Raiders LT Donald Penn wants team to stay in Oakland

The wheels are already in motion for the Raiders to move to Las Vegas, and at this point it might be inevitable. That doesn’t mean everybody thinks it’s a great idea.

Obviously there are going to be some fans in Oakland and the surrounding area who will be disappointed to see the franchise go, but they’re not alone. At least one player currently employed by the team doesn’t want to see the Raiders ditch their current locale, as left tackle Donald Penn tells the NFL Network he thinks they should stay put.

“I think we need to stay in Oakland. That’s my honest opinion. We’re the Oakland Raiders, we have a good tradition.”

Penn is right about the Raiders having a great tradition in Oakland. They were founded there. Two of their three Super Bowls came while playing there. Their glory years in the late 1960s and most of the ’70s were there, as at one point the Raiders went to the playoffs in 10 of 11 seasons.

Of course, the Raiders have another tradition, and that is one of moving around. The franchise jumped to Los Angeles in 1982, only to go back to Oakland in 1995.

So if there’s anything Penn and the fans in Oakland can take solace in, it’s that just because the team moves to Las Vegas or Los Angeles or the moon doesn’t mean it won’t come back.

In all seriousness, the NFL is a business, and if there’s another location that’s willing to help provide modern facilities, you can’t blame the organization for looking into those options. Fans don’t want to hear that, and to what end communities should be forced to pitch in their money for new stadiums has rightfully become a hot-button issue, but unfortunately that’s just the way these teams operate.