Raider Nation

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Members of Raider Nation are known for attending games in elaborate costumes.
Members of Raider Nation are known for attending games in elaborate costumes.

Raider Nation refers to the nationwide, perhaps global, die hard fans of the Oakland Raiders football team of the National Football League. The Raider Nation is also known for its "black hole", a specific section of the McAfee Coliseum (Sections 104, 105, 106, and 107) frequented by the rowdiest and most fervent fans. The origin of the name is obscure. Certainly it was in vogue during the early 1980s, when Raider fans from the San Francisco Bay Area were forced to travel to Los Angeles or elsewhere to watch their team. The Raiders today currently based in Oakland still have a strong fanbase in Los Angeles.

The term "nation" to describe the team’s following derives in large part to the sheer magnitude of its numbers. Former Raider Rickey Dudley, quoted in the St. Petersburg Times, stated, “It's amazing. Although you go to a lot of places and there are fans there from everywhere, I'll have to say that in my years I don't think I have ever seen fans like [the Raiders’]. They follow you to the cities and to the hotels. You get there and the lobbies are full of Raider fans. You know why they call it the Raider Nation? Because it's nationwide. Miami, Boston, wherever. You're part of the Raider Nation. It's so large. They say Dallas is America's Team, well, I'm not so sure about that. The Raiders are beloved." Another former Raider, Randy Jordan, agreed: "It's not Raider Club. It's not Raider Fans. It's Raider Nation. Wherever you go, you will find more than just a few fans. There's never one Raider [fan], they come in droves.”

Denver Post staff writer Bill Briggs (and no lover of the Raiders), in a 2005 article wrote, “The Raiders may be the second-most popular team in Denver, as they are in other National Football League cities. Nationally, Raiders gear outsold other teams' jerseys three out of the past four years, according to the NFL.” (The latter point is not lost on Raiders’ majority owner Al Davis, who rues the fact that NFL teams share equally in profits from merchandise sold.)

There are many theories as to what created Raider Nation. Some point to the working-class, multi-racial nature of the city of Oakland. Others give a nod to the us-against-the-world attitude spawned by “outlaw” owner Davis. Still others talk about the team’s aggressive, combative (detractors would say “dirty”) style of play during the 1970s and 1980s, when the Raiders won their three Super Bowls, embodied by players nicknamed “The Assassin” (Jack Tatum), “Doctor Death” (Skip Thomas), "Snake" (Ken Stabler) and “The Mad Stork” (Ted Hendricks). (Chuck Noll, former coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers football team, once described the Raider defensive backs as a "criminal element.")

Hunter S. Thompson, a Raider fan in the last years of his life, wrote, "The massive Raider Nation is beyond doubt the sleaziest and rudest and most sinister mob of thugs and wackos ever assembled."

Raider Nation has been the subject of a documentary entitled, A Look Into The World of the Most Notorious Fans on the Planet: "The Raider Nation,” currently for sale on DVD. In its review, Amazon.com states: “A cross between an English soccer match and a Halloween ball, an Oakland Raiders game is uniquely singular. From tailgate parties that start three days before the game, to legendary fanaticism both inside and outside of the stadium, the Raider Nation is a people worth exploring.”

The team's fans utter devotion is chronicled in "Better to Reign in Hell," a book written by San Diego English professors Jim Miller and Kelly Mayhew, who are also Raider fans. The title is derived from an assertion by Satan in Paradise Lost by John Milton: "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven."

The term "Raider Nation," with "Nation" serving to describe the team's numerous followers, has spawned a number of imitators in recent years, the most notable being perhaps the so-called "Red Sox Nation." Even the Borland software company, having been started by Raider fans, refers to its employees and culture as the "Borland Nation."

Sports talk radio host J.T. the Brick, now nationally syndicated, but at one time local to Oakland, coined the term for the Raiders' cross-bay rival, "49er Empire."

"The Autumn Wind," narrated by the legendary John Facenda, has been coined "The Battle Hymn of the Raider Nation."


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