Alexander DeLeon has been tailgating the Raiders since he was two or three years old. His first memory is waking up in the stadium parking lot after his hour-long trip to Auckland. His dad picked him up from his bed and wrapped him in a blanket so he could sleep in the car. DeLeon, 33, was born and raised in Las Vegas, but his father lived in Northern California. (He describes the Raiders’ move home as “the best news ever, apart from staying in Oakland.”)
At the tailgating lot, DeLeon remembers always waking up to music (usually Bay Area hip-hop and classic rock). So, of course, is the food, which is heavily influenced by the strong Hispanic culture that exists in Auckland. Deleon describes himself as half-Mexican-Hispanic, and his father would bring a barbecue to each tailgate, and each time he would grill a variety of dishes such as asada and chorizo.
Courtesy of Alexander Deleon
Over the years, Deleon has come to recognize some of the more famous and ever-present Raiders fans. He soon learned that beneath their terrifying, often villainous costumes, Raiders fans were actually the warmest, friendliest, most passionate people in the NFL.
“All these amazing fans who almost felt like celebrities, like my version of Disneyland,” says Deleon. I’m about to meet some cool Raider fans.”
Courtesy of Alexander Deleon
After the tailgate, Deleon, like any young fan, tried to get as close to the field as possible. At first, wide receiver Tim Brown was his favorite player, and the eventual Hall of Famer actually signed the hat for him once. It was defensive back Charles Woodson. Fast forward 20 years and Deleon received a gift from Woodson that was far better than an autographed hat. Deleon and his wife, Josephine Skriver (SI’s 2020 Swimsuit Newcomer of the Year), hosted their wedding and reception in Cabo San Lucas in April, but the complexities of getting a marriage license in Mexico Due to this, the two had to be legally married in Mexico. US too.
So Deleon asked his then-fiancée: what is your dream wedding? Skriver also became an avid Raiders fan during his ten years with Deleon, and said his dream was to get married in the Raiders’ home field. They both laughed at the time, thinking it would be an impossible dream. . To their surprise, he said he would gladly do so. The next thing they noticed was Skriver walking down the aisle again. However, this time the aisle was his Raiders emblem at Allegiant Stadium.
DeLeon describes the new stadium as a “hymn to the fan base”, a museum that honors the franchise and its legacy as an underdog. He knows it’s impossible for the tailgate to match what it was in Oakland, but with Vegas temperatures making it borderline dangerous to party outside in September. is.
“You have to show the community that you know you’re here. Raiders fans have attachment issues now that we’ve changed cities,” says DeLeon. “So I think the longer the Raiders stay and keep building and growing, the more fans will continue to embrace that.”
Besides being an avid Raiders fan, Deleon is also known for his work as singer-songwriter Boones. He traveled the world to perform and began investing in photography as another creative outlet. It is also the way he captures all the places he has seen and experienced. He had just purchased a new camera in December 2019, a week before the Raiders were due to play their final game in Oakland. Since he was already planning to go to the tailgate, he thought: So why not test it out and capture the essence of the Oakland tailgate before it’s gone?
Auckland’s final tailgate was emotional and felt like a sort of family reunion for fans who used to come to the place nearly every Sunday morning in the fall and winter.Skriver, along with his father and brother. Went DeLeon and tried to capture some of the legendary costumes and infamous fans that were there. As NFL fans will remember, Oakland’s final game didn’t go the way the Raiders wanted (the team lost by one point and dropped out of playoff contention), but that final tailgate meant that the day was more of an understatement. “It will be memorable,” says Deleon.
“It felt like everyone was there,” says Deleon. “People were crying, they were hugging, they were drinking tequila and dancing, trying to swallow it one last time. The last time we walked to that stadium was emotional for everyone. …that tail. He wanted the gate to last 48 hours.”
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