Marcus Allen thinks Raiders should return to Los Angeles

The Raiders are approaching crossroads. Their lease extension at O.co is up after this season and where they end up moving after that is still very much unsettled. They want a new stadium on the current site but the A's and Lew Wolff's intentions to pass a new 10-year lease are complicating things in that regard. There's sharing a stadium with the 49ers in Santa Clara but Mark Davis is vehemently opposed to that.

The third option could be a move back to Los Angeles.

The Raiders played in LA for 13 years from 1982 to 1994. One of the Raiders greatest players, Marcus Allen, played every down with the team while they were in Los Angeles. In a recent interview with NBCSN during the Lake Tahoe Golf Classic, he said that's where he thinks the Raiders belong.

"I'd rather see -- I know people in Oakland won't like this -- the team back in Los Angeles," Allen said as reported by Pro Football Talk. "I think it's a viable option."

"I just think it's ripe right now, being the second largest market and being the entertainment capital of the world it's almost necessary to have a team there. And I think with the corporate support and the brand that has already been there, that's been established, that has a huge following, I think it'd be a no-brainer."

Before a team can move to Los Angeles, a stadium must either be built or ready to break ground. That hasn't happened as yet. The Raiders played in the LA Memorial Coliseum when they were there before. Allen says that's not an option now but he says there are other options available until the new stadium is ready.

"We can't have them back at the [L.A.] Coliseum, the Coliseum now is USC's home," Said Allen, a USC alum himself. "But there's some locations there that I know I've talked to a few owners [about] and I know that they've liked. I can't divulge my sources though."

Allen was estranged from the Raiders for quite some time due to a strained relationship with late owner, Al Davis. That absence ended last season when Mark Davis invited him back to light the torch in honor of Al Davis at O.co.

Mark Davis has said he wants to keep the Raiders in Oakland but has made it clear that Los Angeles is an option if that cannot happen. With Marcus Allen stumping for their return as well, Oakland officials better let their actions speak louder to keep the Raiders in town.

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