Ronnie Lott did not reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame by being timid. But in a Friday phone conversation, he acknowledged that working through the process to achieve a stadium proposal for the Raiders to consider in Oakland has been “tougher than tackling Walter Payton.”

For the unfamiliar, Payton was also a Hall of Famer, a Chicago Bears running back who never went down easily. Lott, who has captained an effort to keep the Raiders in the East Bay rather than see the team move to Las Vegas, remains optimistic that he and other stadium supporters can manage to wrestle down a workable deal on the current Coliseum property. Lott also thinks the NFL will be supportive of such a project.

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Ronnie Lott headlines team looking to build Oakland stadium for Raiders Why? Because he has spoken with top-level NFL executives, including commissioner Roger Goodell, who are encouraging him in his efforts.

“What they’ve said to me is, ‘We believe this is a great opportunity in Oakland,’ ” Lott told me. “What they’ve said is, ‘We want healthy teams to succeed in their communities.’ ”

This generally matches up with Goodell’s most recent public comments on the issue, which came two weeks ago at the groundbreaking for the Los Angeles Rams’ new stadium in Southern California. While there, Goodell was asked about the stadium situations in both Oakland and San Diego, where the Chargers’ ballot initiative for a new venue was rejected on election day. Goodell said his first preference is always to have current teams stay in their current markets.

“If we get our issues resolved in San Diego and our issues resolved in Oakland, I think that’s the ideal solution, frankly,” Goodell told reporters. “I think that’s what we would all like to see happen. But there’s a lot that has to get done in those two communities to get there.”

As has been widely reported, Lott has helped coagulate efforts in the East Bay to assemble a stadium proposal that the NFL can consider in January. That’s when Raiders owner Mark Davis is expected to apply for a franchise transfer to Southern Nevada, where he has signed on to a $1.9 billion stadium proposal in Las Vegas. Oakland mayor Libby Schaaf has been the principal politician to champion Lott’s efforts, which are backed by Fortress Investment Group in New York.

So far, however, all of those talks in Oakland have taken place in closed-door meetings of the city council and the Alameda County supervisors, who jointly control the Coliseum site. I addressed my concerns about that lack of transparency in an earlier column. Lott assured me that the public will have a look at the proposed deal soon enough, projecting that details will be revealed no later than Dec. 13 at an Oakland city council meeting.

Meanwhile, Lott has been engaging in shuttle diplomacy as he’s joined Schaaf in meetings not just with the council and supervisors, but with East Bay labor unions. Lott believes they will back the project because of its job-creation components. The feedback from most parties has been positive, Lott said, although he hinted that the city’s bad experience with the 1995 Raiders stadium deal has caused some officials to be leery. Lott hopes that they will instead focus on the potential of a new stadium plan that will include development of the Coliseum property in beneficial ways.

“How do you live in the past?” Lott said. “There’s been opposition because the opposition continues to look backward. People will tell you about fears of what happened yesterday. No one wants to go through what they did in the past. So how do you convince people to look forward at the possibilities, that this will work and that we can do it without putting taxpayers in jeopardy?”

Lott offered several reasons why East Bay taxpayers should be in favor of a deal even if it involves a $200 million public contribution for infrastructure surrounding the stadium and other elements of the project. He mentioned the local income taxes that well-compensated athletes pay. This includes visiting athletes from other teams who, when they play a game in Oakland, have a chunk of that week’s paycheck deducted for that purpose. The community outreach efforts and charitable contributions made by the Raiders will also be lost if the team leaves town, Lott said.

But ultimately, it will still come down to what sort of offer Lott and Schaaf can assemble for the 32 NFL owners who will vote on the Raiders’ Las Vegas relocation request in January. The Raiders need a “yes” vote from at least 24 owners to make the move–while if nine or more owners reject the idea or succeed in delaying the decision, Oakland’s prospects will improve. The NFL is currently conducting market studies of both the Bay Area and Southern Nevada to assist the owners in their choice. Lott has spoken with league executives about that, as well.

“I do know they understand that the Bay Area is a better market than Las Vegas,” Lott said.

If he’s right, the Dec. 13 council meeting in Oakland assumes even more importance.