A lawsuit that has roots dating back to 1985 was finally settled between the Oakland Raiders and the National Football League.

Those who follow football know that the world-renowned bad boys of the baddest sport out there went through a dark period during which, because of a stint owner Al Davis was in with the city of Oakland, the team actually played in
Los Angeles.

Heck, they actually won the only Super Bowl title for the city in a
Los Angeles’ team first-ever appearance in the big game back in 1984.

However, L.A., today known as a media market notoriously incapable of supporting an NFL team, couldn’t keep Davis happy for long. From 1982 to 1995, the Raiders played ball in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Seeking to relocate to new digs, Davis and the Raiders signed a deal with certain Los Angeles-based interests to build a new facility in Inglewood. Davis asked the NFL for $20 million and two Super Bowls to be hosted there between 2000 and 2004.

The NFL put forth a counteroffer of an unnamed (lower) amount of cash plus one Super Bowl guaranteed. Later, the league offered two Super Bowls and possibly the $20 mil, but a second team would be created for the Los Angeles area which would share the facilities.

Mr. Davis didn’t like that, took his football, and returned to Oakland where the team has played ever since. 

Oakland Raiders v. the National Football League, Paul Tagliabue et al. was first brought forth as an action for damages in March 1999. The jury trial began two years later, and then things really got crazy.

The Raiders’ legal offensive in 2001 consisted of five causes of action: Three were based on claims that, by moving to Oakland, the Raiders “left the NFL with an ‘opportunity’ to put another team in Los Angeles and that the NFL’s constitution and bylaws implicitly required that the Raiders be compensated for providing the NFL with that opportunity; two were based the league’s alleged failure to offer the Raiders more support for the development of the proposed Hollywood Park stadium.

The Raiders lost to the NFL, 9-3.

But.

In July 2002, the Raiders moved for a new trial on the grounds of juror misconduct.

Davis and co. complained that jurors Joseph A. and Linda H. were not exactly straight about their neutrality regarding those hated Raiders.

The legal brief in the California Supreme Court hearing ended today described Joseph A. as stating “several times during deliberations that he hated the Raiders and their owner, Al Davis,” and that he “would never find for the Raiders or award them any money.” Other odds declarations from Joseph A. stated that “the Raiders were always starting lawsuits with the NFL.”

Turns out Joseph A.’s favorite team, according to one fellow juror’s testimony, was “the New York Jets or Giants.” (Gotta be a Jets guy, right?)

Questionable juror Linda H. “told the other jurors that the Raiders’ lawyer did not want her on the jury, and that she would make them pay.”

In September 2002, the jury decision was labeled a mistrial by Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Richard Hubbell.

The California Supreme Court today, however, overturned that decision, unanimously, declaring that jury testimony about actions committed by fellow jury members was “sharply conflicting on every material issue, and the Raiders submitted no other evidence to support their motion for a new trial.”

The case is now considered over. Now perhaps the team should get to work on that disastrous bunch that turned in a 2-14 record.