Raiders-49ers Doesn't Mean What It Once Did

The Las Vegas Raiders opened their preseason schedule last Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas by hosting a team that was once one of their most hated rivals, the San Francisco 49ers.

The Raiders and 49ers held two days of practices together in Vegas, and even though things were competitive on the field, there also was friendly banter because quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo came to the Silver and Black from the Niners, and defensive end Clelin Ferrell once played for the Raiders.

Several other plays on each side are friends and enjoy each other’s company.

However, it wasn’t always that when the Oakland Raiders played against the 49ers, their rivals across San Francisco Bay.

Things were downright ugly, on and off the field, and ended their annual preseason meetings known as “The Battle of the Bay.”

On Aug. 11, 2011, in the parking lot at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, two Raiders fans were shot after the Raiders claimed a 17-3 victory in the annual preseason game between the Raiders and 49ers that dated to 1967.

One man reportedly wearing a “F--- the 49ers” T-shirt was shot at least twice and was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where fortunately he survived.

In addition, a 20-year-old Raiders fan was shot in the face in the parking lot after the game. They were fortunate to come away with superficial injuries after it was announced that he was in stable condition at the hospital.

The Raiders and 49ers had played a preseason game every year since that first one in 1967, but the series was canceled, and they didn’t play again until 2021, when San Francisco beat the Silver and Black, 34-10, at Allegiant Stadium.

There was bad blood between the teams from the beginning, as the teams couldn’t decide which one would host the first meeting, so a coin flip was held on June 16, 1967, at Treasure Island Naval Base, roughly halfway across San Francisco Bay via the Bay Bridge, which connected the two cities.

Captains Jim Otto of the Raiders and Clark Miller of the 49ers represented their teams, and there was definite tension in the air.

“If we had played the game that day, I would have kicked (Miller’s) butt,” Otto, the Raiders’ future Hall of Fame center, said. “I was ready to go to war. I didn’t like the 49ers. They tried to make us feel inferior.”

Otto and other Raiders felt the 49ers looked down on them when players from both teams made personal appearances at the same events around the Bay Area.

Navy Capt. Douglas Hugh drew Miller’s name from a hat, giving him the right to call the coin flip. Miller called “heads,” but the coin came up “tails,” so the first Raiders-49ers game would be played at the Oakland Coliseum on Sept. 3.

“There’s never been a Bay Area game that had more importance,” General Manager Scotty Stirling of the Raiders said. “That was an emotional time. I hated the 49ers. It went back to the old San Francisco (rivalry) thing. Feelings were high.”

The next day, the headline across the top of the Oakland Tribune sports page read: “Raiders to Play 49ers Here Sept. 3.” Below that was a headline that said: “Nicklaus’ 67 Takes Open Lead.”

The Raiders-49ers game would revive the bitter sports rivalry Oakland and San Francisco had for decades when the Oakland Oaks and San Francisco Seals baseball teams battled for decades in the Pacific Coast League, not to mention the fact that residents of “little old Oakland” always felt they were “big-leagued” by San Franciscans.

The Oakland Coliseum was filled with 53,254 fans or about 35,000 more than the Raiders had drawn for a preseason game in their first two seasons in the stadium. Still, Raider Nation left disappointed when the 49ers held on for a 13-10 victory after the Silver and Black committed three turnovers in the second half.

Star running back Clem Daniels of the Raiders was headed for what would have been a go-ahead touchdown in the final minutes when he fumbled about one foot from the goal line, and the 49ers recovered.

The Raiders got their revenge a year later when the Battle of the Bay was played at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco on Sept. 1. Quarterback Daryle Lamonica threw two touchdown passes, and the Silver and Black claimed a 26-19 victory.

The game doesn’t mean nearly as much these days.

The Silver and Black return to preseason action when they play the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 19, at 9 p.m. EDT/6 p.m. PDT.

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