The video, developed by director Aaron Rolo, opens with the likenesses of six Rams — Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, Puka Nacua, Kyren Williams, Kobie Turner and Byron Young — standing in a circle similar to the album artwork for N.W.A.’s Straight Outta Compton as late Los Angeles rapper Nipsey Hussle’s “Grinding All My Life” plays in the background.

“The Race to New Orleans”, as the video is called ahead of February’s Super Bowl in the city, then follows a blue and yellow lowrider as it drives from city to city to represent each game in the 2024 schedule.

The season will open with a playoff rematch at the Detroit Lions, and the video sees the lowrider go past Ford Field, renamed “Stafford Field” given the quarterback’s first 12 years spent with the Lions. The car then drives through red curtains reminiscent of rapper Eminem’s album The Eminem Show.

Other city allusions include a roulette wheel for the Rams’ home game against the Las Vegas Raiders and Viking boats stranded on Venice Beach for a matchup against Minnesota.

5 o'clock on the dot, we're in our (schedule) drop top

— Los Angeles Rams (@RamsNFL)

The Sept. 8 game, which will be broadcast on NBC, is a rematch of last year’s NFC wild-card playoff game, which . The game swung back and forth, with the Lions jumping out to a 14-3 lead before the Rams cut into the lead with two second-quarter touchdown passes by Matthew Stafford.

Ultimately, the Rams managed only two field goals in the second half and the Lions sealed the game with a risky second-down passing play out of the two-minute warning to pick up the game-winning first down.

That playoff game was also Stafford’s return to Detroit for the first time since being traded to the Rams prior to the 2021 season. Stafford spent his first 12 seasons with the Lions and became a , but the fans at Ford Field booed his entrance to the field while chanting the name of Jared Goff, the former Rams quarterback who was part of the Stafford trade.

In addition the prime-time game in Detroit, the Rams play the Minnesota Vikings and at the San Francisco 49ers in Thursday Night Football games on Oct. 24 and Dec. 12, respectively, while facing the Miami Dolphins on a Monday night on Nov. 11 and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 24.

Like last season, the Rams begin the season with three road games in four weeks. Following the trip to Detroit, the Rams go on the road to face NFC West rival Arizona in Week 2 before returning home for another divisional bout against the 49ers. The Rams close September with a road trip to Chicago to face the Bears and No. 1 overall pick and former USC standout Caleb Williams in Week 4.

October gets easier for the Rams from a travel perspective, not needing to leave Los Angeles for the entire month. Home games against Green Bay in Week 5 and Las Vegas in Week 7 sandwich a Week 6 bye, before closing the month with the Thursday matchup with the Vikings.

The Rams’ schedule ramps up in November and December, with three divisional matchups and four games against playoff teams from a year ago, not to mention road games against the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.

This difficult stretch includes a Week 14 home game against Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills followed by a road trip four days later to play Thursday against the 49ers, winners of eight of the last nine regular-season meetings between the rivals.

The Rams will close the regular season against the Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks, both games at home for a stretch the team hopes will allow them to lick their wounds ahead of the playoffs, not a long offseason.

It’s a more difficult road to the postseason than a year ago, the result of a second-place schedule from last year’s 10-7 campaign. An early bye won’t help as the Rams navigate the difficult November and December games as late-season injuries pile up. It will make a hot start vital for the Rams’ postseason hopes, as opposed to last year’s 3-6 record heading into the bye.

