It was 2016 and I was unsure about my place as a Rams fan.
The team had just moved away from my hometown in the pettiest way possible and I was filled with blind rage. I know I’m filled with rage quite often, but this time was different. The team I religiously followed and campaigned hardest for had up and moved out of town.
No more games at The Dome.
No more training camps in Earth City.
No more tailgating in the concrete quilt that is the downtown St. Louis area.
And most of all, no more ST.LOUIS Rams, which hurt quite a bit. But not as much as living ghoul Stan Kroenke throwing incredibly false accusations against a city that supported a dumpster franchise for the better part of this franchise’s existence in the city.
I felt jaded and for an afternoon, I contemplated abandoning the Rams and watching another team. The Kansas City Chiefs were always a favorite watch. The Indianapolis Colts didn’t sound terrible. The Tennessee Titans were the most fun, I thought. But rooting for another team not named “Rams” just didn’t feel right.
Also, the phrase “Rams time is always fine” is too good to be replaced. “Chiefs time is always fine”? No. No, I don’t like that at all.
So, I watched the first Monday Night Football game for the newly-returned Los Angeles Rams in both anger and familiar comfort of watching my team suck on primetime television.
But something new happened. Something I had never seen before.
Aaron Donald, of all people, wigging out.
Sure, the Rams being shutout 28-0 to the San Francisco 49ers is enough to drive anyone a little mad. Especially when SanFran beat the Rams twice that year — the 49ers only two wins during that 2-14 season.
Down 21-0 midway through the fourth, the 49ers ran an impromptu quarterback run by Blaine Gabbert. Middle linebacker Alec Ogletree made a tackle on Gabbert and decided to push off Gabbert and drag his foot across his chest following the play.
You know, like an a*****e.
That’s when the two sides got into a soft scuffle. Some pushes were made. Some words exchanged. And then Aaron Donald came in and grabbed the first guy he could find — Quinton Patton — by the back of the neck.
Patton, of course, wasn’t fond of that and protested. So, Donald launched him backward and knocked his helmet off in the process.
Of course, all of this happened right in front of an official. Immediate flag.
There were two, actually — the other being thrown on Ogletree. But Donald was the only one who was ejected.
Donald was pissed. A few steps into his trek to the sideline, Donald spiked his helmet in anger and knocked the stuffing loose from his helmet in the process.
After the game, Donald apologized.
"I was just seeing something happening and just tried to run over there and help one of my guys," Donald said. "And, like I said, it was just a dumb decision on my part."
Fisher spoke on Donald, too.
"He just apologized to me there. He just lost his composure there ... he just wants to win," Fisher said. "He's a great person. He's frustrated he lost his poise."
Watching Aaron Donald dissolve his composure like that was unfortunate, and I genuinely felt terrible for him. Aaron Donald had never lost his cool like that and hasn’t since. So, I can’t imagine the spark that led him to go over the handle like that.
That’s when I knew I wasn’t going to stop caring about this stupid team. That season sucked just like all the ones before it and I didn’t care. This was my team, whether I liked it or not.
In 2016, Aaron Donald went berzerk
We cannot afford to lose this game against Shan Fran. Seattle has perhaps the easiest remaining schedule in the NFC.
Thanks for sticking with the team Tim. If it's any consolation, before the Rams left St. Louis, they left many with the same sinking feeling you had when they left Orange County, and for all we know, also when they left Los Angeles, and before that, Cleveland.
Whenever I can steel my nerves enough to go tolerate Twitter, I read the team updates from the Rams social media account, and sure enough there are always salty St. Louisians having to say their piece. But true fans know the truth; your commitment to a team isn't always about geography. I mean, sure I support the Texans too here in Houston, but also run into Cowboy fans everywhere I go whether it's California, Virginia, Florida, or Mexico. Maybe that means that not all football fans are smart but I prefer to think it just means that people pick a team for any number of reasons besides geography, and it's all good. It's an example of freedom, and it's good. If I were Roger Goodell I would say the entire world is a fertile market for any team's merchandise to and that's good too.
Anyway, even after moving around the USA a few times I've stuck with the Rams. God help me, it hasn't been easy, they've been mostly awful, with one lucky streak when they got a Lombardi (Yes, lucky, because they clearly couldn't sustain it like those bastards running the Steelers, Seahawks, and Patriots). Now though, I think they finally got real football people running the show instead of accountants and lawyers, and now they'll at least be consistently competitive like they were in the 70s and 80s.
I don't know why the team played so listlessly in the first game against the Niners this year. I'm still unhappy about it. They could go a long way to proving they aren't frauds by winning most of the remaining games, starting with this one.