Mark Davis looked forward to the 2020 NFL season like none before. The Raiders’ owner could see himself watching his team officially open its inaugural season in Las Vegas while playing in the $2 billion Allegiant Stadium.
But the realities of COVID-19 intervened — fans weren’t allowed to attend home games — and the Raiders stumbled to an 8-8 finish following a 6-3 start.
Davis wasn’t happy with such a record and yet remains steadfast in his belief that head coach Jon Gruden and general manager Mike Mayock are capable of returning the Raiders to the playoffs, which they have now missed 17 times in the last 18 years.
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Davis reflected on the just concluded season in a question-and-answer session on Friday with Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney.
Q:You said from the beginning this season that until fans were allowed to attend games at Allegiant Stadium, you would join them in not going. How difficult was that?
A: It was really tough, no doubt about it. There were times when I was pretty sad about it. But at the same time, I made a commitment to the fans and needed to stick by it. Hopefully, this next season, we will all get to go in together and enjoy it as we should. It was a very strange year, like the “Twilight Zone” with COVID-19 and all the challenges it presented.