Tom Hanks isn’t a fan of Raiders relocating to Las Vegas
ALAMEDA, Calif. — Tom Hanks is regarded for his philanthropy.
The Hollywood actor has raised funds to combat disease, such as AIDs. He has supported women’s issues, children, veterans and others in need. He’s been a champion for the environment and promoter of space travel.
A new cause, he admits, is not of the same scope. But it is important to him.
The Las Vegas Raiders.
Hanks ripped the franchise’s eventual relocation from Oakland, an impromptu pivot made Wednesday at a San Francisco charity event. NFL owners voted in March to approve the Raiders’ move to Las Vegas. Hanks’ comments on the cast away came a day before their scheduled No. 24 overall pick at the NFL draft in Philadelphia.
“When the Raiders leave, I am going on an NFL moratorium for two years,” Hanks said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “You cannot take the Silver and Black, put them in an air-conditioned dome in the desert, make them play on artificial turf within a stone’s throw of the fountains of Caesars Palace, and call them the Raiders.
“Here’s the thing I don’t quite understand. And I’m not trying to — this isn’t one of the (many) causes I’m fighting for. I’m just thinking as a fan: It’s a billion-dollar industry. They have billion-dollar TV contracts. All the owners are billionaires. And yet when they want to build a stadium they’re going to use for 10 weeks out of the year, they expect the city taxpayers to buy the building.
“The only good thing that is going to come out of the Oakland Raiders leaving — and there is nothing good that will come out of that, by the way — is that the Oakland A’s might get their own ballpark.”
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Michael Gehlken can be reached at mgehlken@reviewjournal.com. Follow @GehlkenNFL on Twitter.
