On Jan. 5 the St. Louis Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders; not happy with their current stadium situations in their home markets, filed the necessary paperwork with the National Football League to relocate to the city of Los Angeles at the end of their seasons. L.A. is the nation’s second largest media market and the winner once NFL owners voted on the relocation.
On Tuesday, Jan. 12, in Houston, the owners voted 30-2 to approve the Rams bid. As well, they provided the Chargers with the first option to join the Rams with the Raiders receiving the second option. The Raiders owner, Mark Davis Acquiesce, congratulated the Rams on being approved and withdrew the team’s L.A. bid.
Contrary to popular belief, the Rams are not L.A.’s first professional football team. That distinction goes to the 1926 Los Angeles Buccaneers, although it was a traveling team that played all of their games on the road. The Rams brought the NFL the three-end formation, playing in the pre-Super-Bowl-era (1949-56) NFL championship game four times with one win.
During that period, the Rams had the best offense in football, despite quarterback changes like the one from Bob Waterfield to Norm Van Brocklin. During their 1951 championship season, running back/wide out Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch produced a then-startling 1,495 receiving yards and 17 touchdowns.
The Rams went from the only professional sports team in L.A. in 1946 to one of five that eventually landed there: the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to L.A. in 1958, the upstart L.A. Chargers were there in 1960, the Lakers moved from Minneapolis in 1960 and the MLB’s Angels after they were awarded to Gene Autry. The Rams set an attendance record at The [L.A.] Coliseum Nov. 10, 1957 when 102, 368 fans watched the Rams thump the San Francisco 49ers.
The Rams were so popular in the City of Angels that then-Chargers owner Barron Hilton relocated his team to San Diego. Furthermore, L.A. will never forget #26, Jon Arnett, also known as “Jaguar Jon” who was an All-American player at USC and Manuel Arts High School. After a stellar career at USC, Arnett became the No. 2 overall player selected in the 1957 NFL Draft by the Rams and was voted to the Pro Bowl five times.
Equally important was the Fearsome Foursome; defensive end Deacon Jones, defensive tackle Merlin Olsen, defensive tackle Rosey Grier and defensive end Lamar Lundy; the defensive line that defined the 1960s and called the most dominate defensive line in NFL history by Bears linebacker Dick Butkus. This group restored the franchise’s luster after the Rams posted losing seasons in all but two seasons from 1956-1966.
Los Angeles has been without professional football since the 1994 season when the Raiders returned to Oakland and the Rams moved to St. Louis.
The entertainment capital of the world has many stadiums; like the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall, the L.A. Coliseum and the Rose Bowl, although it has never had one that is state-of-the-art. Because of this, the league’s six-owner committee on L.A. opportunities has presented a project called the Carson Project (presented as a Chargers-Raiders partnership) over and above the Rams-backed Inglewood project, a new 80,000-seat facility in Inglewood.
The Inglewood stadium is projected for a 2019 completion (Rams owner Stan Kronke will pay a $550 million relocation fee).
Until Inglewood is completed, it is being reported that the Rams will play in the historic L.A. Memorial Coliseum, home of the USC Trojans, where the team debuted on Sept. 29, 1946, Interestingly, in their inaugural game at the Coliseum; the Rams lost 25-14 to the Philadelphia Eagles. Some may recall that this stadium is famous for hosting the 1932 Olympics.
It is only right that the Rams make a triumphant return in their royal blue and white gear.
It was their blue and yellow uniforms however that were worn when they arrived in Los Angeles as the defending NFL Champion so long ago. That was an era when the team proved it was ahead of its time, signing halfback Kenny Washington and wide receiver Willie Strode, and it would appropriate that they wear the latter colors as their alternate uniforms.
Washington and Strode became the first black players to play in the NFL since the league instituted a ban on black players in 1932. The Los Angeles Rams brings back childhood memories of the all-time great Rams that donned the blue, yellow and white over their 48 years in tinsel town.
There are legendary names associated with the Rams: Dick Huffman, Glen Davis, Bob Waterfield, Don Paul, Woodley Lewis, Tom Fears, Andy Robustelli, Norm Van Brocklin, Tank Younger and Tommy Wilson; as well as John Arnett, Dick Bass, Roman Gabriel, James Harris, Harold Jackson, Lawrence McCutcheon, Isaiah Robertson, Jack Youngblood, Jim Youngblood, Hacksaw Reynolds, Vince Ferragamo, Charles White, Eric Dickerson, Kevin Greene, Henry Ellard, Jackie Slater, Tom Newberry and Roman Phifer are just a few.
The city of Los Angeles — as well as die-hard fans of the team regardless of where it was based — will welcome the Rams back to its west coast home with open arms.
No matter where it is, however, the goal remains the same… to win a championship.
Ironically, in Jeff Fisher the Rams have a head coach that was a former USC Trojan.
Heading into the 2016 draft the Rams need a quarterback, wide receiver, offensive tackle, pass rusher and guard. Here is a way-too-early, 2016 NFL Mock Draft for the Rams:
- Round 1, Pick 15, WR Laquan Treadwell, Ole Miss
- Round 2, Pick #43, SS Jeremy Cash, Duke
- Round 2, Pick #45, QB Christian Hackenberg, Penn State
- Round 3, Pick #76, OLB Jordon Jenkins, Georgia
- Round 4, Pick #107, CB D.J. White, Georgia Tech
• Round 6, Pick #172, OT Cole Toner, Harvard