Advertisement

He popped the question right after the Rams won the Super Bowl. ‘It was the perfect day’

Rams fans gather in Exposition Park for the Rams' victory parade and celebration Wednesday
Rams fans gather in Exposition Park for the Rams’ victory parade and celebration Wednesday.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
Share

Fans came from far and wide to the Rams Super Bowl parade Wednesday in downtown Los Angeles.

Here are the stories of three fans’ faith and how they celebrated:

Super Bowl win followed by a proposal

Andrew Torres claimed an elevated spot on the sidewalk to watch the Rams victory parade.

He carried his 8-month old daughter, Audrianna, who was also wore a Rams jersey. “We had to take her out of school,” Torres said, pointing to his 7-year-old daughter, Aria, sitting in a stroller.

These past few days have been special for Torres and his partner, Darline Olguin, beyond the Super Bowl win.

Advertisement

He proposed to his longtime girlfriend right after the Super Bowl. “I don’t think nobody knew,” Olguin said.

Right after Rams won, family and friends popped confetti. Then, Olguin said, Torres looked at her and started his speech declaring his love.

Then he got down on one knee and asked her to be his wife.

“It was the perfect day,” she said.

A fan since age 3

Earlier this week, Lulu Delgadillo made sure her plan to surprise her son was set by Tuesday evening.

She called his school to excuse him for missing class Wednesday and she filled up their Metro Tap cards. By Wednesday morning, she went about her usual routine. By 7 a.m., she woke up Jayden Ibarra, 9, so he could get ready for school.

Except she told him: “We’re going to the parade!”

Ibarra said her son has been an avid Rams fan since he was 3. Jayden, sitting on a cement block at Exposition Park, quickly corrects his mom.

“Since 2013,” he says.

Ibarra is a casual football fan, but she brought her son to support him.

“He knows the history and all the players,” she said.

During the parade, Ibarra was brought to tears seeing how excited and emotional her son got when he saw the players in the parade. Jayden waved his blue “Rams House” flag and yelled at the team, trying to get all of their attention.

Advertisement

“When I saw [Cooper] Kupp, I was crying,” he said. “I was so emotional of happiness.” Jayden said he looks forward to “a new legacy of L.A. Rams.”

Rams over Raiders any day

The drive was about 90 minutes for Lake Elsinore resident Jesus Sotelo, 48, who left his home at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and found a spot near the intersection of South Figueroa and West 39th streets to watch the parade.

In a vacant lot, Sotelo waved a blue flag with the initials RWO, which stands for Rams World Order, from an 18-foot pole.

The flag represents a group of Rams fans based in Lake Elsinore. Enjoying a Rams championship in Los Angeles was a dream come true for the man who has followed the Rams since 1988. Sotelo played wide receiver at Lynwood High School and wore No. 83 in honor of his favorite player, Rams wide receiver Flipper Anderson.

“Back in those days, if you were a Latino in the Southeast, you were a Raider, 49er or Cowboys fan,” Sotelo said. “There weren’t too many of us Rams fans, which is what makes today special.”

He chose the Rams because he couldn’t get into the Raiders’ “gangster attitude.”

About 30 feet to Sotelo’s right, roughly 40 Rams fans climbed on top of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power trucks used to blockade a portion of the street for the parade. As those fans waved at him, he waved back with his flag.

Advertisement

“They say we don’t have fans,” he quipped. Sotelo said the title is even sweeter as some of his friends abandoned the Rams after they fled Los Angeles for St. Louis in 1994.

“Those were tough times, but I thought they might come back one day and they did,” he said. “Now we’re champions.”

Advertisement