Can you guess how many Rams are enshrined in the NFL Hall of Fame?
By Bret Stuter
When talking about the history of the NFL, you will eventually be forced to discuss the Rams football franchise. And that is an ideal segue to the question that has inspired this article: Exactly how many Rams players have been inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame? The number may surprise you. After all the Rams are the only team in the history of the NFL to have won championships for three different cities. We will share the answer with you later in this article.
The Rams won for Cleveland, Ohio in 1945. The Rams won for Los Angeles, California in 1951 and in 2021. And the Rams won for Saint Louis, Missouri in 1999. Of course, with the Super Bowl era of the NFL not taking place since 1960, the Rams only have two Lombardi Trophies in their possession. The LA Rams have been a member of the prestigious NFL since 1936.
The NFL has long captured the hearts of US sports fans, and has become the favorite American sport. But it was not always the case, as it played second fiddle to America's pastime, Major League Baseball, for many years. But while baseball was the sport that many of our fathers and grandfathers followed while huddled around the lone family black and white television, or the family radio, football was the color commentary version of professional sports.
Football, not baseball, was made for television
The NFL gained in popularity because, unlike baseball, it was more quickly able to adapt to the television format. And the sport was masterful at it too. Baseball's format was ideally suited for radio broadcasts, as it was easily narrated, was a long-duration event, and allowed for timely commercial spots between every half inning. But when it came to the visual feast of television, the action was too drawn out and the programming was too long for many local stations.
NFL games, on the other hand, came complete with halftime, change of quarter, and time outs, allowing for more direct control over the product to satisfy television producers. And the NFL, in theory, was a more action-packed visual feast that pitted 11 versus 11 players on each play.