History of the Los Angeles Rams
The current defending Super Bowl champion Rams are the only team in NFL history to play in a different city as the defending champions.
We’re not talking about this year of course. They are still very much in L.A. and playing their home games in the most expensive stadium in the world, SoFi Stadium. We’re talking about one of the fun facts about the Rams that revolves around their founding and how they eventually made their way to Los Angeles. Then Anaheim. Then St. Louis. And now back to L.A.
The team actually began as the Cleveland Rams in 1936 in the American Football League – not the AFL that decades later merged with the NFL. In 1937 they moved over to the NFL, and in 1945 they were NFL Champions.
But the prospect of being the only major professional sports team on the West Coast was too much to resist, and the Rams packed up their newly won championship trophy and took it to sunny Southern California.
Rams Successes and Championships
The team played for the next 34 years at the L.A. Coliseum, then moved down the freeway to Anaheim (still calling themselves the L.A. Rams). After 15 years there, the team moved to a new dome in St. Louis, and when that dome ran out of usefulness after 21 years, the team moved back to L.A.
Their Super Bowl LVI win was the second win in franchise history. They also won Super XXXIV as the St. Louis Rams.
The collection of Rams Hall of Famers combine the best of the old and new. Names like Norm Van Brocklin, Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch, and Bob Waterfield, who was an All-Pro at quarterback while also leading the NFL in extra points and field goals.
Rams Hall of Fame defensive standouts include Deacon Jones, Merlin Olson, and Jack Youngblood. They produced Hall of Fame tackles Orlando Pace and Jackie Slater. Isaac Bruce is the most recent Rams Hall of Famer, enshrined in 2020, and he joined his Greatest Show on Turf teammates Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk.
NFL Big Changes from Last Season – Los Angeles Rams
What do you change about the team that just won the Super Bowl? That’s easy. As little as possible.
During the offseason there were actually big threats of change, with All-World defensive tackle Aaron Donald talking about walking away from the sport he has dominated. Instead he got a fat new contract, and he is ready to try and win another championship.
There were also rumblings that head coach Sean McVay might retire after the Super Bowl win, but those too were put to rest, and he is back and ready to rumble in 2022.
Big Changes for the Rams
Odell Beckham Jr. is gone, after helping the Rams with a solid second half to the season. But he’s been replaced by Allen Robinson, formerly of the Bears. The Cooper Kupp and Allen Robinson pairing instantly becomes the best wide receiver duo in the NFC.
Future Hall of Famer Von Miller had a great postseason after coming over from the Broncos via trade, and he parlayed that success into a big new contract in Buffalo. While L.A. hasn’t replaced him specifically, they did add future Hall of Fame inside linebacker Bobby Wagner to their defense, giving them plenty of experience and talent at the second level.
They will hope to get more pass rush production out of defensive lineman A’Shawn Robinson, as well as outside linebacker Justin Hollins.
Perhaps the biggest change for the Rams is at left tackle, where Andrew Whitworth retired after 16 seasons and 239 games. The new blindside protector for Matthew Stafford is Joe Noteboom, who in four previous seasons has made 17 starts.
* All odds provided by Action247 Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
NFC West
