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If you’re a Los Angeles Rams fan, the vacation is a cross between an unlimited supply of free massages and the starting point of an endless tube ride.
In other words, it looks like something close to happiness.
from Business A future first ballot Hall of Fame defensive lineman until recently Not giving someone else’s pensionThe Rams didn’t just confirm their status as preseason Super Bowl favorites — they sent out a call to action to plan the route for next February’s rally.
Only a true cynic can make it rain. That’s what he said..
But, since I also have my finger on the pulse of the NFL’s 31 other fans — and my LA roots don’t prevent me from looking beyond the glitz and glamor — I’m taking it upon myself to try.
If the truth is you is not Rams fan, you’re probably starting to hate them now.
To be clear, I am not saying Ram deserves your enmity. I’m noticing that they have been in the last seven months. a lot.
Aaron Donald has come out of retirement to rejoin the ‘all in’ Rams
Nate Atkins
For some viewers, that drum beat at Super Bowl LACI has become more annoying than Lars Ulrich’s snare on Metallica’s St. Anger album.
The last time we saw the Rams in a meaningful football context, it was an NFC Championship Game heartbreak in Seattle against the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks, with franchise icon, Cooper Kupp; Adding salt to the wound End of season defeat.
Soon after that, the Rams started winning… and winning… and winning.
The franchise had a great time when quarterback Matthew Stafford was named the league’s MVP for the first time just days before his 38th birthday.
During his acceptance speech at the NFL Hall of Fame ceremony, Stafford confirmed his plans to return for an 18th season, telling his four daughters, who stood by his side on stage, “I can’t wait for you to go out there and kick ass and cheer me on next year.”
From then on, the Rams started attacking the offseason — kicking ass and taking names.
In March, LA reached an agreement with the Kansas City Chiefs to acquire All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, signing him to a four-year, $124 million contract. Not long after that, another former Chiefs cornerback, Jaylen Watson, arrived in free agency on a three-year, $51 million deal.
Armed with last year’s first-round pick from the Atlanta Falcons, the Rams surprised everyone on the first night of the April draft by taking Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. By choosing QB of the futureGeneral manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay played down the anger among fans and their “all-in” approach was too reckless.
Then came the bombs: In June, LA made a blockbuster trade for the Cleveland Browns to acquire edge rusher Myles Garrett, his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in three seasons. The only thing scarier for opposing offenses than trying to block Garrett: trying to block him And Defensive tackle Aaron Donald, the reigning Player of the Year, officially came out of retirement on August 30.
Five seasons ago, Donald set off a wild celebration in the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in their home stadium.
Guess where Super Bowl LXI will be held in February? Yes, Sophie Stadium.
It all seems inevitable that Hollywood screenwriters are doing a story over matcha pistachio lattes at Echo Park Canyon Coffee.
In other words, through no fault of their own, the Rams feel like they’ve taken the suspense — and the fun — out of the 2026 season.
It won’t be that easy, of course, but that hasn’t stopped skeptics from scrutinizing the Rams for what’s typically done with pre-designated “super teams.”
This usually involves judging McVeigh’s beloved, draft-night character After choosing Simpson (Both on the phone call to inform the quarterback of the choice and in news conference that evening) resembles someone in the hostage video.
The coach later explained that he complained for reasons unrelated to the selection. transmission According to analyst Chris Sims, there was “a heated debate about another topic” before the news conference. Various conspiracy theories persist, however.
In recent weeks, McVay has been surprisingly secretive about the Rams’ travel plans for their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, which will be televised in the US on Thursday night. buzzkill, but that’s their call.
Refusing to reveal their exact itinerary, as McVeigh did on several occasions before they finally met this week? That comes off as silly.
Speaking of which, ESPN analyst Dan Orlowski, Stafford’s former backup with the Detroit Lions; He said recently If the Rams win another Super Bowl on “Get Up,” Stafford enters the conversation as the “best five, top seven” in NFL history.
With no disrespect to Stafford, who has done an excellent job, this would be considered one of the top five if the former Linkin Park Street band were to come out with another hit album.
One excellence the 2026 Rams can rightly ask for: Most team captains. such as spinal taps, They go to 11more than a fifth of their active rosters wear jerseys emblazoned with the “C”.
Somehow, in a division that includes the San Francisco 49ers (Brandon Ayuck drama, power distribution conspiracy, Kyle Shanahan car accident, Jade York arrest, player impersonation scandal) and Seahawks (featured weekly on HBO’s “Hard Knocks”), the Rams are the team some people are sick of hearing about. That’s hard to believe, but it is.
None of this is all that serious, but the fact is, the Rams were hated even before this shambolic season. That’s because the organization’s aggressive approach to player acquisitions and salary cap manipulation — exemplified by “F they choose.” Mantra — contributed and composed by Snead — is a heartwarming chorus that repeatedly chants that the Rams will finally fall and pay a heavy price for their sins.
Shortly after arriving in LA, Myles Garrett threw out the first pitch for the city’s other super teams. (Jane Kamin-Oncia/Getty Images)
Additionally, the Garrett trade fits the larger narrative surrounding LA’s professional sports teams and their seeming need, sometimes at relatively low cost.
The Shohei Ohtani-led Dodgers sharing a sports hometown (back-to-back World Series wins) and Luka Doncic’s talent do the Rams no favors when their detractors cast them as entitlement.
Some might say the rich get richer. Last week, we learned that LA’s underperforming franchise — Major League Baseball’s Angels — was. They were selling. By the owner Arte Moreno for 4 billion dollars.
The buyer? Rams owner Stan Kroenke, naturally. Expect an announcement any day now that the Rams are bringing in Mike Trout as a Fantasy football consultant.
It’s Kroenke’s sports world, and the rest of us live in it. It now has teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche), MLS (Colorado Rapids) and the English Premier League (Arsenal).
Kroenke doesn’t. His own LA, but if he enters the mayoral race as a write-in candidate, incumbent Karen Bass and challenger Nithya Raman may come November.
The winner of that election will apparently be tasked with planning a rally as one of her first official duties. In the meantime, the Rams and their fans are enjoying the ride — even if they’re the only ones.