Rams 2024 schedule

Sept. 8: at Detroit 5:20 p.m. (NBC)

Sept. 15: at Arizona 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Sept. 22: vs. San Francisco 1:25 p.m. (FOX)

Sept. 29: at Chicago 10 a.m. (FOX)

Oct. 6: vs. Green Bay 1:25 p.m. (CBS)

BYE

Oct. 20: vs. Las Vegas 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Oct. 24: vs. Minnesota 5:15 p.m. (Amazon)

Nov. 3: at Seattle 1:25 p.m. (FOX)

Nov. 11: vs. Miami 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Nov. 17: at New England 10 a.m. (FOX)

Nov. 24: vs. Philadelphia 5:20 p.m. (NBC)

Dec. 1: at New Orleans 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Dec. 8: vs. Buffalo 1:25 p.m. (FOX)

Dec. 12: at San Francisco 5:15 p.m. (Amazon)

Dec. 22: at N.Y. Jets 10 a.m. (CBS)

Dec. 28/29: vs. Arizona TBD (TBD)

TBD: vs. Seattle TBD (TBD)

Is it enough to have a decent hot dog, a reasonably priced seat with good sightlines, a stadium or venue that’s relatively easy to get into and out of? Is concessions variety important to you? What about the in-game experience? Do you want a high-energy atmosphere, or would you prefer that the speakers be turned down a bit – even if it’s only once in a while – so you can hear yourself think or actually, you know, talk to the person next to you without having to scream?

Or is it all about winning and nothing else? Do you judge an owner by the money he/she spends on the team, and patience with and commitment to coaches and or managers? Or is there such a thing as too much patience? Do you want your owner to be involved, or does it matter if they’re hands-off or absentee owners who don’t sweat the details? (And, in some cases, might you prefer your owner to just keep writing checks and otherwise stay away?)

We have a pretty varied menagerie of ownership in SoCal. It’s not hard to figure out which ones are successful by classic standards; in most cases, you can look at the won-loss record for hints. But do the standards go deeper than the standings or playoff results?

I’ve got my ideas, as you might suspect. But I want to hear from you, the fans, and not just those who, um, are loyal to a particular team but can’t stand the owner. (Angels fans, I think we all know where Arte Moreno winds up on this list.) What makes the good ones stand out? What do they do to earn your loyalty? What can they do better?

As you might have already suspected from the way this column began, yes, I am trolling for responses. The more you cheer, or vent, the more additional columns come out of this concept. I’m only a little bit shameless.

Here are my thoughts, ranked by order of (my perceived) ownership quality:

1. Dodgers (Guggenheim ownership group, led by Mark Walter): Since closing their purchase from Frank McCourt on May 1, 2012, the Guggenheim Dodgers have won 11 division titles in 12 seasons and have a .602 regular-season winning percentage, along with one World Series title in 2020 – and the organizational feeling is that one is not enough, which fans should appreciate. And they’ve plunged lots of money into rejuvenating Dodger Stadium. (But I do wish they’d turn those speakers down once in a while.)

2. Clippers (Steve Ballmer): Ballmer, too, fares well in comparison with the previous ownership (i.e., the Donald Sterling reign of error). On-court success has been mixed and is elusive in the postseason largely because of injuries, primarily to Kawhi Leonard. But the Clippers have a stable, professional front office and what should be a transformative new home, the Intuit Dome, beginning next season.

3. Rams (Stan Kroenke): They’ve made the playoffs five of the last seven seasons and have stability, with Sean McVay on the sideline, Les Snead making the calls in the front office – including draft successes that are a that sometimes – and Kevin Demoff overseeing things. And SoFi Stadium has raised the standards for NFL stadia, although game day parking can still be a mess.

4. LAFC: (Multiple-person ownership structure including Magic Johnson, Nomar Garciaparra and wife Mia Hamm and Will Ferrell, among many others, with Bennett Rosenthal currently listed as lead managing owner): Success on the field, a gem of a facility in BMO Stadium, organizational stability and a bond with its supporters – considering that well before this team had any players, management listened to potential fans’ concerns and suggestions. Who else does that?

5. Ducks (Henry and Susan Samueli): They’re coming out of a rebuild, but this is a stable franchise with a loyal fan base, and Honda Center is 31 years old but still a first-class building. The OCVIBE development that will surround it, currently under construction, is essentially Anaheim’s answer to L.A. Live.

6. Chargers (Dean Spanos): Their tenancy in SoFi Stadium has quieted the narrative that accompanied them here in 2017 – “Who asked for you?” – and hiring Jim Harbaugh created their biggest splash since the move. Spanos was (and probably still is) hated in San Diego but has upgraded to meh in Los Angeles.

