Former Vikings Owner Red McCombs is continuing his attempts to get the Raiders to San Antonio following the NFL's vote on L.A., saying the team will not "find anywhere in the United States that can equal what we’ve got put together." Appearing Wednesday on ESPN Radio 1250 San Antonio, McCombs said, "We’ve got the program put together here. ... We’ve still got to get them to want to come here." He noted the Raiders have not been "doing well ... for several years" in Oakland and that team Owner Mark Davis "knows that." McCombs: "He has a feeling for the state of California, and particularly Oakland, but it appears that he’s going to need to go somewhere and not there. If he does decide to go somewhere, we want him to decide to come here." The longtime San Antonio resident said the league's vote on L.A. was "absolutely the greatest thing that could happen to us short of getting somebody committed to come in here because that clears the runway to where now he can make his decision and come in here if he wants to." The Cowboys and Texans could oppose a third NFL team in Texas, and McCombs noted they "would like to have the whole world to themselves -- that’s kind of the way people operate." But he added, "That’s not going to happen, and this market right here has proved, beyond any doubt, that it can handle that and handle it better than anyplace else." McCombs: "We already have 12 of the corporate entities nailed down and they are ready to go, and I’m talking about with serious, serious commitment. ... Mark’s got to want to come here. We’ve got to find some way to get him to see that this is heaven." McCombs made it clear he was not interested in wooing the Chargers, saying, "We’re not talking to anybody but Mark Davis" ("The Blitz," ESPN Radio 1250 San Antonio, 1/13).
DON'T NEED TO LOOK FAR: In S.F., Chip Johnson notes when the owners "shut the door on the Raiders’ L.A. dreams," Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf "opened a window." Schaaf did not "roll over on the team’s demand for total control" of O.co Coliseum but "offered some consolation: a 'favorable' long-term lease agreement that includes nearly 60 acres of additional land available for development to generate private revenue for a new stadium proposal." Schaaf’s offer "includes a plan to retain 8,000 of 9,500 parking spots, essential for the Sunday tailgate parties fans love." The mayor’s offer, coupled with $100M in league funds "toward the construction of a new Raiders stadium in Oakland, is enough for Davis to absorb the recent disappointment, set his pride aside and consider the only proposal that’s now before him." It is a "serious offer, admittedly the first from the city in quite a while, but it deserves consideration" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 1/15).
