Growing up in South Carolina, Chris Gamble played football and was a fan of the Oakland Raiders.
Now 40, Gamble is a technical sergeant at Creech Air Force Base, about 40 minutes northwest of Las Vegas.
Though his football playing days are long over, Gamble got a chance to rub shoulders Tuesday with some current and former Raiders players at the team’s Henderson practice facility during a military appreciation event.
Dubbed an “NFL boot camp,” the event, presented by military member insurance provider USAA, offered 30 members of the Creech and Nellis Air Force bases a chance to run drills on the facility’s artificial turf.
“Originally, my family is from Oakland, so that’s where it came from,” said Gamble of his favorite NFL team, which moved to Las Vegas in 2020. “It’s amazing to be here; to be in this building. I was stunned looking at it from the outside and it’s really nice inside.”
Thirty participants were split into five-person teams and those teams competed against each other to see which teams could run the fastest 40-yard dash times, throw a football the farthest, and perform other tasks.
The winning team — which Gamble was not a part of — won two tickets each to watch the Raiders play the Kansas City Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium in January.
While he played high school football as a wide receiver in South Carolina years ago — and even played, he said, at the college level at South Carolina State University for a time — Gamble wasn’t sure what his 40-yard dash time would be going in.
It turned out, however, to be a respectable 5.32 seconds, which he was happy with. Another participant Tuesday even recorded a time of 4.82 seconds.
“I knew I was never going to go pro in football,” Gamble said. “My granddad, my father and my uncles were all in the military, so I decided to follow in their footsteps.”
Rebecca Perez, an inspector general superintendent at Nellis Air Force Base, said she didn’t want to divulge her 40-yard dash time, but she said she had fun at the event, even though she’s more of an Arizona Cardinals fan.
“I wanted to bring my son because he plays football for Liberty High School, but it didn’t work out with the timing,” Perez said. “I’ll have a story to tell him, but he did come with me before to a combine-like event at (Allegiant Stadium). This is very cool. It’s a unique experience. What an awesome thing.”
Gamble said he was also excited to meet former Raiders player Darren McFadden, who helped run the drills on Tuesday. McFadden was drafted as a running back by the Raiders in 2008 and spent seven seasons with the franchise, rushing for over 4,200 yards and scoring 25 touchdowns.
“The service members, they do so much for our country, so to be able to come out here, it’s a joy,” McFadden said. “I’m very thankful for them.”
Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell and practice squad offensive lineman Dalton Wagner also helped with the drills. Tuesday’s event marked the fourth year the Raiders and USAA have partnered to put the showcase on.
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