7. Lakers (Jeanie Buss): The 2020 bubble championship changed the narrative for a bit, but the feeling remains that Buss and her advisors aren’t really living up to the standards of Laker Exceptionalism. The circumstances around the firing of Darvin Ham led to a good amount of “do they know what they’re doing?” talk among a devoted but increasingly frustrated fan base. Can’t blame them.

8. Angel City Football Club (Multi-person ownership group, currently led by investor-owners Kara Nortman, Julie Uhrman, Natalie Portman and Alexis Ohanian and featuring plenty of celebrity involvement): The second-year franchise is worth $180 million, the highest of the 14 teams in the National Women’s Soccer League and evidence that the league waited way too long to expand to L.A. – but there’s talk about amid suggestions that those in charge are overspending. Potentially messy stuff, but the organization has done a lot right with its initiatives in the surrounding community.

9. Kings (Phil Anschutz and Ed Roski): Do we know for sure that primary owner Anschutz, whose worth according to Forbes magazine really cares about the performance of the team he and Roski purchased in 1995? Especially now, in light of a third straight first-round elimination, I’d think Kings fans would want some kind of indication the owner is at least paying attention to what GM Rob Blake, president Luc Robitaille and CEO Dan Beckerman are doing with his hockey team.

10. Galaxy (also Anschutz): You can make the case that Anschutz, an early and large investor in Major League Soccer, helped keep that league alive. (That’s why his name is on the MLS Cup.) He once owned six MLS teams but now his ownership is limited to the Galaxy, which is a contender again after several years on the outskirts. Again, better if he’s paying attention or not?

11. Sparks (Eric Holoman, CEO and governor): They’ve always had a loyal fan base, though the on-court product in recent seasons has affected attendance. Now, with women’s sports in general and basketball in particular having a transcendent moment, are the Sparks prepared to capitalize?

12. Angels (Arte Moreno): Remember when Arte was the people’s choice, the Guy Who Lowered Beer Prices? Yeah, I know. That was more than two decades ago. The issue here is that he’s too involved, too impetuous, and should hire a president of baseball operations to talk him down from the ledge when needed.

Incomplete, Rugby FC Los Angeles (Pete Sickle, CEO and co-founder): Did you know SoCal had another Major League Rugby team? Neither did I until a couple of weeks ago, which suggests getting the word out was a lower priority than it should have been. The first franchise won a league title in 2021 and was terminated after 2022. This one is relocated from Atlanta, plays in Carson and has a 1-6-1 record midway through the season. If you attend these games, email me and let me know what the crowds and enthusiasm level are like.

jalexander@scng.com

From Puka Nacua running back onto the field following what looked like a debilitating shoulder injury, to Steve Avila playing every snap of the season, to Kobie Turner’s dejected face following a playoff loss, the Rams succeeded in that regard.

And after the Rams conducted their first draft following Donald’s retirement, they believe their 10 picks this weekend fit a similar mold that will blend into their locker room culture.

“There’s a consistent makeup,” head coach Sean McVay said Saturday following the draft’s seventh and final round. “There was a resume and a body of work that all 10 of these players that there was a consensus, there was a consistent, really unanimous good vibes.”

For McVay and general manager Les Snead and the army of scouts and analysts and coaches whose inputs shaped this weekend’s decisions, the tape comes first. You can be a cultural fit, but if you aren’t ready to play in the NFL, it doesn’t matter.

But as they did their research on the players who ultimately became Rams, a pattern started to emerge.

The Rams used their first two picks on pass rushers Jared Verse and Braden Fiske, members of a Florida State defense that Snead praised for putting the team on its shoulders following a quarterback injury to complete a run to the ACC title. Then there’s third-round pick Blake Corum, the running back who returned to Michigan for his senior season and a chance to compete for a national championship.

