Oakland Raiders

The owner of the Oakland Raiders tells TMZ Sports ... he does in fact own the domain LasVegasRaiders.com -- and has for years -- "just in case" the Silver and Black move to Sin City.

We spoke with Mark Davis who confirmed he personally bought the domain back in the '90s "in case the team ever wound up in Vegas."

"I think it's only $8 per year ... so, it's worth it in case we end up there."

When asked why he liked Vegas as a possible destination, Davis said -- "It's close to where we are now. It would be a close trip for our fans and there are a lot of sports fans who visit Vegas."

One other interesting thing ... Davis told us he believes the Raiders are the only NFL team that could "exist" out in Vegas.

So far, it seems Vegas could still be in the cards for the team -- especially with Las Vegas Sands honcho Sheldon Adelson gunning to build a $1 billion stadium on the UNLV campus.

Raiders, Rams and Chargers fans up in arms about their teams trying to bolt to Los Angeles are looking at this the wrong way ... according to former NFL star Eric Davis.

Davis won a Super Bowl with the 49ers, so he's up on Bay Area fans -- and we asked if Oakland's Raider Nation might jump to the other team in town if the Silver and Black head south again. It's the question millions of fans in St. Louis (who've also been through this before) and San Diego are asking themselves right now.

Well, check out ED's answer ... it might calm nerves in all 3 cities. In a nutshell -- rep your team, not your city.

3 NFL teams are suddenly like waiters on the Sunset Strip ... trying to get a break in Hollywood -- the Chargers, Rams and Raiders all filed docs with the league to move to Los Angeles.

Oakland Raiders superstar Aldon Smith is fighting the charges in his DUI case -- pleading not guilty to allegations he smashed his SUV door into another car and then drunkenly drove from the scene.

Aldon was arrested on August 6th -- after cops say he tried to get out of his car in a lot about a mile from Levi's Stadium when he swung the door open into the car next to him, causing roughly $500 in damage.

Cops say Smith got back in his car and left ... only to return to the scene on foot, where cops were waiting. Aldon then bombed a sobriety test and was arrested for DUI, hit and run and vandalism.

If convicted, Smith -- who has been arrested for DUI twice -- faces up to 2-and-a-half years behind bars.

Ex 49ers star Aldon Smith got a new team Friday ... signing with the Oakland Raiders -- but he also got charged with DUI, hit & run, and vandalism. A real good news/bad news kinda day.

As we previously reported ... Smith was busted last month after allegedly smashing his car into his neighbor's parked car. Aldon fled according to cops ... only to return, where he was arrested for DUI.

Talk about coincidence -- the Santa Clara D.A. decided to charge Smith today, and the D.A.'s Office tells us ... he's facing up to 2 1/2 years in county jail, if convicted.

This has gotta hurt ...

Oakland Raiders QB Derek Carr -- a guy who has a rocket for an arm -- was running passing drills with some friends yesterday when he asked a friend to post up with a camera for a cool, action shot.

The plan was ... the photog stands roughly 15 yards downfield and Carr fires a football right at his face -- with a wide receiver set to race in front at the last second to make the grab.

Very cool, artsy, action shot.

Problem was ... something went wrong during the first take and the camera guy got ROCKED.

Don't worry, the guy couldn't have been hurt too bad ... 'cause they did a second take -- this time, it worked like a charm.

Raiders or Rams ... Rams and Rams -- Los Angeles football fans are dying to find out which team returns -- and Warren G is already making a silver and black pledge in the pigskin civil war.

Warren was leaving Boulevard3 in Hollywood Wednesday night when we asked how excited he was about the possibility of the Oakland Raiders coming back.

The "Regulate" rapper admitted he did dabble in the Rams, in his foolish youth, while they played in L.A. -- but says he remained loyal to the Raiders even after they pulled up stakes ... and even though they've sucked hard for a while now.

A frightening moment for Oakland Raiders lineman Donald Penn -- who fought off a home intruder who kicked in his front door and threatened his family earlier this month ... TMZ Sports has learned.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Penn -- who's 6'4", 340 lbs. and a former Pro Bowler -- was at his L.A. home with his wife and kids when a large man hopped over his security gate, busted in his front door and began going crazy inside the home.

