Dear St. Louis Rams Fans, From a Los Angeles Rams Fan

Dear Current/Former St. Louis Rams fans,

On April 13^th of 1995, the Los Angeles Rams were moved to St. Louis by the former owner of the franchise, Georgia Frontiere . My father was distraught. Ever since moving from the Philippines to Carson, California in 1968, he had been a die-hard Los Angeles Rams fan.

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My father wanted to hate the Rams. They failed to bring a Super Bowl ring to the city of Los Angeles, and seemingly never would. The St. Louis Rams couldn’t possibly be the same as the Los Angeles Rams. But once he saw the familiar bright blue jerseys and yellow horns resting upon the heads of great Los Angeles Rams such as Jerome Bettis, Isaac Bruce, and D’Marco Farr, my father began to fall in love with them all over again.

Fast forward to the year 2000—when I was merely four years old still eating crayons—and the St. Louis Rams are playing in the Super Bowl against Jeff Fisher’s Tennessee Titans. I’m wearing my fashionable tyke-sized Rams shirt playing around with other kids forced to attend a Super Bowl party in which loud, boisterous parents scream their lungs out at a television set that fails to respond back.

Some grocery store bagger named Kurt Warner has led Dick Vermeil’s Rams to an 8-point lead, and the adults are eagerly standing up as Steve McNair surgically takes his offense down the field in attempt to force an overtime. There’s now six seconds to go, with the Titans on the Rams’ 10-yard line. It’s the last play of the game.

McNair throws a dart to wide receiver Kevin Dyson who is running a slant from the right side. Dyson has a clear path to the endzone, but is miraculously pulled from behind by Mike Jones—a no-namer.

“It is caught by Dyson!” ABC Sports broadcaster Al Michaels calls, “Can he get in? No he cannot! Mike Jones made the tackle! And the Rams have won the Super Bowl!”

Meanwhile, Mike Bush, the St. Louis Rams radio announcer celebrates by saying “St. Louis, the Gateway to the West, is now the gateway to the best football team in the world!”

At four years old, I didn’t know exactly what was going on, but all I knew was that utter joy and happiness was gleaming on my father’s face as went around the room giving out hugs to those who didn’t stick with the Rams when they left Los Angeles. From that day forward, I was a fan of the St. Louis Rams.

During the days of the Greatest Show on Turf, I sported my dark blue Marshall Faulk jersey. My elementary school teachers would complement my outfit choice, since the Rams now had one of the most potent offenses in NFL history. It was a great feeling to be a fan of a successful sports team, especially considering the fact that my father and I were Los Angeles Clippers fans.

Then, in the dark ages of the St. Louis franchise (2007-2009), I would proudly wear my Steven Jackson jersey which would drape over my awkward middle school body despite the fact that the team was completely irrelevant. The other kids would make fun of me for liking the worst team in the NFL, but I could care less. My parents had instilled a sense of loyalty into my personality, and I would never bandwagon to another team just because the Rams were an embarrassment for all to see on Sundays.

Then in 2010, I got my Sam Bradford jersey, since the Oklahoma Heisman Winner was supposed to save this franchise from agony and despair. Obviously, the Bradford era eventually  failed due to multiple ACL injuries to the team’s starting quarterback, so the oversized number 8 jersey still hangs in my closet to this day.

I also became enamored with the oft-injured Danny Amendola, who remains my favorite NFL player to this day. As a little slot receiver for my high school varsity team, I tried my best to imitate his playing style to improve my game and garner more snaps. I snagged his jersey as well, even though he decided to move on to the New England Patriots in 2013.

It is now the middle of January 2016, and the Rams are now officially coming back to Los Angeles after 21 years. The St. Louis faithful are throwing their unwanted jerseys unto the surrounding area of Rams park, tweeting profanity towards L.A.’s new franchise, and are now actually suing the team based on their claim that owner Stan Kroenke lied .

Honestly, a part of me wanted the Rams to stay in St. Louis even though I reside in the Los Angeles area. I’ve been a St. Louis Rams fan my entire life. I never knew the Rams outside of St. Louis, and I never knew the Rams in Los Angeles until now. A move to Los Angeles wouldn’t be fair to the people of St. Louis, and it wouldn’t be unique and special to be a Rams fan in Southern California anymore.

But when Roger Goodell announced that the Rams would officially relocated to Los Angeles in 2016, I rejoiced. I’ve lived for 20 years, and due to my family’s budget, we could never fly out to St. Louis and watch my beloved Rams play in a regular season game.

I know it’s tough, St. Louis; but I hope you realize that my father and many other Los Angeles Rams fans went through the same thing back in 1995. Georgia Frontiere took away a beloved franchise from the city of Los Angeles after almost fifty years, and many chose to resent the team because of it.

However, there were those faithful few that never gave up on the team. They saw those yellow horns on the field and realized that it was still the same team they grew up with. It was still the same team that they would listen to on their radios. It was still the same team that they would travel to Anaheim for. And it was still the same team that made them fall in love with the great game of football.

Because of my father, I became a part of those faithful few residing in the Los Angeles area. Whenever I met any fellow St. Louis Rams fans in southern California, we’d have an instant connection with each other. I soon realized that this football team has created an extremely tight-knit group of people who barely even know each other; a family.

This family has honestly changed my life for the better. I got to experience one of the greatest offenses to ever step foot on a field. I got to meet Johnny Hekker while volunteering in Sacramento. I got to see the Rams practice with the Dallas Cowboys during training camp. But most of all, I became very close with my good friend Alex Alarcon (Yes, the one who works here at Ramblin’ Fan), and we’ve chosen to be Rams fans for life no matter where they play.

We don’t have the biggest fanbase in the world due to our lack of success in recent years, but we’ve stuck together through it all. It didn’t matter how embarrassing the product on the field was, we proudly donned our blue and gold jerseys because that’s what this family does. It doesn’t matter if you’re a Los Angeles fan, a St. Louis fan, or even a global fan; we’re all part of the same family that wants the Rams to bring home a second Super Bowl.

It’s OK to hate Stan Kroenke for mistreating the city of St. Louis. It’s OK to hate the fairweather city of Los Angeles for taking back the Rams. Just don’t let that hate blind you. There are better days ahead for the Los Angeles Rams and its family. We have the pieces.

Tavon Austin is finally breaking out as an offensive game-changer. Todd Gurley already looks like the next Adrian Peterson. Aaron Donald is arguably the best defensive player in the NFL. This is a Super Bowl-caliber team once our quarterback play is consistent.

It would be a shame for you to miss out.

Sincerely,

Matt Colinco of the Rams Family

Whether you remain a Rams fan or not, I do appreciate you all for reading my articles and providing positive feedback and negative criticism. This has been an amazing experience, and I look forward to writing about the Los Angeles Rams for years to come. Go Rams!