the team we saw last year,” Marshall said shortly before NFL owners voted 31-1 to approve the relocation. “But again, this is the entertainment business, so business has to be done.”
The Raiders’ move to Vegas did come with a caution from Marshall, not just regret.
“Las Vegas is a beautiful place,” Marshall said. “A lot of times when you think about Las Vegas you just think about the Strip, right? But I just want to make sure the players are protected. I think it could be a tough place for a kid coming out of college, so that locker room has to be strong, because there’s so much there, there’s access to so much. It’s a Strip but it’s really big and it can be overwhelming at times for young, immature players. That’s my thoughts on Las Vegas.”
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
