LA Rams’ merchandise sales: Aaron Donald leads the team

Ordinarily, one might expect that an NFL team’s quarterback, the player most everyone dubs the single most important guy on the field, its gridiron field general, would be the team leader in merchandise sales as well. And that seems to be the general rule for most NFL teams –  quarterbacks sell jerseys.

But not for the LA Rams.

So when the players association (the NFLPA, and not the league ) released its list of the top 50 players late last month detailing merchandise sales for the sales period from March 1, 2020, to Feb. 28, 2021, it seemed somewhat surprising that only one member of the Los Angeles Rams managed to earn a spot on that list – All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald came in at the 32nd most player merchandise sales. Here’s the complete list: Top 50 NFL player merchandise sales

To no one’s surprise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is the undisputed top-mover of NFL merchandise. He’s been the Top Dawg on that list for a very long time.

In fact, the top seven positions are all quarterbacks: Brady, Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahones, Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson, Miami Dolphins Tua Tagovailoa, Green Bay Packers Aaron Rodgers, Cincinnati Bengals Joe Burrow, and Seattle Seahawks Russell Wilson. The top position player is TE George Kittle of the San Francisco Niners and he’s eighth-ranked player sales on the list.

The Rams new quarterback Matthew Stafford doesn’t crack the Top 50, either. . . but then, neither does their former quarterback Jared Goff, now with the Detroit Lions. And neither does Rams All-Pro defensive back Jalen Ramsey crack the Top 50.

Curiously, one ex-Ram who does manage to stake out a spot on the list is former running back Todd Gurley, just barely edging his nose under the wire at No. 49. I guess the folks in Atlanta buy a lot of jerseys, especially for a player on a one-year deal on the downside of his career.

"“The NFLPA Top 50 Player Sales List is actually the only verified ranking of all officially licensed, NFL player-branded merchandise sold from online and traditional retail outlets as reported by more than 75 NFLPA licensees such as Fanatics, Outerstuff, Nike, Fathead, FOCO, and Funko. And regrettably, the list doesn’t reveal how many Benjamins, Bitcoins, or another cryptocurrency the buying public plunked down for all that stuff.” – per NFLPA press release"

But it does include more than just game jerseys sales. The NFLPA list includes what are known as all “licensed product categories” included trading cards, men’s, women’s and youth game jerseys, T-shirts and hoodies, backpacks, wall decals, pennants, collectible figurines, matted and framed photos, bobbleheads, plush, drinkware, pet products, and probably a lot of other kitschy stuff, too.

For a team that’s so very unconventional about its approach to the NFL draft – trading away all its first-round draft choices every year- I suppose it’s not that provocative to learn that its players’ merchandise sales might buck the NFL norm as well.

And of course, the LA Rams merchandise sales may have been handicapped by the regrettable rollout of the new logo and color scheme in 2020 that caused such a social media backlash.