We did a day trip from LA to Oakland to see the game. Flight got us to the stadium just as it was opening, about 3 hours before kickoff. As we crossed the bridge from the train to the stadium, AC/DC blasted over speakers on the bridge, and we followed two very large Raiders fans carrying fittingly large bottles of Don Julio and cases of Modelo, who looked like they may have been living under that same bridge. So far, we’re off to an intimidating start.

We entered the stadium, and had plenty of time to explore and chat with people. There was some good-natured ribbing about our red attire, and several people stopped to warn us that we needed to be careful, especially later in the game, and ESPECIALLY if the Raiders were losing, and maybe think about taking that jersey off in the 4th quarter if that was the case (I was wearing another bright red Chiefs shirt under it.) :) It was one thing to hear friends and family warn us that Raiders fans were dangerous in the days and weeks before our trip. It was another to hear it from stadium staff. We invited the only other two Chiefs fans we had seen so far to join us at a table for a bit. He was an ex-marine, so yeah, I think he can handle himself. We also chatted to another couple outside that were wearing black, and the gentleman pulled up his pant leg to reveal red socks and said he was secretly a Chiefs fan, but didn’t want to broadcast that fact. My wife asked him what he did for a living. “We’re both federal agents.” Oh. Great… :)

We eventually made it to our seats, a couple specks of red in a sea of black. The Raiders started off their final game in Oakland against the Chiefs like they had nothing to lose. As they roared to a 10–0 start, the stadium matched them with a roar of their own. I’ve been to several games in Arrowhead, which holds the record for loudest NFL crowd ever, and I was super-impressed with the level of intensity and support that this crowd had. Raiders fans were for real. But all the while, even at their wildest, even as chants of “FUCK THE CHIEFS” carried across the stadium, nobody ever directed any hostility towards us specifically. The Raiders fan I sat next to shook my hand, and was pleasant and chatty the entire game.

As the Chiefs scored 28 unanswered points in the 2nd quarter, and the alcohol continued to flow, I braced myself to start receiving some of the attitude that seemed like a foregone conclusion. But everywhere we went, that hostility never came. It turned out, for all their reputation of being the bad boys of the NFL, the Raiders fans were genuinely nice, and still super-supportive and enthusiastic of a team about to abandon them for Las Vegas next season. It turned out, the ONLY truly negative-sounding taunt we received all day was from a 6-year-old, who yelled out to us at the end of the game, “YOU SUCK! GET OUT OF HERE!” :)

We hung out at the bar and waited for the crowd to disperse before going back out to the train. After a few minutes, the same two giants who we followed into the stadium 6 hours ago stumbled up to the bar next to us. We mentioned to them that we had followed them in this morning. Then they offered to buy us drinks and shook my hand.

It was a great trip, and a great game for the Chiefs, who went on to win 28–10, and the Raiders definitely came to play. And after all that, I gotta say, I hate the Raiders just a LITTLE bit less than I did 2 days ago. It was a great eye-opening experience, and a reminder that we’re all just regular people with a slightly irregular love for an awesome sport.

Except Broncos fans. Seriously, fuck those guys.