Raiders Training Camp, From Santa Cruz to Santa Rosa to Napa to Henderson
The Las Vegas Raiders are holding training camp for the third straight year at their facility at Intermountain Healthcare Performance Center in Henderson, Nev., but owner Mark Davis had hoped to keep the Silver and Black at Redwood Middle School in Napa, Calif.
However, the Coronavirus Pandemic got in the way and the Raiders have been forced to stay close to home since moving to Sin City in 2020.
“I would like to continue to do it there (in Napa),” Davis told The Athletic two years ago. “It is one of the most beautiful places in the world and gives us ties back to our Northern California roots. Southern California is another possibility, but I just think there is nothing better than Napa.
“I feel like in Napa we had one of the best training camp facilities in the National Football League. By far. … It’s just a great environment. Obviously, we’re looking at other (sites), but personally, I love Napa, and I don’t see a problem.
“I really don’t know what the future holds. But right now, I think we have the best situation possible in the National Football League.”
The Raiders, as has been duly noted on Raider Maven, started their history with training camp at Santa Cruz High School in Santa Cruz, Calif., in their first years of existence in 1960-62, before famously moving to the El Rancho Tropicana Hotel in Santa Cruz, Calif., from 1963-84.
When Managing General Partner Al Davis moved the Raiders to Los Angeles in the early 1980s, they trained at the Oxnard Hilton in 1985-86, the Radisson Suite Hotel from 1986-95, and Redwood Middle School in Napa from 1996-2019.
When Al Davis moved the Raiders back to Oakland in 1996, he hoped to return to the El Rancho Tropicana in Santa Rosa, but it had closed down earlier in the year, so the Silver and Black turned to Napa
Mark Davis wasn’t the only person who believed things were just about perfect there.
“I’ve always said there are 32 training camps and by far this is the best one that I personally have been through,” said former Raiders linebacker Kirk Morrison, who also played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills.
“It was just the elements that we would always love being out here and just the setup. The green, being able to walk literally from your hotel room to the practice field, you didn’t have to walk or drive anywhere. It was to a point where when you come to Napa, you parked your car and you literally watched it accumulate dirt for two weeks and you wouldn’t leave because there was no reason to leave. Everything was right here for you.
“If the Raiders ever do leave here, trust me there would be a lot of teams that would love to come down here and have a very comfortable training camp because not only does it bring out a lot of people, but it brings out some camaraderie as well.”
People who were in Napa, and at Santa Rosa for that matter, said the weather, landscape, and other conditions were about as perfect as there are for an NFL training camp, and in both places, the Raiders players and coaches would walk from their hotel rooms at the El Rancho and the Napa Valley Marriott to the training facility, the practice field, meeting rooms, and the banquet room.
It appears, for now, the Raiders are not coming back to California, except when they play on the road against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Los Angeles Rams, or the San Francisco 49ers.
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