48 years ago today

Rams were part of unprecedented trade on this day in 1972

Rams were part of unprecedented trade on this day in 1972
Cameron DaSilva
5 hours ago

The Rams have become one of the most active teams on the trade market in the last three years, making deals for players such as Jalen Ramsey, Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib, Brandin Cooks and Sammy Watkins, just to name a few.

But 48 years ago, the Rams were involved in a different type of trade – not one involving players or draft picks. Rather, it was a deal that involved trading complete franchises. It was an extremely rare type of deal and would never happen today, but the Rams were part of one on this day in 1972.

As Gil Brandt explains, Robert Irsay bought the Rams on July 13, 1972. He then immediately traded the franchise to Carroll Rosenbloom, who was the owner of the Baltimore Colts. Rosenbloom made the deal in part because he saved $4.4 million in taxes, which was an enticing proposition.

On this day in 1972, Robert Irsay bought the Rams and transferred ownership of the club to Carroll Rosenbloom in exchange for the Colts. Players and coaches were unaffected and their affiliations remained the same. The trade saved Rosenbloom $4.4 million in capital gains taxes.

— Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) July 13, 2020

The players and coaches remained in place for each team, with just ownership changing hands. It was a deal that worked out wonderfully for Rosenbloom because the Rams became a dominant force in the NFC for years to come.

From 1973-1978, they won at least 10 games each season, won the division every year and reached the conference championship four times. In 1979, they went 9-7 but made it all the way to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Steelers.

The Colts, on the other hand, weren’t as successful during that same stretch. They did win 31 games from 1975-1977, but they didn’t win a playoff game in any of those seasons and regressed to sub .500 play for nine years afterwards.

As of 2019, the Rams – who are now owned by Stan Kroenke – are worth $3.8 billion, according to Forbes. They’re the fourth-most valuable franchise in the NFL and increased their value by 19% in the last year. The Colts, on the other hand, are worth $2.65 billion (20th in the NFL) and are now owned by Jim Irsay. He took over as owner of the Colts after his father, Robert Irsay, died in 1997.