LA area welcomes back NFL team

After losing two NFL franchises in 1995, the St. Louis Rams and the Oakland Raiders, the metropolis city of Los Angeles may finally be regaining back a spot on the NFL map with the addition of two teams.On Jan. 13 it was announced that the St. Louis Rams would become the LA Rams as of 2016. Until the new stadium is built in Inglewood, the Rams will play in the Coliseum, home of the USC Trojans. In addition to this being the temporary home for the Rams, it will also be a huge benefit to USC as the will school receive portions of the Coliseum’s revenue during the NFL season, leading to a possible upgrade for the USC stadium.   “My initial thought was just finally,” varsity football quarterback Dariush Sayson (’18) said. “One of the most well known cities in the world finally has a football team.”The fields in San Diego, Oakland and St. Louis have all been deemed “insufficient and unsatisfactory.” Furthermore, according to NFL.com, none of the current cities have offered an alternative stadium opportunity.“None of the three clubs has received a stadium proposal from its current city free of significant contingencies or were presented with a long-term solution,” the NFL.com staff said.Over the last couple of years, many believed that the Oakland Raiders would become the LA Raiders once again. However, throughout the entire discussion of moving an NFL team to Los Angeles, a lot of “anti-Raider” sentiment has risen.Oakland has begun to develop a rough reputation over the years with the rabid fans, losing seasons and the issues of management, especially when owner Al Davis was the owner of the team. However, this year the Raiders were having a shift in tradition as their starting quarterback (QB) Derek Carr had a good season and for the first time in a long time it looks like the Raiders are going to have some stability at the QB position. In addition their wide receiver Amari Cooper became the first rookie Raider to post a 1,000 yard receiving season since Randy Moss.However, this one year refinement hasn’t been enough to propel them to the top of the candidacy as the Rams and Charges still lie as the two front runners.The Chargers on the other hand have taken a different route as they started the season with 0-6 start. Philip Rivers, starting QB for the chargers, did about all he could, but at the end of the day, when your defense allows 24 points a game you’re not going to win many games. There’s a chance that the Chargers could share the stadium with the Rams but, they have not made a decision yet and could take as long as the beginning of next year's season to decide.The Rams, who finished the season 7-9, had things to be happy about at the end of the year. Rookie Running Back, Todd Gurley, played very well his first year and has been a rallying point for this team. However, the QB position is still a question mark and with head coach Jeff Fisher on the hot seat due to yet another season without a playoff appearance, the Rams have their work cut out for them.In addition, the Rams returning to LA will be a “homecoming” so to speak. In 1980 the Los Angeles Rams went to a Super Bowl and even though they did not win, the Rams have had some success while they played in Los Angeles.“Los Angeles is such a huge city with such deserving fans that I feel like a football team was much needed,” NFL fan Kohl Buitenveld (’18) said. “Football fans in LA can finally hop off their bandwagons.”The owner of the Rams proposed to build a stadium in Inglewood, California for about 1.86 billion dollars. The future of the Oakland Raiders is uncertain, but they have received an offer from San Antonio expressing an interest in hosting the team. While this entire process has been for the most part orchestrated by the Rams, there is a possibility that the Chargers will join them in LA for the start of the 2016-2017 season.