It’s Super Bowl XXXVI and the Superdome in New Orleans is rocking. People are waving flags and are filled with the American spirit as a singing ensemble made up of Barry Manilow, James Ingram, Wynonna, Yolanda Adams and Patti LaBelle sing, “Let Freedom Ring”. A video message of President George W. Bush, former Presidents Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton reading excerpts from the Declaration of Independence is played. People are screaming and shouting. People are crying. It is quite the spectacle leading up to the biggest stage in all of sports.
In the middle of all of this, there are the St. Louis Rams waiting to take the field for their second Super Bowl appearance in three years. After another record breaking 14-2 season, they are heavy favorites over their opponent, the aptly named New England Patriots. Lead by quarterback Kurt Warner, running back Marshall Faulk, wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt, the Rams highly touted offense waits in the entrance tunnel to be introduced onto the field, on there way to the franchise’s second Super Bowl victory.
With flashbulbs going off left and right and the cheers getting louder with every name announced, Rams Wide Receiver Ricky Proehl looks into a television camera and bluntly states, “Tonight, a dynasty is born.”
Four hours later, the Patriots beat St. Louis 20-17 on a last minute 48-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri.
The launch of a dynasty...just not the one we expected.Perhaps Proehl should have been a little clearer when he said that a dynasty would be born. After the Patriots upset the Rams, they went on to win two more Super Bowls in three years and have become a mainstay in the NFL Playoffs ever since, including a near perfect season in 2007.
The Rams have gone on to plunge into what seems like a never ending tailspin. Poor play on the field and poor management on the sidelines in the front office has frustrated the majority of a budding fan base to the point that the Edward Jones Dome has seen a decline in attendance every year since the 2001 season.
The disastrous Super Bowl loss was only the beginning. The next season, the Rams took the field expecting to repeat as NFC Champions. But Kurt Warner came out flat, starting his season with seven interceptions versus one touchdown pass before breaking his finger and missing a majority of the season. With Warner’s injury, St. Louis was introduced to Marc Bulger who helped dig the Rams out of an 0-5 hole and back to a .500 record and a shot at making the playoffs. But 5-5 was as close as the Rams would get as they finished the season with a 6-10 record. Fans began to turn on Kurt Warner and head coach Mike Martz for not giving the ball to Marshall Faulk more often. Both became the fan whipping boys for the Rams first losing season since 1998.
FINAL TOTAL FAN ATTENDANCE: 528, 498
Warner was out most of the 2002 season due to injury. Eventually he lost his starting job to Marc Bulger and was not resigned by the Rams. He has gone on to revive his career with Arizona.
The 2003 season started with controversy as Mike Martz named Marc Bulger the Rams starting quarterback, relegating NFL and Super Bowl XXXIV M.V.P. Kurt Warner to the role of back-up. For some, it was a breathe of fresh air while others shook their heads in disgust. However, Bulger somewhat proved his critics wrong, leading the Rams to a 12-4 finish and a first round bye in the playoffs. But the good times would stop there as Martz’s poor coaching decisions lead to an overtime win for the Carolina Panthers on the Rams home turf in the divisional playoff round. It would also be the last season that St. Louis saw Kurt Warner in a Rams uniform.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 528, 456
Marc Bulger lead the Rams to a postseason appearance in his first year. He is yet to repeat the success he had in 2003.
The next season, the Rams were projected to repeat as NFC West Champions and got off on the right foot with a 17-10 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at home. However, the season proved to be an up-and-down season and dropped to 6-8 with two games left to play on the season. The Rams rallied to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-7 on Monday Night Football and won a thrilling overtime victory against the New York Jets at home to clinch a playoff spot. The team went on to beat the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card game, but the good feelings were short lived as the Atlanta Falcons, lead by Michael Vick, steamrolled the Rams 47-17. Arguments between the front office and Mike Martz become very heated and both sides start using the local press to fuel the feud.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 527, 384
2005 was another season to forget. An injury to Marc Bulger kept him on the sidelines for the majority of the season and health problems to Mike Martz kept him from coaching the team, leading to Assistant Coach, Joe Vitt being named interim head coach. The Rams finish the season with a 6-10 record and Martz is dismissed from his head coaching duties.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 523, 685
"Mad" Mike Martz quickly fell out of favor with fans with his perceived pass heavy offense. Eventually he was chased out of town by fans and dismissed as the head coach.
