The History Of The Rams Essay Research

Paper

The history of the Rams has not always been in St. Louis as most of you

already know. In 1937 a group of business executives decided they wanted a

home town football team so they built a stadium that held 3000 people in the

middle of Cleveland, Ohio. They held try outs for players who wanted to play

on the team. In the Rams debut season they went 1-10-0. I know what your

thinking, they’ve always stunk, but that’s not true. In the Rams 67 year

history they have won 3 NFL championships. They have won 11 division

championships along with numerous wild card berths. The Rams have played

in the NFL for 67 years like I said before. They played every year except in

1943 when a shortage of players, caused by WW2, left them with no team.

All the players were off fighting in the war. On January 11, 1946 team owner

Dan Reeves decided to move the team from Cleveland to Los Angeles,

California. The Rams are a team with many, never before seen things in the

NFL. The Rams were the first football team to move west, many teams

moved west after this. In their first season in Los Angeles, the Rams post a

record of 6-4-1. The Rams were the first team to have their emblem put on

their helmets in 1948. In the 1950 season the Rams were the first team to

have both their home and away games televised on national television. In

1967 NFL commissioner and former head coach Pete Rozelle split the NFL in

to 4 divisions. The Rams win the coastal division with a record of 11-1-2, but

lose to the Green Bay Packers in the playoffs. In 1978 the NFL expands to a

16 game season and the Rams go 12-4-0, they make it to the championships

and lose to Dallas Cowboys by the score of 28-0. The Rams win their 7th

Division title in 1979 with a 9-7-0 record. They defeat the Dallas Cowboys

21-19 in the playoffs and win the conference title by beating the Tampa Bay

Buccaneers 9-0. In their first Super Bowl, the Rams take a 19-17 lead over

the Pittsburgh Steelers into the fourth quarter, but give up two touch downs

and lose by the score of 31-19. Yet another first for the NFL the Rams were

the first team to move west and back to the east. In 1995 the Rams moved

from Los Angeles. In their first season in St. Louis the Rams went 7-9-0 with

Rich Brook as head coach. In 1999 Dick Vermeil is brought out of retirement

to coach the Rams. In the 1997 and 1998 seasons Dick Vermeil posts a 9-23

record. Then all of a sudden in the 1999 season a miracle, just when most

fans had given up hope of the Rams ever being good they pull off a victory

against the Tennessee Titans by the score of 23-16, they win the Super Bowl.

After the miracle season coach Vermeil retired and the rest they say is

history.