LOS ANGELES — The NFL’s newest Super Team and heavy favorites to win the Super Bowl want all the smoke.
That’s according to the Los Angeles Rams’ newest addition, reigning league Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, who made that clear at the team’s unveiling of new uniforms in front of a packed house of season ticket holders at the YouTube Theater on Thursday.
When Garrett was asked which NFC West team he looked forward to playing this season, he pointed north on I-5 to the Pacific Northwest and the defending champion Seattle Seahawks.
“I want the champs,” Garrett said, with a rowdy crowd roaring its approval. “They won it all, and I’ve got to see what that’s about. They feel like they’ve got the pieces to run it back, and I feel like we’ve got the pieces to take over.”
With one of the most loaded rosters in recent memory, Rams MVP quarterback Matthew Stafford said he embraces the challenge, operating in the ultra-competitive environment of Los Angeles since relocating from St. Louis 10 years ago.
The Rams took a similar approach in 2021, loading up on stars like Odell Beckham Jr., Von Miller, Jalen Ramsey and Eric Weddle, which led to the team’s first Super Bowl victory since moving back to Los Angeles five years ago. That Super Bowl was played at their home field, SoFi Stadium, which is where this season’s Super Bowl will be played, too.
“I’ve been around long enough to know that you have to go out and earn it every day,” Stafford said. “And that’s really the fun part, is getting to earn that, right? Not sitting here and talking about it, seeing what we look like on paper. So, well OK, let’s go out there and pump the football up, and see if we can score some points and stop some people. That’s kind of where my head’s at.”
Puka Nacua, Matthew Stafford and Davante Adams wear the Rams’ new Classic Sol uniforms. (Photo courtesy of the Rams.)
Rams team president Kevin Demoff addressed the most pressing question this offseason of defensive game wrecker Aaron Donald potentially returning, saying the franchise will continue to take a patient approach in the possibility of the four-time Defensive Player of the Year playing football again after retiring two years ago.
“We don’t have a ring, or a Lombardi Trophy or a banner if not for Aaron Donald,” Demoff said. “I think Sean [McVay] mentioned it greatest yesterday. If Aaron desires to return, we’ll wait with open arms. It’s his choice, his alternative. However there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t get up refreshing social media, seeing if there’s a submit or hoping that there’s a textual content that claims, ‘You up?”
Added Stafford: “No matter’s proper for him will likely be proper for all of us.”
Whereas the crew hasn’t set a timetable for Donald to resolve whether or not to probably unretire, a league supply near Donald advised me he’s leaning towards returning. Donald participated in a exercise in full pads on the crew’s facility two weeks in the past.
As for the matter at hand on Thursday evening, the 2 alternate uniforms the Rams launched — “Basic Sol” and “Fearsome White” — rejoice the franchise’s championship historical past and iconic legacy, in response to the crew.
Members of the Rams’ protection put on their new Fearsome White uniforms. (Picture courtesy of the Rams.)
The “Basic Sol” uniform celebrates the seventy fifth anniversary of the Rams’ 1951 championship crew, whereas the “Fearsome White” honors the legendary Fearsome Foursome defensive position of Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier that dominated the NFL through the Nineteen Sixties and early Nineteen Seventies.
Grier, the oldest residing former Ram at 94 years previous, attended the uniform unveiling.
“These uniforms are a celebration and reminder of the moments and those who constructed the Rams into what and who we’re right this moment,” mentioned Kathryn Kai-Iing Frederick, chief advertising officer for the Rams. “Each element was deliberately designed to honor the grit and greatness of our historical past whereas delivering a contemporary search for right this moment’s gamers and followers.”
The Rams will put on the Basic Sol uniform — a mixture of yellow jersey and white pants — for the primary time in a Week 2 residence contest in opposition to the New York Giants. The Rams can even put on them in a Week 13 residence sport in opposition to the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs. The debut of the Fearsome White mixture will likely be on their Thanksgiving Eve residence matchup in opposition to the Inexperienced Bay Packers.
Corridor of Fame operating again and Rams legend Eric Dickerson was available for the disclosing. Dickerson advised me he wasn’t a fan of the Basic Sol and nonetheless desires the franchise to return to the traditional horns look on the crew’s helmets. However he praised the Rams for paying respect to the crew’s historical past with the return to the standard all-white uniforms.
“It sort of jogs my memory of the Fearsome Foursome,” Dickerson mentioned. “I want we might have worn these uniforms.”
