CHARLOTTE – The Oakland Raiders aren’t just the next opponent on the schedule for head coach Ron Rivera.
When the silver and black franchise is mentioned, Rivera’s face lights up. The Northern California native clearly had a connection with Raiders.
“I grew up a Raider fan back in the day,” Rivera said. “I never really had one true team I really cheered for, but they were probably the closest thing to it.”
Rivera idolized Raiders quarterback Jim Plunkett and rooted for them while his younger brother cheered for the Steelers, the other dominant team of that era.