The NFL team’s history with L.A. dates back to the ’40s
The Los Angeles Rams take on the Denver Broncos during Week 16 of the regular 2022 NFL season.Credit: Courtesy Los Angeles Rams
This football season marks the 10th year for the Rams back in Los Angeles after a two-decade detour in St. Louis. For a team with such deep roots in the city– the Rams were L.A.’s first major professional sports franchise, moving from Cleveland to the Coliseum in 1946– the homecoming was about more than football. It was about reconnecting with history and reigniting a bond between the team and all Angelenos. Owner Stan Kroenke’s bold vision for a new era took shape quickly, with the groundbreaking of SoFi Stadium in Inglewood in November 2016. Two months later, the Rams made another transformative move by hiring a 30-year-old Sean McVay and making him the youngest head coach in NFL history. “When I first got here, I felt the energy of L.A. right away,” McVay recalls. “This city has a passion for sports and culture like no other. We wanted to build something that matched that energy.”
McVay delivered a division title in his debut season and had the team in the Super Bowl the next year, losing a close game. The pinnacle came in February 2022, when the Rams won Super Bowl LVI playing in their new stadium — which has been their home since 2020. “To be able to win it here, in front of our fans, at SoFi — it was surreal,” McVay says. “It felt like all of L.A. was with us that night.”
Tackle Andrew Whitworth and Coach Sean McVay embrace following the Rams’ win in Super Bowl LVICredit: Courtesy Los Angeles Rams
But the Rams’ story in Los Angeles had always been about more than wins. From welcoming the NFL’s first male cheerleaders to launching the Mariachi Rams band, they’ve embraced the city’s diversity. Their commitment to community runs deep, supporting the Watts Rams youth program, partnering with the L.A. Regional Food Bank to provide nearly five million meals and inspiring thousands of students to embrace an active lifestyle through the NFL’s Play 60 Field Days initiative. Since 2016, Rams staff and players have logged more than 15,000 hours of community service.
Now, in their 10th season back, the Rams are still hungry. “We’ve accomplished a lot, but the standard here is always about what’s next,” McVay says. With Matthew Stafford, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams and new addition Davante Adams, the future looks bright for a team that came within 13 yards of beating the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in last year’s playoffs.
A decade in, one thing is clear: the Rams aren’t just back in L.A., they epitomize L.A.