When the San Francisco Chronicle reported two weeks ago that a group of investors led by Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott was making a push to help build a new stadium to keep the Oakland Raiders in town, it provided hope that finally something could get done in the Bay Area.

Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf was less excited, though, saying that she would only talk to a development group brought to her directly by the Raiders. Then, the most powerful (even if he might also be the most hated) man in the NFL stepped in and changed things.

Sunday night, the Chronicle reported that league commissioner Roger Goodell is backing Lott's group and urging others to do the same. That includes Schaaf, whom Goodell spoke to and is now set to meet with Lott and the other investors this week, according to the Chronicle.

"I am encouraged by the team (Lott) has assembled," Schaaf said to the paper. "My recent conversations with Commissioner Goodell and others have given me confidence that it's time to continue our conversations."

Lott's team, as Schaaf put it, consists of mostly African American investors, and in return for potentially filling the reported $400 million funding gap, the group is looking to take part ownership from Mark Davis. Whether or not that matters to some, it apparently does to Goodell, as the NFL remains the only sports league of the big four in the United stats without black ownership.

Meanwhile, Davis continues to publicly put all of his eggs in the Las Vegas basket. With Lott and his group, which also includes former Raider Rodney Peete, presenting a possible solution -- or at least the means to reach a solution -- Davis was asked Friday if he would balk on his Vegas commitment if something arose in Oakland.

"No, I would not, and I've made that clear," Davis said to the Las Vegas Review-Journal at the Gridiron Greats Hall of Fame Induction dinner. "The opportunity came up in Las Vegas, and we're giving it full bore. This is not a pawn in a game. We are serious.

"Right now, I'm focused on Las Vegas. We think it could make a great marriage with Las Vegas and the Raiders."

As long as the financing plan that asks for $750 million in public money to build a $1.4 billion stadium is approved, Davis said the Raiders will remain committed to Las Vegas. It appears enough of the league's owners are willing to throw their support behind the move, too, making Las Vegas a real possibility.

But everyone saw how much power and pull Davis has when the Raiders finished a distant third in a three-team race for Los Angeles. The NFL's elite went off script and put together the plan that sent the Rams to L.A., gave the Chargers the option to join them and told Davis he would have his choice of moving to Southern California if the Bolts said no.

So while Davis might not be using Las Vegas to spur action in Oakland, Goodell might have forcibly got the ball rolling instead. According to the Chronicle, the Raiders are still skeptical of anything getting done in Oakland because of the presence of the A's and their pursuit of a new stadium of their own where the Coliseum currently stands.

However, the Lott group's pending meeting with Schaaf and then the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, along with reported discussions between the investors and stadium planner Larry MacNeil, indicates things are at least moving in a positive direction.