Bonsignore: For revamped Rams, this could be the start of something big
VINCENT BONSIGNORE
link: https://www.ocregister.com/2018/01/05/bonsignore-for-revamped-rams-this-could-be-the-start-of-something-big/
The fastest route to foolishness invariably runs through absolutes. As in speaking in them.
The Patriots will never stand alongside the Red Sox and Celtics, so many people in New England declared not long ago.
The Bulls brand will never compare with the Cubs, let alone the Lakers, supposedly wise observers once stated.
The Warriors will never own the Bay Area, said so many people in Northern California over the years.
No matter where you stand on the age ladder, the mere thought of such declarations seems absurdly ignorant. Yet at one point or another, they appeared safe and prudent proclamations.
Then fate, as it inevitably does, stepped in. And nothing was ever the same again.
Be careful what you say, is the obvious lesson. Because just when you think you’ve got a handle on everything, a dime drops and everything you thought to be true dramatically turns.
Michael Jordan gets drafted by a team to which no one outside of Chicago ever paid two seconds of attention.
Drew Bledsoe gets hurt, Tom Brady replaces him, and the Patriots are the toasts of New England.
Steph Curry. Klay Thompson. Kevin Durant. You know the rest.
I say all that to say this: Jared Goff. Todd Gurley. Aaron Donald. Sean McVay.
Hint. Hint.
I can hear the howling already. From the furthest reaches of National Football League borders all the way to PCH and Sunset Boulevard.
The Rams? Going big time?
Don’t rule it out. The stage is undoubtedly set.
And not just the one provided by a prime-time slot on national television Saturday to feed their wild-card playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons to the masses.
Or the intensely bright local spotlight they’ll perform under with the Dodgers off for the winter and USC and UCLA finished for the season, and the Lakers still finding their way out of the wilderness.
All of which the Rams are eagerly embracing as they host their first playoff game in Los Angeles since 1979.
The atmosphere awaiting them will be electric. As of Friday, more than 70,000 tickets had been sold. A crowd of 73,000 to 75,000 is expected. The Coliseum seats 92,0000, but the Rams have capped capacity in the mid 70,000s in order to maintain a comfortable fan experience at the 95-year-old stadium.
But it goes much further than one Saturday night in January in which the Rams will have all of Los Angeles to itself. The Rams seem poised to put together a run that will deeply alter their local and national stature.
To dismiss that possibility would be ignoring the Patriots ascent from the spot they occupied behind the Red Sox and Celtics to the Kings of New England and a national phenomenon. Or the once innocuous existence of the Warriors into a brand as admired and respected as any across America.
The Rams are guaranteed nothing beyond Saturday night. Win or lose. But to underestimate the opportunity they’ve worked their way into would be a mistake.
All the pieces are in place for the Rams to emerge as major players again in Los Angeles and, just as importantly, nationally.
As we’ve seen this year through their remarkable turnaround season, the one that pushed away 13 years of misery and irrelevancy and insignificance, the Rams have star power, fire power and an electricity about them that’s lit up scoreboards across the NFL, and finally flipped their record right side up.
Likely for the foreseeable future.
L.A. being the star-driven city it is, how about an MVP candidate, NFL Defensive Player of the Year favorite, Pro Bowl quarterback and Coach of the Year candidate?
Gurley, Donald, Goff and McVay say hi.
Gurley and Donald are entering their prime years. Goff is 23, and ahead of any schedule anyone could have imagined for him. His best football is ahead of him.
An exciting young wide receivers group will likely be retained through next year and perhaps beyond. Robert Woods, Sammy Watkins and Cooper Kupp are as productive as any group in the NFL.
McVay is the youngest head coach in NFL history, and his impact has been so spectacular it’s left envious teams across the NFL trying to find a coach just like him.
A state-of-the-art stadium is emerging across the street from the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, one that will rise to the top of the sports world in terms of opulence and theatre and magnificence. It will be uniquely Los Angeles, and certainly a strong calling card to lure potential free agents.
Time will tell, obviously, but considering Gurley’s greatness, Goff’s efficiency, McVay’s brilliance in devising productive and powerful offenses and the lure of a market like Los Angeles, there’s reason to believe this is this is the start of something special rather than just a one off.
History has shown us those runs can start anywhere, anytime. Like a bolt from the heavens, it just happens.
Sometimes you sense it coming. Sometimes it comes as an absolute surprise.
Too many years ago that I care to remember, a young me watched a young quarterback named Joe Montana throw a last-minute touchdown pass to Dwight Clark to beat the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC Championship game.
I remember being so focused on (bleh) America’s Team getting beat I didn’t even recognize the ball that started rolling that day. One that would crush many an NFL team over the next decade or so.
The 49ers, aside from a brief burst or two over the years, were essentially a harmless, almost irrelevant franchise up to that point.
But from the moment Clark reeled in Montana’s pass in the corner of the end zone to beat the Cowboys, we’ve never looked at the 49ers the same way again. Out of nowhere, they became one of the great NFL franchises.
We probably should have seen it coming considering the breakthrough year Montana and Clark and Ronnie Lott and Bill Walsh had orchestrated in 1980. But most of us didn’t.
No one is saying the Rams are at the footsteps of that kind of dynasty. But after years of irrelevance, something seems to be turning for them.
A stage seems to be set.
And as history suggests, it would be a mistake to rule anything out.
.
