Jun 18, 2014; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs championship trophies are displayed during NBA championship celebrations at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports
Former San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Vikings owner Red McCombs went on Sirius XM NFL Radio a few months ago to discuss his experiences as a former owner of a franchise in both the NBA as well as the NFL when McCombs inevitably failed to get a new stadium deal in Minnesota to replace the Metrodome before selling the team in 2005.
Hopping on the “Movin the Chains” show, McCombs mentioned that San Antonio could successfully host an NFL franchise much like the Spurs proved to the NBA that they could thrive in the Texas market, noting that thanks to advancements in the media that it would be easier now to relocate a franchise to San Antonio successfully than it was to grow the Spurs from their beginnings in the ABA.
McCombs also mentioned that he feels that the City of Oakland has been unfair to the Raiders since their return to the city from Los Angeles, citing broken promises as well as poor leadership from the city in making sure that the Raiders franchise gets proper support and a proper NFL venue has made their second stay in the city less successful than it should be.
The interview was an interesting one at the time, but is even more relevant now with Mark Davis meeting with San Antonio city officials earlier this month as well as McCombs during a stay in the city with franchise great Willie Brown. During his interview McCombs even jokingly suggested that he will call Mark Davis as soon as he was done his interview.
McCombs clearly feels that the NFL could work in San Antonio as it does in Dallas with the Cowboys and Houston with the Texans, something that may be true considering the success of the Spurs combined with the popularity of football in the state of Texas. Nobody knows if that will ever happen, but with San Antonio being one the list of cities NFL owners contact when looking to gain some leverage to get stadium deals done in their current locations you just never know.
You can listen to McCombs full interview below: