LA Rams nickname ‘RUN DMC’ fits rushing attack

The LA Rams rushing offense has picked up a nickname on Twitter- Run DMC – and it actually fits

The LA Rams running-by-committee concept is starting to grow on me, and grow legs as the Rams are one of the most efficient rushing attacks in the NFL. Of course, with success comes popularity. And with popularity comes new ways for fans to demonstrate familiarity with players.  One such way is the convention of creating a nickname.  So why use a nickname?

Well, if you are wondering, nicknames for NFL players and groups have been part of the game since it’s inception. There were nicknames for players like ‘Deacon’ David Jones, or Jerome Bettis ‘The Bus’.  There was the ‘Fearsome Foursome’ defensive line in the late 1960s to early ’70s and the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ offense from 1999 to 2001.

Here comes RUN DMC

Nicknames happen organically. It’s not something you can manufacture. But when it happens, it oftentimes takes off on its own.  Right now, the LA Rams rushers are a trio who are all involved in the rushing offense. So it makes sense that fans are seeking ways to refer to them without the labored process of naming Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown, and Cam Akers.  And when you name the trio in just the right way and toss RUN in front, you get RUN DMC.

That name is recognizable, it fits the group, and it’s easy to say. Now, I didn’t come up with the nickname. And in all honesty, I don’t even know if the nickname will even ‘stick around’ to be a bonafide nickname for the group.  But it fits.

RUN DMC mainstreamed Hip Hop

After all, RUN DMC is the name originally owned by performing artists Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons, Darryl “D.M.C.” McDaniels, and Jason “Jam Master Jay” Mizell.  Sadly, Jam Master Jay passed away in 2002, before the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 and given a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in 2016. RUN DMC popularized ‘Hip Hop’ to mainstream music audiences.

Now the LA Rams running back committee of Darrell Henderson, Malcolm Brown, and Cam Akers are all vying to do the same thing in the NFL. They are trying to take the running-back-by-committee approach to the mainstream of NFL offense. And so far, they’ve done a masterful job at it. The team is averaging 4.3 yards-per-carry and 134.2 rushing yards per game, good for the eighth-ranked rushing offense. The team’s 14 touchdowns so far this season is good enough for the third-ranked scoring rushing offense in the NFL.

RUN DMC may not remain the Rams rushing offense’s nickname. But it has all the characteristics of a good one.  It’s short. It’s instantly recognizable. It associates the new reference to the original name logically. And it’s simply fun.  In the midst of a year with so much seriousness and confusion, we could all stand a bit more fun, don’t you think?