Raiders cheesed by Packers

Illustration+by+Brittany+England

Illustration by Brittany England

Louis LaVenture,
News and Sports Editor

There will be no playoffs for the Oakland Raiders this year, the Green Bay Packers made sure of that.

For the thirteenth consecutive year the silver and black will miss out on the postseason after they fell to the Packers (10-4), 30-20 on Sunday in Oakland. The Raiders are 6-8 with just two games remaining in the regular season.

To make things even worse, future hall of famer Charles Woodson announced on Monday that he would be retiring at the end of the season. Woodson, 39, was drafted by Oakland in 1998 out of the University of Michigan where he edged out Peyton Manning for the Heisman Trophy.

In a press conference in Alameda on Monday Woodson said he knew he was going to retire after the team lost to the Detroit Lions on Nov. 22, but he didn’t tell his teammates until today.

“It was really hard to get it out and tell everybody,” Woodson said. “Honestly, I think physically I could do it. My body has responded. But mentally it’s not there. Not going to happen.”

The final home game of the season for the silver and black is on Christmas Eve, which will be the last game in Oakland for Woodson and possibly the team. The NFL has set the end of January as the timetable for the Oakland franchise to come up with a feasible new stadium deal or the team could relocate to Carson.

NFL owners will vote on Jan. 12 and 13 in Houston on whether to allow one or two teams to relocate to Southern California. This vote is crucial for Oakland, who would like to share a joint stadium with the San Diego Chargers. The St. Louis Rams are also interested in moving to the Los Angeles Area where their owner, Stan Kroenke, already owns enough land to build a complex.

The Raiders and Chargers (4-10) play at 5:15 p.m. on Christmas Eve and their final game of the season is at 10 a.m. on Jan. 3 on the road against the Kansas City Chiefs (9-5).