Rams make historic return to L.A., but Cowboys have the biggest return of the day
The reality of the Rams’ return to Los Angeles still hits owner Stan Kroenke in waves. It washed over him Saturday as he drove his SUV down Pacific Coast Highway alone, on his way to the Coliseum for the exhibition opener against the Dallas Cowboys.
“I’m one of those guys who never has the radio on in the car,” Kroenke told The Times before his team’s 28-24 comeback victory. “Occasionally, if it’s a long drive, I’ll listen to an audiobook. But I like the quiet.”
It was in that predawn solitude three years ago that Kroenke fell in love with the Hollywood Park land for his $2.6-billion stadium, due to be ready for the 2019 season. Again, he was driving alone, this time at 5:30 a.m., when he circled the 300-acre site, called team executive Kevin Demoff, and essentially said, “This is the place.”
That quiet didn’t last long on Kroenke’s drive Saturday, dissipating as he inched closer to the stadium, a rollicking caldron his team will call home for the next three seasons. He arrived early, before the bulk of the near-capacity crowd was seated, yet he could feel the energy of the place. The Rams announced 89,140 tickets were distributed for the game.
“It’s very powerful, the way the city has embraced us,” said Kroenke, who talked at length with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in the end zone before kickoff. “It’s a great feeling. Roger is excited for the same reason we are.”
The challenge is maintaining that vibe as long as possible. The Rams are the league’s youngest team, they’re grooming rookie quarterback Jared Goff to take over, they play in one of the NFL’s toughest divisions, and haven’t had a winning season since 2003.
Rams fans took to the Coliseum parking lot early Saturday to celebrate the team’s return.
While Kroenke began his drive to the game along picturesque Highway 1, Dallas returner Lucky Whitehead cruised down Highway 101 with the opening kickoff — outracing the L.A. coverage team for a 101-yard touchdown.
There were a few of those oof-inducing, gut-punch moments for the Rams, including an acrobatic, 10-yard touchdown catch by star Dallas receiver Dez Bryant, and an intercepted Goff pass in the second when the No. 1 pick was plastered to the ground as he threw.
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Every so often, the Rams brought fans to their feet, such as a 14-yard touchdown run by Benny Cunningham at the end of the first quarter. He took a handoff, bounced right, twisted away from would-be tacklers, and dived across the goal line.
If there was a rookie quarterback who put on a performance worthy of framing, it was Dallas’ Dak Prescott, who threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and had a 14-yard run. And third-string Rams quarterback Sean Mannion threw three unanswered touchdown passes in the second half, as the home team clawed its way back from a 24-7 deficit to win.
Of course, these exhibition games are glorified practices, and particularly the first one, in which most of the starters barely play. When evaluating the predictive power of these games, it’s worth noting the 0-16 Detroit Lions went 4-0 in the 2008 preseason.
Still, Saturday’s event was historic — the first NFL game in L.A. since 1994, and the first time since 1979 the Rams played a home game within the city limits.
“I had to convince the players it was a preseason game,” Rams Coach Jeff Fisher said afterward. “You would have thought we clinched the playoffs.”
The nation’s second-largest market had dozens of false starts on NFL solutions during the past two decades, with billionaire businessmen, high-profile developers, and powerful politicians all trying and failing to close the deal and bring a team back.
It wasn’t until the competition arose among a trio of relocation-minded teams — the Rams, San Diego Chargers and Oakland Raiders — that the league went through the difficult and bitter process of untangling the knot.
Sam Farmer, Gary Klein and Lindsey Thiry break down the Rams’ 28-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in a preseason opener at the Coliseum.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was a staunch advocate of Kroenke’s stadium plan in Inglewood, arguing it was far better for the league than the competing Carson project backed by the Chargers and Raiders.
Jones’ son, Stephen, Cowboys vice president, said there were times during the past year when days like Saturday seemed like a distant dream.
“It was discouraging at times when you’d hear things like some of the committees weren’t all in,” the younger Jones said. “But Jerry and I would sit there and say, ‘Hey, the right thing will prevail.’ And I think it did, obviously. We got the best guy in there, the best team in here for L.A., and I think there’s still great opportunities for the Raiders and Chargers in their respective markets and whatever else they might look at.”
On the sideline before Saturday’s game was Hall of Fame tackle Jackie Slater, who played for the Rams from 1976 through 1995, their first year in St. Louis. He said coming back to the Coliseum was an emotional experience.
“You look at these young athletes that are just coming to town to play football here and still figuring it out,” Slater said. “These guys don’t really understand that this is a mecca. If you want to play football in America, this is where you want to play. I played in the South, I played in visiting stadiums all over the country. But there’s nothing like Southern California.”
Behind Slater, resting on an equipment box, was another legendary Rams player, Rosey Grier, at 84 the lone surviving member of the Fearsome Foursome defensive line that also included Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen and Lamar Lundy.
“Oh my goodness, yes, I have goose bumps,” Grier said. “Just to see the guys back on the field, to hear the fans yelling, and just to know the Rams are back where they ought to be.”
For Kroenke, that likely made the drive home just as memorable.
Follow Sam Farmer on Twitter @LATimesFarmer
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