Why Eric Dickerson Is Right About St. Louis Rams To L.A.

Apr 30, 2015; Chicago, IL, USA; St. Louis Rams fan Tyler Funneman (right) holds up a sign at DraftTown in Grant Park before the 2015 NFL Draft at the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Loyalty speaks for a lot with former NFL players in regards to the cities they played in, and Eric Dickerson has every reason to love Los Angeles. He made his name there when he rushed for a single-season record 2,105 yards, forging his path to the Hall of Fame. So it makes perfect sense he would love nothing better than to see the St. Louis Rams return there after leaving 20 years ago in 1995.

"“I do go to St. Louis, they’re still the Rams and the team I played for, but a lot of guys feel the same way. They’d like to have them back here in town. We need a team now, and I think the perfect fit would be the Los Angeles Rams … I believe the Rams belong here [in Los Angeles].”"

His reasoning seems sound enough. After all, the Rams have one of the worst attendance figures in the NFL of late, averaging around 57,000 people per home game in a stadium that is meant to fit 66,000. Part of that problem is the fact the team hasn’t reached the playoffs since 2004 and their 6-10 season last year didn’t help matters.

Worst still, St. Louis is one of the smallest media markets in the NFL. Back in 2012 the city ranked a distant 21st with 1,253,000 TV households. Moving to L.A. would potentially expose them to over 5,569,000 and the money that goes along with that.

What makes this all come together is the timing. The Rams, at least on paper look like a team that is ready to win. They have a proven head coach in Jeff Fisher, a stout defense, deep running game and have now added a young, talented quarterback in Nick Foles.

Maybe a fresh new stadium and the California sun is exactly what this team needs to push it over the top. Besides, history shows that a big reason the Rams had success in L.A. during their first run was because they had success almost immediately. It was almost a decade before the team had a losing season when they arrived in 1946 and in that span they played in three NFL championship games, winning one of them.

Part of the reason they left was five-straight losing seasons in which they failed to win more than six games in any of them. As the Lakers, Kings, and Angels have shown if you win games and embrace a little of the Hollywood glitz and glamour, there is no better city to play in than Los Angeles.

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