Charles Woodson has had two stints with the Raiders during his career, which means he’s spent a lot of time in Oakland over the years.
That’s left him with a strong opinion of what the team means to the city. He shared that opinion on Sunday when asked about Raiders owner Mark Davis’ impasse with city officials about a new stadium and his flirtations with other possible hometowns for the Raiders, who, of course, played in Los Angeles for many years before returning to Oakland in 1995. Woodson doesn’t think a choice to leave the city would go down any easier the second time around.
“I think it’d be devastating,” Woodson said, via CSNBayArea.com. “It’s happened once before and a lot of people are still bitter about that, and I think it would be doubling down on that bitterness if they were to leave again. I think it’d be tough for the City of Oakland.”
It doesn’t take Woodson’s long history in the city to know that a Raiders departure from Oakland would be crushing for their local fans, but the economics of the NFL don’t have much of a place for them as long as there is another town and other fans willing to welcome the Raiders with open arms.