I have tried to figure out when and why I became a Rams fan but I can only go back to when I was 9. That would roughly be 1980. I still remember having a conversation with my buddy at the time that the Rams and Steelers were going to face each other again in the SB. My prognosticating, sadly, as good as it would get from the very beginning.
But I remember ferreting out biographies and books about the Rams before then. So, I don't really know what got me started on them. My dad introduced me to football but he was born in El Paso and a big Cowboys fan. So, for whatever reason, I gravitated toward the Rams all on my own. It had to be their look and then Vince Ferragamo. To my young brain, he was John Wayne or Burt Reynolds or whatever. He just looked like football and a superhero rolled into one.
So, my learning curve began with the '79-ish team and was formed around those early '80's teams. It was always a little tougher being a Rams fan. I didn't get to see them much on tv but I always read the recaps and stories in the newspaper, the Rams being the main local team even though we were 2 hours north of LA. But I was always looking for magazines or books on the Rams and they just didn't get the same kind of pub. It wasn't as difficult to find a book on Namath or Starr or Staubach or Unitas but it was pretty rare to find a book on Rams players.
There used to be a series of hardbound, team history books put out by the NFL that were for younger readers and I was able to find the one on the Rams at the library. NFL books would always have some Rams stuff but rarely feature the Rams like other teams.
At the end of the day though, I give myself credit for adopting the Rams all on my own. Family and friends were not Rams fans and I really don't know where I got it from. 44 years has got me beat though. I'm just now passing 40.
