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Though Los Angeles will technically be considered the visiting team, Sunday’s Super Bowl will be played at the Rams’ home venue, SoFi Stadium. But as former Ram Eric Dickerson tells it, LA’s never really seemed like home for the Rams anyways.
"This is a Raider town," Dickerson told USA Today Sports.
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WESTWOOD, CA - JULY 17: Eric Dickerson attends Monster Energy Outbreak Presents $50K Charity Challenge Celebrity Basketball Game at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion on July 17, 2018 in Westwood, California. (Photo by Vivien Killilea/Getty Images Idol Roc)
The Super Bowl-bound Rams are the gypsies of the NFL. They started in Cleveland, bounced to LA, spent two decades in St. Louis, then landed back in LA prior to the 2016 season. At this point, fans at SoFi often support the opposition more than the home team.
From Dickerson’s perspective, that’s because football fans in Los Angeles generally identify more with the Las Vegas Raiders, who spent 12 years from the early 80s to mid-90s in LA, and all but the last two seasons in California, while the Rams’ home has constantly been in flux.
"The Rams were gone for 22 years. That’s like all of a sudden, I’m gonna go outside and take the trash out and I come back 22 years later, ‘Hey, honey, I’m home!’ ‘Where the hell you’ve been for 22 years?'" said Dickerson. "The Rams have not been here, so they have to expect a little push back, a little draw back."
ANAHEIM,CA - DECEMBER 17: Eric Dickerson #29 of the Los Angeles Rams waits on the sidelines a National Football League game against the Houston Oilers played on December 17, 1984 at Anaheim Stadium in Anaheim, California. Dickerson set a new NFL single season rushing record during the game. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
Dickerson isn’t ruling out the possibility of LA fans swapping their silver and black for blue and gold, but he doesn’t envision it happening anytime soon.
"I think we’re trying to build that fan base back up, and I don’t think we’ll have a problem doing it. I mean because right now, I’ll just say it: This is a Raider town. Los Angeles is a Raider town."
Should the Rams leave Sunday as Super Bowl champions, they’ll likely gain both support and raised expectations from the city’s fans.
HONOLULU, HAWAII - AUGUST 17: Los Angeles Rams HOF legend Eric Dickerson takes a selfie with fans during the preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys at Aloha Stadium on August 17, 2019 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images)
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"LA is a sports city. It really is," Dickerson added. "You got the Dodgers. You got the Lakers. You got the Kings. We (are) used to championships here. This is something (that’s) not nothing new."
Dickerson’s comments should alleviate some pressure from the hometown Rams. In the event they end up on the losing end of the Super Bowl, all LA fans will be concerned with is the score of the Raiders game.
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