Rams legacy begins and ends in Los Angeles, not St. Louis

When Kurt Warner slips on his gold HOF jacket, fans in St. Louis will and should be proud. However, fans of the Los Angeles Rams have no claim to the “Greatest Show On Turf.” They have to write their own legacy.

Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay is already making his mark. Look at his draft, his roster, and his soon to be offense.

Everyone knows this is his team.

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It is also LA’s team.

In a few weeks, Kurt Warner will go into the Hall of Fame, and Canton will celebrate the triggerman for the “The Greatest Show On Turf.”

That is not LA’s team.

Yeah, I know, a Ram is a Ram.

Not so much.

Los Angeles is no more St. Louis than Missouri is California. And the “Greatest Show On Turf” is not a Los Angeles Rams thing, it’s a St. Louis Rams thing.

Let’s not conflate the two.

As the NFL members deposit $55.2 million into their respective team coffers, it’s done with a wink to cities who lost their team, and another who got one back. It is, or was neither fair nor equitable. It is however, the cost of doing business in this NFL.

So when Warner unveils his HOF bust, with wife in tow, it is with an acknowledgement and a tribute to a city whose lost not one, but two NFL teams. It’s a nod to a ghost in the Midwest where the fall winds no longer blow. And it is a HOF inductee that is something of an orphan.

The current edition of the Rams is in year two of its Los Angeles renaissance. It is not tied to what was, but is charting a course to what may be.

When Kurt Warner delivers his speech, fans should know who he is speaking to. If you are in LA, he’s not speaking to you.

And if you are in St. Louis, are you even listening?

This is the price paid for a vagabond league chasing dollars. Hey, I get it, but “The Greatest Show On Turf” has an identity rooted in a city with no team.

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It’s how it is now in the NFL, and eventually, fans in Oakland and San Diego will experience the same when a favorite from a team past inducts a player from a city with no NFL representation.

The ghost of St. Louis will finally have some fans to identify with.