The 2006 off-season brought signs of change and optimism to Rams fans. But that quickly changed as Miami Dolphins Offensive Coordinator, Scott Linehan was hired to replace Mike Martz as head coach. The pick of Linehan did not resonate well with fans as they expected a new approach for the team and wanted a more defense oriented approach. However, fans were excited because there young running back, Steven Jackson, would get a shot at his first full season as fan favorite Marshall Faulk was out for the season with injury and was most likely going to retire. Things started off well as the Rams got off to a 4-1 start, but a close loss to the Seahawks at home lead to a five game losing streak. The team and the fan’s frustrations were summed up in a Monday night shelling to the Chicago Bears, a game in which Bear fans outnumbered Rams fans, leading to some nasty words from Steven Jackson towards the people of St. Louis. Later in the season, a Rams game is not classified as a sell out and for the first time since the Rams relocated to St. Louis, a home game is blacked out on local television.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 522, 610
After an 8-8 season and a breakout Pro Bowl season by Steven Jackson, the early projections were for the Rams to make the playoffs and potentially win the NFC West. However, any optimism went out the window very quickly as the Rams lost their first eight games on their way to the worst season since moving to St. Louis. The lowlight of the season came on a Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers at the Dome, when the Rams retired Marshall Faulk’s number…in front of a dome full of Steelers fans. Once again, a Rams home game is blacked out. Fans begin calling for the heads of Team President John Shaw, General Manager Jay Zygmunt and Head Coach Scott Linehan for poor draft picks and for poor team leadership. Linehan’s feuds with team stars Bulger, Jackson and Torry Holt become very apparent.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 504, 354
On what should have been a special day for Rams fans, Marshall Faulk's number 28 was retired at the Dome on a Thursday night national broadcast. Unfortunately, Steelers fans clogged the dome and Faulk's number was raised to the rafters amidst a sea of black and yellow.
2008 brought more poor feelings towards the Rams. After starting 0-4 and losing control of his team, Scott Linehan was fired and replaced with Defensive Coordinator Jim Haslett on an interim basis. The Rams would win their first two games under Haslett but would lose their last ten, on their way to setting a new low in St. Louis Rams history. This appeared to be a breaking point as the total attendance at the Dome fell under 500, 000 for the first time since 1998.
FINAL TOTAL ATTENDANCE: 479, 843
Scott Linehan's tenure with the Rams can be summed up in this picture: A lot of shouting and a lot of pointing fingers.
As the 2009 Rams season begins, the Dome looks to be as empty and as silent as it has ever been. The days of the Greatest Show on Turf are long gone and have been replaced with a losing, pessimistic culture that St. Louis football fans are all too familiar with. How could a franchise on the brink of starting the next NFL dynasty fall so hard so fast and how can the Dome start rattling with the sounds of roars and cheers again?
After several bad drafts and ignoring fan pleas, the organization quickly went into disarray. The fading health and eventual death of former team owner, Georgia Frontiere left stakeholders vying for power leaving the front office and coaching staff with no clear leader. The fight in the front office trickled down to the playing field and eventually, players started fighting with coaches and suddenly the game being played wasn’t nearly as important as everyone’s self interests. The more selfish people became, the more the Rams lost and the less fans that came through the turnstiles. This season looks to mark a new low in fan attendance as season tickets are near an all-time low and predicted attendance figures have the Rams having another blacked out home game, if not more.
While the years after Super Bowl XXXVI have been some of the darker years in recent memory, 2009 marks a season of change. With the resignations of both John Shaw and Jay Zygmunt, the front office appears to be taking shape under the direction of Chip Rosenbloom. While Rosenbloom is simply cleaning house for the impending sale of the Rams, it’s a good sign to see the franchise rebuilding itself and starting off on fresh ground and having everyone working together to build a true contender for the first time in years.
For the first time since Dick Vermeil, the Rams appear to have a fairly uncontroversial coach in Steve Spagnuolo. The team appears to have rallied around Spagnuolo’s philosophy and posted their first winning record in the preseason since 2003. Spagnuolo faces a large task in getting the leaders on this team to be leaders and getting everyone to play team oriented football. He will need help from his top players in Bulger and Jackson. If Bulger can play the way everyone believes he’s capable of, that will be a start. If Jackson can keep his mouth closed and just run the football, that will be a start.
The keys to success for the franchise to move forward will be unselfish play, leaders fulfilling their rolls and players just getting back to playing the game of football.
This team will not win their division and will most likely miss the playoffs for a fifth consecutive year. But why not win five or six games? It won’t be a season to break records, but any improvement will work to show the fans the team is moving in the right direction. Any improvement will do to get them back in their favorite seat, wearing their favorite player’s jersey, sipping on their favorite beer. Any improvement to turn the Dome into the visitor’s house of horrors that it once was.
On February 3, 2002, a potential St. Louis dynasty came to a crumbling end.
On September 13, 2009, a new era in St. Louis begins. The fans will be slow to show, but every great season starts with one victory. The process of reawakening the cheers will take time. After all, the Dome wasn’t built in a day.
Steve Spagnuolo and company look to turn the entire Rams franchise around and win back the heart of St. Louis.
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