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The city of Los Angeles is currently on top of the sports world.
On Oct. 11, the Los Angeles Lakers clinched the 2019-20 NBA championship, led by LeBron James, widely considered the best basketball player in the world.
On Oct. 27, the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the 2020 World Series championship, led by Mookie Betts and Clayton Kershaw, arguably the best overall baseball player and the best pitcher in the world.
Going into the 2020 NFL season, Los Angeles wasn't projected to have a serious Super Bowl contender, even though the city has two NFL teams.
The L.A. Chargers are still a rebuilding franchise and just found their answer at quarterback with rookie Justin Herbert. The Chargers have potential, but currently they're 3-9 and missing several pieces needed to compete.
The L.A. Rams were just in the Super Bowl after the 2018 season -- where they lost to the Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots -- but took a big step back in 2019 by missing the playoffs. Entering the 2020 season, the Rams were most often picked to finish third or fourth in the NFC West division behind the reigning NFC champion San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Arizona Cardinals.
But now in Week 14 of this season, the Rams are 9-4 and have the third-best record in the NFC. The Rams are on top of the NFC West division, and coming off a 24-3 defensive domination of Belichick's Patriots (no Brady, though) on "Thursday Night Football."
The Rams are giving the city of Los Angeles another championship contender, not long after moving back to the city the franchise once called home.
The history of the Rams begins in Cleveland, in 1936. The Cleveland Rams were founded by a lawyer from Ohio named Homer Marshman and a former Ohio State fullback Damon Wetzel. They joined the American Football League in 1936, then joined the NFL in 1937. The Rams played in Cleveland until 1945.
Rams first move to Los Angeles in 1946
In 1946, under owner Dan Reeves, the Rams relocated to Los Angeles. For more than a decade, the Rams were the only major pro sports team in L.A., but then the Dodgers, Lakers, Chargers and MLB's Angels moved there during the late-1950s and early-1960s. In later years, the NFL's Raiders, NBA's Clippers, NHL's Kings and NHL's Ducks also called Los Angeles home.
The L.A. Rams made it to their first Super Bowl in the 1979 season, but lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers' dynasty. The Rams had some good teams that made deep playoff runs in the 1980s, but by the early-1990s the team was consistently struggling and losing fans on top of losing games.
In 1995, owner Georgia Frontiere moved the Rams from L.A. to St. Louis. In the 1999 season they put together the "Greatest Show on Turf" team that dominated opponents with an explosive offense featuring quarterback Kurt Warner, running back Marshall Faulk, and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt.
The 1999 Rams made it to the Super Bowl and won the franchise's first Super Bowl championship, beating the Tennessee Titans in a 23-16 thriller that is still considered one of the most exciting Super Bowls in NFL history.
The Rams made it back to the Super Bowl in the 2001 season, but lost to the Patriots. That was Brady and Belichick's first championship together. The Rams were also the losers for Brady and Belichick's sixth and final championship together.
Rams move back to Los Angeles in 2016
The Rams began to struggle again in the mid-2000s. Despite the city of St. Louis making an effort to help majority owner Stan Kroenke build the Rams a new stadium, the franchise move again in 2016, back to Los Angeles.
In the early stages of the Rams' second stint in Los Angeles, the team has been defined by its defense rather than an explosive offense. Defensive lineman Aaron Donald is a two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, and in 2019 he was voted the best overall player in the league by his fellow NFL players.
This season, Donald aims to put his name next to LeBron, Betts and Kershaw in L.A.'s new circle of champions.
