"McVay is referred to by those who know him as a “thermostat,” with energy capable of changing a room. When he is high, he lifts people with him. When he is low, he drags them down. He knows this about himself, but he can’t always control it, and that leads to guilt.
At times last season, McVay would realize how unhealthy it was to be so emotionally hollowed out by his team’s failure, but he couldn’t stop his feelings. It scared him, how detached he felt from everybody around him. He resented the circumstances he couldn’t control, and he resented needing control in the first place.
For five years, since the Rams’ loss to New England in Super Bowl LIII, McVay believed the only thing he needed to achieve happiness was to win a championship by any means necessary. When he did, he realized how much of himself he either left behind or lost entirely to get there."
