{"id":11414,"date":"2026-06-01T21:01:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11414"},"modified":"2026-06-01T21:01:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-01T21:01:55","slug":"alexander-rams-are-operating-the-way-a-southern-california-team-should","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11414","title":{"rendered":"Alexander: Rams are operating the way a Southern California team should"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

You\u2019ll never hear Stan Kroenke, or Kevin Demoff, or Les Snead or Sean McVay or anyone else in Rams blue and gold, downplay winning as a means of keeping the public engaged.<\/p>\n

Read more What to know about US military strikes on alleged drug boats<\/a><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not the way things are done here, first of all. The idea of doing just enough to keep people interested, but not enough to roll the dice and go for it all? That doesn\u2019t fly in Southern California, as Angels fans have let it be known.<\/p>\n

The object is to win, and win big if you can. It doesn\u2019t always work out, as Dodger fans were painfully aware earlier in this decade and as Lakers fans certainly are aware. When you haven\u2019t won a banner in a while, the quest grows more desperate. And when you have, you want more, as you should. That\u2019s the way a big city franchise should always operate.<\/p>\n

So the Rams have pivoted, going from a few seasons of amassing younger talent back to Snead\u2019s \u201c(Forget) them picks\u201d persona.<\/p>\n

And here\u2019s an interesting twist: The Rams sent out a promotional email Monday morning \u2013 it hit this particular inbox at 11:03 a.m. \u2013 with the identifier: \u201cThe Rams are \u2018All In\u2019 in 2026.\u201d But this message aimed at ticket-buyers was obviously produced before the latest big deal, the bombshell that sent promising young linebacker Jared Verse, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, to the Cleveland Browns for Myles Garrett, a seven-time All-Pro edge rusher and two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year.<\/p>\n

The picks that are being (forgotten) in the Garrett deal, incidentally, are a 2027 first-rounder, a 2028 second-rounder and a 2029 third-rounder. If Garrett can help them get to that Feb. 14, 2027 game on their home turf, it\u2019ll all be worth it.<\/p>\n

One of Garrett\u2019s DPOY awards came last season, when he set the single-season NFL record with 23 sacks. And in a season in which the Rams reached the NFC Championship Game before running into Seattle, they darned sure could have used that sort of threat in the 31-27 loss Jan. 24 that sent the Seahawks to the Super Bowl and eventually a Lombardi Trophy.<\/p>\n

From the column that day: \u201cSunday, the Rams also saw a (Sam) Darnold they hadn\u2019t seen much of in their last few meetings: No interceptions, one sack. In the two regular season meetings with the Seahawks this year, he\u2019d thrown six picks, and he was sacked four times in Seattle\u2019s 38-37 overtime victory in December. A year ago, in the Rams\u2019 playoff victory over Minnesota, Darnold was intercepted once and sacked nine times.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

So go ahead and cross that priority off the checklist.<\/p>\n

The addition of Garrett, following the trade of four picks to Kansas City for cornerback and two-time All-Pro selection Trent McDuffie in March and the signing of fellow former ex-Kansas City cornerback Jaylen Watson to a three-year deal shortly thereafter, shores up the defense for sure.<\/p>\n

But this is about more than individual transactions or a particular season\u2019s roster-building.<\/p>\n

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This is about an operating philosophy that should be followed by every team in this region, the most diverse sports market on the planet. If you want to keep up in a neighborhood with 13 franchises in eight professional leagues, two power conference universities in USC and UCLA and eight other Division I universities, you\u2019d better show a willingness to do what it takes to win, or at least to be competitive.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The Rams have now been back here for a decade. They upped their game almost immediately upon their return from St. Louis in 2016, when Snead sent six picks to Tennessee for the No. 1 selection that turned out to be Cal quarterback Jared Goff. (And, years later, they swapped Goff to Detroit for Matthew Stafford, who led the Rams to a championship in February of 2022 and was last season\u2019s MVP.)<\/p>\n

The message, then as now: They\u2019re not fooling around.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look at the organization, I would say we had an amazing year\u201d in 2025, team president Demoff said in April during the NFL meetings in Phoenix. \u201cWe built on that, and we\u2019re set up for another amazing year.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think a decade in, the bar for this organization needs to continue to rise, right? We have one of the greatest opportunities in sports. We\u2019re the NFL team in Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium. If we don\u2019t use that every day to go try to be the biggest and most valuable sports brand in the world, shame on us. We should be pushing the envelope on the field. We should be pushing the envelope off the field.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 There\u2019s not a day I walk in the building and know that the group we\u2019ve assembled isn\u2019t capable of more.\u201d<\/p>\n

It might not always be reflected in the standings, of course, because funny things can happen.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, the big dogs in this crowded kennel \u2013 the Dodgers, the Lakers, the Rams \u2013 recognize the power of banners and rings, and also recognize that implicit contract with the fans. Maybe you can\u2019t win every year, but a franchise has an obligation to pursue excellence 100 percent of the time, especially for the prices fans are asked to pay.<\/p>\n

And if you\u2019re an owner who can\u2019t, or won\u2019t, make that your absolute No. 1 priority above all else? Maybe it\u2019s time to step aside and surrender the reins to someone who will.<\/p>\n

Read more FIFA launches women\u2019s health and performance project to address the needs of female athletes<\/a><\/p>\n

jalexander@scng.com<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Monday’s bombshell trade for edge rusher Myles Garrett sends a message, and it’s a welcome one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11414","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion-columnist","category-represents-the-opinion-of-the-author-who-is-either-a-paid-columnist-or-an-unpaid-guest-columnist"],"yoast_head":"\nAlexander: Rams are operating the way a Southern California team should - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=11414\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alexander: Rams are operating the way a Southern California team should - 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