Gruden hoping for ‘memorable effort’ in Sunday’s Oakland finale

The history of the Raiders organization in Oakland dates back to 1960 when they played their first regular season game in September as part of the American Football league, which later merged with the National Football League in 1970.

Oakland was home for the Raiders until 1982 when the team moved to Los Angeles. The stay in LA didn’t last long, as the franchise re-located back to it’s roots in the Bay Area before the start of the 1995 season.

Throughout the illustrious history of the Raiders, some of franchises most memorable moments took place on the blades of grass in the Oakland Coliseum.

Beginning in 2020 the Raiders will move into their new digs in Las Vegas. Playing home games at Allegiant Stadium — a 1.8 billion dollar state of the art, domed stadium. One of the unique features of the stadium is it will have an ETFE (Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) roof and large retractable, curtain-like side windows facing the Las Vegas strip.

Over the next few months, the finishing touches will be completed on a new home in a new city for the Raiders, but not before the team says farewell to Oakland for the final time on Sunday.

“It’s hard right now to think about what it’s going to be like,” head coach Jon Gruden said of the final game at the Coliseum. “Stepping in there for the final time ever. Last time of the season is one thing, last time ever really hits a tone with me and I’m sure a lot of people.”

And while this season has not gone the way many had hoped, there is still plenty to play for. If not for themselves, for the city and the ones that came before them.

“We really want to do a great job of providing the best effort that we can,” Gruden said. “Can’t make any guarantees, but we want to try and give a memorable effort to our fans. It will be emotional for sure.”

In addition to being a great fan base, Oakland is notorious for some epic tailgating. In fact, if you are a twitter follower of super fan Gorilla Rilla, you may have seen that CBS NFL Today show will be shooting a live segment on Sunday straight from the tailgate scene.

Win or lose, memories that will last a lifetime will be made once again in Oakland on Sunday.