Alexander DeLeon has been going to Raiders tailgates since he was 2 or 3 years old. His earliest memories are waking up in the stadium parking lot following a hourlong trip to Oakland; his dad would pick him up out of bed and wrap him in a blanket so he could sleep in the car. DeLeon, 33, was born and raised in Las Vegas, but his dad lived in Northern California. (He describes the Raiders’ move to his home city as “the best news ever besides staying in Oakland.”)
In the tailgating lot, DeLeon remembers always waking up to music—usually Bay Area hip-hop and classic rock—and of course, the food, which was so largely influenced by the strong Hispanic culture present in Oakland. DeLeon describes himself as half Mexican Hispanic, and his dad brought the barbecue to each tailgate, grilling different dishes like carne asada and chorizo each time.
Over the years, DeLeon came to recognize some of the more well-known and ever-present Raiders fans. To a kid, fans like Darth Raider made it feel like Halloween, but he quickly learned that underneath the scary, often villain-like costumes, Raiders fans are actually some of the warmest, friendliest and most passionate in the NFL.
“All these awesome fans that almost felt like celebrities, like it was my version of Disneyland,” DeLeon says. “Like kids who go line up to meet Mickey Mouse and ask for an autograph, and I’m trying to meet these cool Raider fans.”
After the tailgates, DeLeon did what any other young fan would: try 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 a hat for him once. Then, for most of his childhood, it was defensive back Charles Woodson. Fast forward 20-something years, and DeLeon got a much better gift from Woodson than a signed hat: The nine-time Pro Bowler officiated his wedding. DeLeon and his wife, Josephine Skriver (SI’s Swimsuit Rookie of the Year in 2020), hosted a wedding and reception in Cabo San Lucas back in April, but complications with getting a marriage license in Mexico meant that they had to be officially married in the United States as well.
So DeLeon asked his then fiancé: What would be your dream wedding? Skriver—who has become a die-hard Raiders fan as well in the 10 years she and DeLeon have been together—told him her dream would be to get married on the Raiders’ home field. They both laughed at the time, thinking it would likely be an impossible dream to accomplish. But DeLeon had met Woodson a few times before, so he still went ahead and reached out on Twitter. To their surprise, he said he’d be happy to do it. Next thing they knew, Skriver was walking down the aisle again, except this time the aisle was the Raiders emblem at Allegiant Stadium.
DeLeon describes the new stadium as an “ode to the fan base,” a museum that honors the franchise and its legacy as an underdog. Though he knows that it’s impossible to match what the tailgates were in Oakland—partly because the temperatures in Vegas make it borderline dangerous to party outside in September—he thinks the fan base will see it more as a new home with time.
“You got to show the community that you know you’re here to stay. Raiders fans have attachment issues because we switched cities,” DeLeon says. “So, I think the longer the Raiders stay and keep building and growing, I think that fans will just keep embracing it.”
Besides being a die-hard Raiders fan, DeLeon is also known for his work as the singer-songwriter Bohnes. He travels around the world to perform and began to invest in photography as another creative outlet, as well as a way for him to capture all the places he was seeing and experiencing. He had just bought himself a new camera in December 2019, a week before the Raiders were supposed to play their last game in Oakland. He already planned to go to the tailgate, so he thought: Why not test it out there and capture the essence of Oakland tailgates before they’re gone?
The last Oakland tailgate was emotional, like a family reunion of sorts for the fans who had been coming to that lot nearly every fall and winter Sunday morning of their lives. DeLeon, who went with Skriver, his dad and his brother, tried to capture some of the legendary costumes and notorious fans that were there—the Raiders are what they are because of the people who support them, he says. As NFL fans will remember, the final Oakland game didn’t go the Raiders’ way (the team lost by one point to fall out of playoff contention), but the day will be remembered more for that final tailgate, DeLeon says.
“It just felt like everyone was there,” DeLeon says. “People were crying, and people were hugging and people were taking tequila shots and dancing and just trying to soak it in one last time. Walking up to that stadium for the last time was emotional for everyone. … I wanted that tailgate to go on for 48 hours.”
