By When disaster strikes and people are hurting, sports can seem so small and unimportant. In the grand scheme of things, a game on a field is nothing compared to the task of losing a loved one or rebuilding a life after losing it all.
But the magic of games is that they can be a salve on painful wounds. A team can become a city’s light in a dark time. In sports-mad Los Angeles, the Rams are embracing that role as wildfires sweep across Southern California.
“All you guys did – you represented exactly what we wanted to be about, men. A city that’s f**king going through a lot of different stuff that can look to you guys and say, ‘I’m proud of that group,’” head coach Sean McVay told the team in the locker room after a stirring win over the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
On the field, the Rams’ challenge gets steeper on Sunday when they play the NFC East champion Eagles on the road in Philadelphia. Off the field, it’s hard to imagine a team playing through a more difficult circumstance.
Players and coaches, including McVay, have had to evacuate their homes. One of the fires began only miles from the organization’s practice facility in Woodland Hills, California. And in the interest of safety, the NFL moved the team’s game against the Vikings from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, to State Farm Stadium outside Phoenix, turning what would have been a home playoff game into a neutral site contest in which both Rams and Vikings fans turned out in big numbers.
Team president Kevin Demoff said on X that team staff did their best to make it feel like a home game, arriving days ahead of time to install graphics. The Rams also arranged buses from SoFi Stadium to bring LA season ticket members down to the Valley of the Sun for the game. He also reposted a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter on X that said the Arizona Cardinals sent two planes to pick up the Rams’ players, coaches, personnel, families and pets and bring them to Glendale for the game.
The team used the Cardinals’ practice facility to prepare and were the home team – but asked for and received the visitors’ locker room because they were more comfortable there; the Rams play at State Farm Stadium every year because the Cardinals are a divisional rival.
Before kickoff, LA’s mascot, Rampage, along with the Cardinals flag crew, ran onto the field with “LA Together” flags. A moment of silent reflection was later held for the victims of the wildfire prior to the National Anthem being played.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said it was important for the league to support the city of Los Angeles.
“One of the things we wanted to do by playing this game tonight is send that message to the people back in Los Angeles that the NFL, this community, every community in this nation and around the world are there to support them, rooting for them and is going to be part of bringing LA back,” Goodell said in an ESPN interview prior to the contest.
It all amounts to chaos at the very beginning of the most crucial time of the season.
“The biggest challenge really was making sure that everything … first and foremost the health and safety of our people, family, friends and things like that are taken care of,” McVay said Saturday ahead of the game against the Vikings. “It’s really just making sure that you don’t peak until game time and being able to go through our normal rhythm and routine.”
But when the game began, the Rams were locked in. The defense had nine sacks, forced two turnovers – one of which was returned for a touchdown – and completely stifled an electric Vikings offense. LA’s offense dominated in the first half and did what was necessary in the second to kill the clock and advance to the next round.
McVay said he could tell in warm-ups that his squad had an “aura,” and that the game offered the players a chance to exhale.
“You can feel it more than anything I could say,” McVay told reporters after the game of the emotion radiating from his players. “They had a look in their eye, they had a focus – right kind of urgency and enjoyment that we always just try to stick that perfect balance.”
For the players, it was about putting the city on their back. In times of crisis, a smile can be a day-changer. For intense sports fans, a win from a favorite team can be a palate cleanser.
“It was for everybody … it’s been a difficult week,” quarterback Matt Stafford said after the victory. “Just proud of this group, and happy that we could come out and play the way we did tonight, give the people back home something to cheer about for a little bit.”
He added later: “There was every excuse in the book to come out and here and be lethargic and ‘woe is me’ and all that, but we knew we weren’t playing just for us, (we were) playing for the people back home that needed something to watch and enjoy, and I’m glad we could give that to them.”
The team has been in tune with the feeling around the Los Angeles metro area, where at least 27 people are dead, more than 170,000 people are still under evacuation notices, millions remain under a critical fire threat and millions more have to contend with poor air conditions as they’re affected by windblown dust and ash. More than 60 square miles are charred and more than 12,000 structures have burned.
“It’s just an unprecedented situation for all the people that have gone through and lost everything. You just feel for these people whose lives have been uprooted here. It hurts. My stomach is just sick for how this has all played out,” said Cooper Kupp, the team’s star wide receiver before Monday’s game.
With their team sideline gear now emblazoned with the LAFD of the Los Angeles Fire Department and players wearing LAFD-branded gear during off-the-field appearances, the team has clearly embraced their role of being a happy distraction in trying times.
“We knew what we were playing for today. It was go get this win, but this is for the people of Los Angeles, struggling right now. It’s unbelievable to watch the whole community, the state, the country get behind them. It’s a tough time to be back there,” Stafford said after Monday’s game.
