Los Angeles Rams: 30 greatest players in franchise history

Seeing Bob Waterfield earn a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 means it only seemed fair to have the former Rams quarterback come in at No. 16 on this list, especially when looking at the numbers he put up right away early on in his career.

Every football fans understands the difficulty of winning a championship with a rookie quarterback under center, but that was exactly the case for the Rams with Waterfield in 1945 when the team was still playing in Cleveland.

For a quarterback that was selected in the fifth round of the NFL Draft the year before, seeing Waterfield emerge in the starting role for the Rams in 1945 as a rookie was truly amazing. After the team finished 9-1 in the regular season, the 1945 Rams would defeat the Washington Redskins in the NFL Championship Game.

To top off the incredible campaign in which he threw for 1,609 yards while leading the league with 14 touchdown passes, Waterfield would go on to take home MVP honors as well that season.

Later on, Waterfield would help the Rams, who moved to Los Angeles after the 1945 season, win another championship in 1951 after putting together a Pro Bowl season while leading the team to an 8-4 record.

Once again, Waterfield ended up being one of those players that was fortunate enough to spend his entire career playing for the same team in the Rams. With two championships to his name, considering him one of the franchise’s top quarterbacks of all time is a no-brainer.