Bill Romanowski calls on the NFL to step up and keep the Raiders in Oakland
HOUSTON -- Another day, another twist in the Raiders' quest to find a new stadium.
Monday night, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, the richest man in Nevada, pulled back his $650 million pledge to a Las Vegas stadium deal, which has put the Oakland Raiders' bid to relocate to Sin City on ice — for now.
The holdup in Las Vegas has created another opening for parties in Oakland to make a stronger bid to keep the Raiders in the Bay Area.
But four-time Super Bowl champion and legerndary Raider Bill Romanowski thinks a larger party -- the NFL -- should capitalize on this opportunity and make a big play to keep the Raiders in Oakland.
"I think the league needs to step in and help the Raiders get this done ... clearly they need help," Romanowski told FoxSports.com after visiting with Colin Cowherd Tuesday's "The Herd." "They're the last team in the league in the league that needs a big-time stadium."
And that stadium won't be built without more help from the NFL going to the Raiders.
Romanowski feels that there might be something larger at play with this wild relocation saga as well.
"I have a spiritual thought to it. Maybe, somehow, someway that it isn't meant to be in Vegas," he said. "There's an energy about it that maybe isn't right. Maybe it's the fact that Oakland lives, eats, breathes, dies Silver and Black. I'm out there every home game, to see these fans and what the Raiders mean to them."
"I grew up in San Francisco football-wise, in the pros. Those were great years and great times, and those fans were great, but I have to say, the Silver and Black — it's like a religion."
Leaving that behind for a new market — though rabid Raiders fans would likely travel to Las Vegas, Mexico City, or even London — would be a shame, as Romanowski sees it.
But do the Raiders want to stay in Oakland? They've already filed for relocation to Nevada and there seems little interest — publicly, anyway — from the team about staying in Oakland.
The Raiders can still theoretically make the move to Las Vegas without Adelson's money — they reportedly have the financial backing of Goldman Sachs, which could allow them to take on the full brunt of their now $1.15 billion bill for the new Las Vegas stadium (a relocation fee would fall on top of that).
The team was set to contribute $500 million to the deal before Adelson backed out of his pledge — $200 million of that was coming from the NFL and $300 would come from selling personal seat licenses.
That's a lot of eggs in the Vegas basket.
Romanowski doesn't buy that the Raiders are all-in on the Silver State, though:
"I really do believe that (Raiders owner) Marc Davis wants them to stay in Oakland, but he needs [the city and league] to step up and help them."
