A wildfire that erupted during practice Thursday forced the evacuation of many Rams players, coaches and staff.
Their NFC wild-card game was moved from SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., causing the entire organization to mobilize quickly.
So Friday morning, coach Sean McVay arrived at the team’s Woodland Hills facility with a message inscribed in black letters on a paperweight:
“Built For This.”
“You acknowledge it,” McVay said of the situation, “you tell ‘em what we want to be able to do as it relates to how to handle ourselves accordingly, to put ourselves in position to go compete the way that we’re capable of.”
The message resonated and calmed a team that will face the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night.
“Empowering,” was how safety Quentin Lake described it.
“He kind of gave us the reassurance and the confidence to say that we’ve been through so much already … it’s not something that we cannot overcome,” safety Lake, a team captain. “We truly are: The Rams are built for this.”
The NFL made the decision Thursday afternoon to move the game, just after the Kenneth Fire near Woodland Hills broke out.
McVay, who lives in Hidden Hills, was among the coaches and players evacuated from their homes.
Rams president Kevin Demoff said that he and the NFL had been in contact with public safety officials before the decision was made to move the game. The drain on first responder resources and the potential outbreak of more fires were among reasons that made the decision to move the game the correct one, Demoff said.
“Our players earned the home playoff game,” Demoff said, “but this situation merits that we play that somewhere else. It doesn’t take away from what they earned. It doesn’t take away from the amazing season that we’ve had.
“It’s just a recognition that there’s something bigger than football, and we owe this to our community to make sure this game can be played safely and not be a distraction.”
Rams coach Sean McVay believes the NFL might the correct decision to move their playoff game.
(Steven Senne / Associated Press)
Said McVay: “The league did the right thing in terms of keeping the priority the priority.”
The ownership groups of the Rams, Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and the Houston Texans and the NFL Foundation each will provide $1 million to “deliver vital resources to local organizations supporting those affected by the wildfires,” the NFL announced.
“We are heartbroken over the devastating losses experienced by so many in the Los Angeles area and inspired by the heroism of first responders and residents who have supported their neighbors,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. “The NFL family is committed to working with the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams to support their local communities in their time of need.”
When tickets for the game went on sale Friday, 25,000 season-ticket holders purchased them in the first hour, the team said.
Demoff said at least 15 buses would be available to take fans to the game from SoFi Stadium and back.
More than 330 people, including players, family members — and even a few pets — will be part of the Rams’ traveling party. Cardinals owner Michael Bidwell is supplying a plane to help transport the Rams’ contingent, Demoff said.
The Rams will practice Saturday at the Cardinals’ facility, and coaches will don caps and T-shirts emblazoned with “LAFD” on game day.
“As much chaos as this has caused all of us, in the end we’re still fortunate,” veteran tight end Tyler Higbee said. “We’re still getting ready to go play a football game, where some of these people have lost their homes and their entire livelihoods.”
Higbee and veteran tackle Rob Havenstein were part of a Rams team in 2018 that played the Seattle Seahawks and then the Kansas City Chiefs in the aftermath of a mass shooting in Thousand Oaks and wildfires that raged in the Southland.
The Kenneth Fire erupted Thursday as the Rams were on the practice field.
“All of a sudden … you look up there and, ‘Oh look, another one,’” Havenstein said, “and you’re like, wait a second, I live over there.”
The Rams worked quickly to arrange for families to accompany players on the trip.
The Rams cannot take away the stress of the fires and evacuations, Demoff said, but they could keep families together.
“We’ll all be together, and we can begin to focus on the game the best way we know how,” Demoff said. “This team has been resilient in a lot of ways. This organization over the years has been resilient.
“This will be another chapter.”
Players said they would be motivated to represent Los Angeles and provide a measure of escape and hope.
“Whether you’re from here or spent most of your time here, we’re Angelenos,” Higbee said. “And we’re playing for the city, especially when something like that can kind of bring everybody together.
“As terrible, as devastating as this can be, sometimes it takes something like this for people to band together and come together and work as one, and you start to see the good in everybody.
“So we’re playing for the city this weekend, and hopefully we get a W.”