Saturday’s first selection, Washington State outside linebacker Brennan Jackson, kept his draft party in his hometown of Temecula small because he didn’t feel like being selected meant he had “made it,” and he planned to be back in the gym on Sunday morning.

“The one thing you can control on the field is your energy and effort,” Jackson preached. “So playing this game of football is never going to let that be a factor that goes against me.”

Sixth-round selection and Clemson defensive tackle Tyler Davis said Donald was one of his favorite players growing up. And what did he admire about the future Hall of Famer?

“Just his work, the work he put in,” Davis said.

Snead got a little extra insight into another sixth-round pick, Texas wide receiver Jordan Whittington. Snead’s stepson is a member of the Texas program, and in his time around Austin, Snead consistently heard that, despite all the talent around the Longhorns, Whittington was the straw that stirred the drink.

“The neat thing is from the moment you walk in that building … everyone said, ‘You know what, Jordan’s our heartbeat,’ ” Snead recounted. “He knew all three positions, was willing to be the third, the fourth, play all the core on special teams. It’s one of those key, core guys that you draft with a vision and more than likely has a role here.”

As stared down at a piece of paper with the 10 names on, McVay shook his head, marveling at the mental toughness of the new Rams. It’s something he’s come to value more and more after his own struggles following difficult seasons.

And it’s something he feels the Rams have gotten better at identifying across the eight drafts that he’s worked alongside Snead and the front office.

“Being able to honestly assess and reflect on, ok, man, there’s been a lot of really good things that have gone on and then some of the things that maybe didn’t work out the way that we wanted, what can we take away from it and how can we learn?” McVay said. “I give these guys a ton of credit about really being able to put a model together that gives us gradable ways of saying, alright, is this our kind of guy? What is their makeup? What are the things where the film guides you? And then what are the other things that you can try to at least say, how do we put a tangible way of measuring, this is what we want and this is what we’re looking for and these are the types of guys that fit in that mold?”

Karty missed only two field-goal attempts from inside 50 yards during his three-year collegiate career. He made 23 of 27 attempts as a junior while connecting on all 21 of his point-after attempts.

Karty said he identified the Rams early on in the draft process as a team he would like to join, preferring a West Coast team with a need at kicker. And he said the Rams showed clear interest in him, too, with special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn and assistant Chili Davis coming to his pro day at Stanford and going to breakfast with Karty.

He said he anticipated that if one kicker got selected Saturday, it could start a run at the position. Sure enough, the Rams scooped Karty up six picks after the Vikings took Alabama’s Will Reichard as the top kicker in the class.

“I was hoping that if another kicker went first, it wasn’t going to be the Rams, and boy I’m glad the Rams had the next pick,” Karty said. “I’m super excited.”

Karty was one of four sixth-round picks made by the Rams on Saturday. They continued to upgrade their defense, selecting Clemson defensive tackle Tyler Davis with pick No. 196, then added Texas receiver Jordan Whittington at No. 213 and Arkansas offensive lineman Beaux Limmer at No. 217.

Davis, 23, played five seasons at Clemson, earning three straight All-ACC first-team honors to close his career. The 6-foot-2, 300-pound tackle had two 5.5-sack seasons during his career, but as a senior made 34 tackles and half a sack while starting 13 games.

He became the fourth member of the Rams’ 2024 draft class along the defensive front, joining edge rushers and and fellow tackle .

Whittington carved out a role for himself at Texas despite playing alongside first-round pick Xavier Worthy and second-rounder Adonai Mitchell. He caught 42 passes as a senior for 505 yards, and spoke Saturday about how he prides himself in run-blocking situations that will help him see the field for the Rams.

“I’m a student of the game and Cooper Kupp I feel like is a professor,” Whittington said. “So I want to get to that level.”

The 6-foot-5 Limmer played primarily center at Arkansas and projects to give the Rams some depth at the position after the team released Brian Allen and Coleman Shelton left via free agency.

When the Washington State edge rusher’s phone rang, he clutched the watch bequeathed to him by his late grandfather as he answered. On the other end was his hometown team, the Rams, calling to bring him home to Southern California with the 154th overall pick in the fifth round.