That's when Penn -- who was with his wife and 2 young children at the time -- sprung into action ... physically restraining the man (who's 6'1", 220 lbs.) ... until cops showed up.

Sources tell us ... Penn is adamant he has no connection to the man -- and doesn't know why he was targeted.

Penn eventually filed for a restraining order against the guy, which was granted -- and now the suspect has been ordered to stay at least 100 yards away from Penn and his family.

Who needs playoffs ... when you can have Cabo?

Here's Oakland Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr enjoying the perks of a 3-13 season ... relaxing on a beach Mexico with his smokin' hot wife Heather.

The couple -- along with their 1-year-old son Dallas -- celebrated Heather's bday with a week of oceanfront relaxing.

San Francisco 49ers safety Antoine Bethea tells TMZ Sports the team was PUMPED to see Colin Kaepernick get in Sio Moore's face at halftime last week ... saying, "It fired the guys up."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Kaepernick got into a heated spat with Moore in the tunnel at last week's game ... with Moore calling the QB a "bitch ass motherf**ker."

"Kap is a grown man and he won't let ANYBODY disrespect him like that," Bethea says.

"The guys in the locker room love seeing when your leader steps up like that. It makes us all rally behind him and get ready for these last few weeks and fight to get in (the playoffs)."

Bethea chalks the whole thing up to the local rivalry and says the 49ers are already moving on from the incident.

"Trust me, we are not worried about Sio and what the Raiders are doing. They got the victory and we look forward to getting our team ready for next week."

There's only one way to save the Oakland Raiders ... FIRE EVERYONE ... so says ex-NFL star Shawne Merriman, who says the team is "as bad as it gets."

"They need to clean house," Merriman says ... "Bring some people in there who WANT to play football ... and people who want to win."

But the best part about the encounter with the former San Diego Chargers linebacker -- when he took a second to PRAISE the Silver and Black.

"I used to love playing the Raiders ... they sent me to many Pro Bowls. So I can't hate."

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Terry Crews tells TMZ Sports ... back when he used to play for the L.A. Rams, the Raiders fans hated his team so much, they THREATENED his wife and family.

Crews -- a former NFL linebacker -- played for the Rams back in 1991 ... back before the Raiders ditched L.A. and moved back to Oakland.

And last night in L.A., Crews told us some of the more insane fans of the Silver and Black took the rivalry so seriously, they threatened his wife and family.

It's pretty crazy stuff -- but Terry tells us it's not the Raiders fans that people need to worry about these days ... there's ANOTHER team in the Bay Area that's even scarier.

The Raiders NEED Los Angeles ... and Los Angeles NEEDS the Raiders -- so says Hollywood legend Louis Gossett Jr. who tells TMZ Sports it's time to bring the Silver & Black back to where they belong.

Louis -- who recently appeared on "Celebrity Ghost Stories" -- says L.A. is still haunted by the ghosts of it's NFL past ... even since the Raiders left L.A. for Oakland back in '95.

The only way to exercise the demon??? BRING 'EM BACK!!!

A former Oakland Raiders cheerleader is BLASTING the ex-Raiderette who sued the NFL team ... calling her a "liar" who never really loved the sport.

TMZ Sports spoke with Nicole Rodrigues -- who cheered on the squad in 2003 and 2004 -- who insists she was always paid well during her time with the team.

"The Raiders, the whole organization, we're a family. That's the main thing ... they took care of us."

Not all of the former Raiderettes feel that way -- as we previously reported, a woman who called herself Lacy T. sued the team earlier this year claiming the team worked them like dogs and paid them less than minimum wage.

But Rodrigues is calling BS ... saying the women behind the suit are just looking for a quick buck -- and didn't appreciate the Raiderette experience

Bottom line for Rodrigues -- "I have zero complaints about how much I was paid."

With officials announcing that Flight 370 "ended in the pacific ocean" ... several athletes are offering their thoughts and prayers to the families who lost loved ones in the crash.

NFL star Justin Tuck tweeted, "Praying to the families of those who lost their lives on Malaysia airlines flight 370."

Team USA soccer star Alex Morgan posted, " So sad for the families, but a little closure as well. #Flight370."