What a thrill for the Rams. For Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay. And for Myles Garrett, the generational defensive talent who finally got out of Cleveland and into a situation in which everyone cares as much about winning as he does.
But what about you, L.A. sports fan?
Are you hyped about the Rams’ latest blockbuster trade?
Or is LeBron James’ future dominating that part of your brain? Are you worried about getting home in time to catch the start of the Dodgers’ game?
Do tell: Were you shook by the Rams’ move Monday to acquire Garrett, the five-time All-Pro, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and all-time single-season sacks leader?
Have you started looking into Rams season tickets? Worrying about how you’re going to handle next February’s Valentine’s Day-Super Bowl conflict?
Did you shed a tear for Jared Verse, the young standout the Rams traded for Garrett along with a 2027 first-round pick, 2028 second-round pick and 2029 third-round pick — a steep, justified price to pay for someone of Garrett’s stature.
Have you been incessantly refreshing your social media feed and chuckling at the speculative jokes about Aaron Donald coming out of retirement to play alongside Garrett — hoping it’s all so funny because it’s going to become true? (For what it’s worth, McVay didn’t shut it down: “If Aaron decides he wants to dust them off at the age of 35, I bet you he could still do it at a pretty high clip.”)
Do you appreciate what the Rams are doing?
That is: everything you want from a team in this town. Which is: everything it takes to win.
Their modus operandi? “To be courageous every single day and go swing and see what the hell happens,” as McVay put it during Garrett’s introductory news conference Tuesday at the team’s training facility.
The Rams will go for it on fourth, on long, on any day of the week ending in a Y.
Rams general manager Les Snead sits next to newly acquired defensive end Myles Garrett during a news conference on Tuesday.
(Ric Tapia / For The Times)
They’re the rare organization that is forward-thinking and fastidious enough, as general manager Les Snead said, to be “always threading the needle,” focused on the future in a few minutes and in a few years. It’s not unlike what the Dodgers do, with their prize-winning farm system buffeting their star-studded,championship-winning, big-league club.
How long until the Rams’ version seriously, lastingly moves the needle? Until all of their home games feel like Dodgers games — like home games?
How closely were you paying attention in 2019, when they traded multiple first-round picks for cornerback Jalen Ramsey to pair with Donald? Do you remember when, two years after that, they traded quarterback Jared Goff and multiple first-round picks to the Detroit Lions for Stafford? And then signed free-agent receiver Odell Beckham Jr. and traded for edge rusher Von Miller?
Like this week’s Garrett deal, all those big swings were seismic and shockwave-inducing moves — throughout the NFL. But not necessarily the ground beneath the Rams’ feet.
Those bold transactions also won Super Bowl LVI in February 2022 — we all remember that. But did you really latch on then?
The Rams had some dedicated sign-waving fans make their presence felt on a bridge over the 101 Freeway last season, but a recent survey said the team is the third-most popular team in L.A. … 35.6% behind the Dodgers.
Not surprisingly, the two-time defending World Series champions dominated a Loyola Marymount poll that asked residents to identify their favorite pro team among the 12 in the local media market. The Lakers, of course, were second — 20.9% ahead of the Rams.
Yes, the Dodgers have been playing in L.A. since 1958 and the Lakers since 1960 and they have won 20 titles between them since. The Rams moved to L.A. in 2016 after playing in St. Louis for 20 years — while Angelenos adopted teams for reasons beside geography or got comfortable living in a fantasy football land.
Garrett is new here, but he said his father is from L.A., as is his girlfriend, Olympic snowboarder Chloe Kim. He’s pals with James, the Lakers star who’s “been a positive force in my life,” Garrett said.
And so Garrett, a competitor in a city with a lot of competition, seemed to understand the local outlook when he said his goals in L.A. include cementing his own legacy, but also that of L.A. as a “football city.”
L.A. loves the Dodgers, the Lakers — and winners and stars.
And the Rams are primed to win, already they were the Super Bowl favorites before they went and got Garrett.
And he is another bright spot in the Rams’ constellation of Stafford, the NFL’s reigning MVP; Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, who last season led the league in receptions and receiving touchdowns. All of them — Garrett included — belong in the Lakers’ courtside seats among L.A.’s other stars.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: latimes.com
