Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Official name change to Las Vegas Raiders ‘freeing’ to team’s players

Derek Carr and others are becoming acquainted with their new home

0122_sun_RaidersAnnouncement

Steve Marcus

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr signs hard hats for construction workers during a news conference, officially renaming the Oakland Raiders to the Las Vegas Raiders, in front of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020.

Updated Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020 | 6:10 p.m.

Raiders Make Name Change Official

Construction inspector Ben Shirley poses with Las Vegas Raiderettes during a news conference, officially renaming the Oakland Raiders to the Las Vegas Raiders, in front of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2020. Launch slideshow »

While making the rounds all across town the last couple of days, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr needed to make a quick stop at a convenience store.

As soon as he walked in, he said he was greeted by staring faces and welcome messages. As an NFL star, Carr is used to drawing attention in public but he described the scene as something more.

“Everyone is like, ‘You’re in our gas station,’” Carr said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to live here.’”

Carr was in town for his team’s announcement on Wednesday that they’ve officially become the Las Vegas Raiders. Team owner Mark Davis and Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak presided over a short event in the shadow of the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium and in front of a few hundred construction workers and media members.  

To some, it was a publicity stunt of an unnecessary announcement. To the players on hand, it was something more.

Carr and seven of his teammates — tackle Trent Brown, tight end Darren Waller, safety Jonathan Abram, defensive tackle Maurice Hurst, linebacker Marquel Lee, punter AJ Cole and long snapper Trent Sieg — saw it as a rite of passage. They had been mostly forbidden, or at least uninterested, in talking about Las Vegas ever since the Raiders’ relocation was announced in March 2017.     

“It was because of the respect for the Bay Area and everything they’ve given to us, the fans up there,” Davis said. “We didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize our friendship.”

Now they don’t have to. The team has been free to use the Las Vegas Raiders moniker whenever they wanted, but the 2020-2021 NFL season doesn’t start until March 18, so technically there’s still time before it’s fully set into place.

That’s the date when they’re free to sell official Las Vegas Raiders merchandise, but it’s up to the team’s discretion on when they want to begin and Davis said it would be a little later. He wants to hold off on the gear until Las Vegas hosts the NFL Draft from April 23-25.

“It’s just kind of freeing,” Carr said. “The move is over with. We’re coming here. This is where the Raiders are taking place now.”

Carr hadn’t yet been inside the stadium, but said he would take a tour soon. He was in awe of the outside after briefly walking around and peeking inside.

He did tour the team’s also under-construction headquarters off St. Rose Parkway in Henderson, along with the other players on hand at the news conference, and came away almost as excited as those gas-station Raiders’ fans.

“It’s the best,” Carr said. “We’ve got the best facility and best stadium in the league now, and that’s saying something. Everything that they just showed us and they walked us through, the way it’s set up and designed for us, you can tell everything was designed to help us succeed.”

When the Raiders sent out invites to an “announcement” without any other further information late last week, many speculated it might be tied to Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who was in town for Saturday’s UFC 246. Not only would that not have been possible — free agency also doesn’t begin until the first date of the new season — but the event actually reinforced the Raiders’ commitment to Carr, who threw for 4,054 yards and 21 touchdowns to eight interceptions this season.  

And it showed he’s still popular with at least segments of the Raiders’ fan base. Carr stayed onstage after the presentation and signed hundreds of hardhats for construction workers.

Brown and Waller also walked through the crowd, signing headwear and memorabilia.

“The whole community has been super accepting of us,” said Waller, who helped feed children in local schools on Tuesday. “They want to come in and win and we want to do the same thing so we’re super excited.”

Carr confirmed he still planned to move into a new home in Southern Highlands right next door to coach Jon Gruden. He probably doesn’t want it to be a scene every time he needs to refuel his vehicle, but says he’s committed to keeping the initial community excitement intact.

“We had some great memories in Oakland, wish we could have brought that city a championship,” Carr said. “But looks like we’re going to have to do that here because I think that welcome was special for our owner, special for our team, special for the guys that were here.

 “I’m going to give this town everything I have.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.