I am a very passionate, impulsive, and somewhat illogical Rams fan who grew up in St. Louis and now resides in Denver, Colorado. I’ve been living in Denver now for five years, and I have a unique perspective when it comes to the team I love because not only do I see things from afar, but also, I live in Broncos Country. I haven’t converted to Broncos blue and orange, but this year made it difficult. Because the Rams are so horrible and have been for the majority of their existence in St. Louis, hanging around a fan base of Broncos fanatics that are obsessed with the team really tests my patience. The 2011 season was also very compelling from a Denver perspective with the insane Tebow-ness that polarized the nation. Thus, it has been a challenging year from my perspective to stay loyal to my Rams.
Watching both teams this year has been interesting for two wildly opposite reasons. I started thinking how the Broncos got to this point this year after a dreadful 2010. I began to realize that the Broncos team of 2010 and the Rams team in 2011 have some very eerie similarities. I want you to think about this for a second. The Denver Broncos in 2010 had the 2nd worst record in the league, had little to no reason to watch the team before the season even began, had a horrible defense but one good pass rusher, played uninspiring football, had a questionable WR core, could not get a free agent without over paying, had a young quarterback on their roster with a prestigious college career, and fired their coach at the end of the season. Does any of this sound familiar? The 2011 Broncos, as you all know, hit the jackpot with being a compelling team, gaining tons of national attention that may help them build a motivated team that people actually want to watch, and now has a legit coach that people believe in. What a difference a year makes. I am not going to tell you that the 2012 Rams are going to be the 2011 Broncos, but the similarities above are rather interesting. With the Rams having Sam Bradford, Chris Long, James Laurinaitis, and Jeff Fisher in comparison to Tim Tebow, Elvis Dumervil, Von Miller, and John Fox, the similarities continue with age, tenure, results, and upside. These teams are more similar than you would have thought. 
That line of thinking, or you may call it dreaming, is what every Rams fan has fantasized about every off-season the last ten years. The 2011 Broncos are what Rams fans are really searching for—an ascending team that has a lot to look forward to in the next several years. Unfortunately, it seems that consistent misses in the draft and debilitating injuries have put us farther in the hole year after year. But, every year Rams fans go into the offseason with non-justified optimism. I remember in 2007 thinking that even though the Rams selected the 5th defensive lineman taken with the 13th pick in Adam Carriker, that he would be the piece that would catapult us into a deep playoff run. As we all know, that didn’t happen. With hindsight being 20/20, and looking back at that 2007 draft and seeing Darrelle Revis selected with the very next pick, it makes it harder and harder to believe the Rams will do anything in the draft to improve the team because we have had the revolving door in the war room on draft day for several years. Like him or not, which the majority of Denver hates this man more than Cleveland hates LeBron, Josh McDaniels’s 2010 draft gave the team two starting WR’s in Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas, two sixteen-start offensive lineman, and Tim Tebow. Those selections have driven the Broncos to be a compelling, playoff-winning team. What a difference a year makes. Well, I am hopeful for a Denver story in St. Louis in 2012. I just really hope so.
Written by: Jon Wekerle
Written by: Jon Wekerle
I think optimistic Rams fans would say the 2012 team will be similar to the 2010 team. You hit the nail on the head with the mention of the Rams' draft woes. Long term success will ultimately be dictated by the young talent the Rams can add year after year.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that year after year, we go into the off-season with optimism that we seem to have pulled out of nowhere. I'm not sure if it's based on some type of hidden logic or if it's driven by a sense of nostalgia from what we remember from the turn of the century.
ReplyDeleteEither way, it's not going to change. And even if you do become somewhat of a Broncos fan, I think you will still have that sense of hope in your home team. Something about living in St. Louis when the team first moved there makes it hard to ever turn away from them.
Great read.
I know the draft can be a crap shoot, but the Rams have turned into a gambler that is a platinum member at Ameristar that has 3 morgages on their home, they are terrible at gambling...
ReplyDeleteJon I think you are very insightful and have a grasp on what the St. Louis fans feel about this team. Looking forward to more of your articles.
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