DAVIS STIRS SPECULATION ON RAIDERS.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer Oakland Raiders This article is about an American football team. For other uses, see Raider. The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in the city of Oakland, California. owner Al Davis For other persons named Al Davis, see Al Davis (disambiguation). Allen "Al" Davis (born July 4, 1929 in Brockton, Massachusetts) is an American football executive, who currently serves as the president and managing general partner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders. stirred new speculation Tuesday about a possible return to Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , praising Councilman Nate Holden Nathaniel "Nate" R. Holden (1929-) served on the Los Angeles City Council from 1987 to 2002. He previously served a term on the California State Senate and was Assistant Chief Deputy to then Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn. for reading between the lines Between the lines can refer to:
And Holden said he believes he touched a nerve with Oakland officials who sent him a letter threatening legal action if he did anything to convince the team to return to Los Angeles. Davis, at a news conference introducing new coach Jon Gruden Jon Gruden (born August 17, 1963 in Sandusky, Ohio) is the current head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the NFL. Prior to taking over as coach of Tampa Bay, he was the head coach of the Oakland Raiders for 4 years. , praised Holden as being ``very, very smart. ``His credibility cannot be questioned because he's a bright guy,'' Davis said. ``When you're sued by your own city, it causes great concern by those who are sued.'' Oakland is suing Davis to make him abide by a 13-year contract, which he has threatened to break because of a dispute over $130 million in renovations to the Oakland Coliseum promised to him when he returned to the city in 1994 after playing in Los Angeles for 13 seasons. But Raiders spokesman Al LoCasale downplayed Davis' remarks, saying the owner only was remarking about Holden's analysis of the situation. ``But, as far as we are concerned, all our focus is on playing the season next year with a hard-hitting football team in Oakland Coliseum,'' LoCasale said. Holden said he was confident he is correct because of the letter he received from Oakland urging him to back off. ``You are on notice that talks with the Oakland Raiders aimed at moving the team to Los Angeles before that contract expires. . . . would constitute tortious interference,'' the letter said. Holden said the letter confirmed how concerned Oakland is about losing the team. ``They have now gone on record blaming me because they have failed to provide needed support to make the Raiders a successful team,'' Holden said. The Associated Press contributed to this story. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) DAVIS |
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