“It’s amazing, it’s an amazing feeling just knowing that my family is right here,” Jackson told reporters over Zoom. “I grew up in Southern California, I went to school literally an hour-and-a-half away from the stadium, just to know that I’m back here, I’m back home and now I get to play in front of people that have been watching me play for years and years is just an incredible feeling.”

Jackson, a Great Oak High graduate, spent his entire collegiate career with Washington State. As a redshirt senior, he earned second-team All-Pac-12 honors after leading the Cougars with 12.5 tackles for loss and 8.5 sacks, to go with three pass breakups and four fumble recoveries.

He developed a reputation as a high-motor, relentless-energy player in the Pac-12, a reputation that he reinforced when he wiped sweat away with a towel after running around his house to fix some technical difficulties prior to his call with media.

“The one thing you can control on the field is your energy and effort. So playing this game of football [I’m] never going to let that be a factor that goes against me,” Jackson said. “I always want to be in the play, I always want to be around the football because good things happen when you’re around the football.”

Jackson said he met with the Rams throughout the draft process, including at the combine and Senior Bowl. He had a phone call last week with outside linebackers coach Joe Coniglio that gave him some confidence that he might end up back in Southern California.

He is the third addition to the Rams’ defensive front this draft, joining first-round pick and second-round pick  as the Rams look to following Aaron Donald’s retirement.

Jackson figures to fit into a rotation at outside linebacker for the Rams, joining Verse, all-rookie team OLB Byron Young and veteran Michael Hoecht.

“I think we’re just all coming every single day ready to go and compete. I think competition breeds a lot of success and breeds a lot of growth in a room,” Jackson said. “So to be with a lot of guys who are young, ready to go, aspiring to be great, you can just feel the competition is going to rise in the room the minute everyone gets there.”

NFL Network first reported Friday that Stafford was seeking more guaranteed money in his contract past the 2024 season.

Stafford, 36, signed a four-year, $160 million extension with the Rams in 2022 following their Super Bowl LVI victory. But the veteran signal caller opted for a team-friendly deal that has no guaranteed money for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.

The 13-year veteran missed eight games in 2022 with a series of injuries, including a spinal cord contusion. But Stafford looked like his vintage self in 2023, completing 62.6% of his passes for 3,965 yards, 24 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

After missing the Rams’ Week 9 loss to the Green Bay Packers with a thumb injury, Stafford came back to lead the team to six wins in the next seven games to clinch a playoff spot. He threw for 16 touchdowns to four interceptions in that span before sitting out Week 18 to rest before the playoffs.

“I’ve had good dialogue with Matthew,” McVay said. “There’s nothing that’s more important than making sure that he feels appreciated and he knows how much we love him and want him to lead the way. I think that commitment that I think he wants to have can be reciprocated and we want to work towards figuring that out.”

McVay said Stafford has participated in voluntary workouts this month, but stopped short of guaranteeing Stafford would be at OTAs in May.

“We’re definitely jacked to have Matthew as our QB,” general manager Les Snead added.

But when they arrived at the hotel on Friday, Verse’s escort told him he had two minutes before they had to leave. He questioned the sudden change of plan, and was told his new coaches wanted to speak to him before they made their second-round pick.

Verse bought that explanation, but was still wary of the sudden haste with which they were moving. When he arrived at the swanky beach house where the Rams were stationed, he was ushered upstairs, skipping steps along the way.

“I’m like, what’s happening?”

The Rams didn’t want him to miss this moment. On the phone was the team’s second-round pick, Verse’s Florida State teammate, defensive tackle Braden Fiske.

“I’m like, ‘Hey Fiske.’ ‘What’s up Jared?’ ‘Fiske that’s you?’” Verse recalled, his voice reaching a disbelieving falsetto. “We just kept talking, you could hear how much it meant to him, that moment.”

“One of the cooler draft moments of my however-many-year career,” general manager Les Snead said.

The Rams selected Fiske with the 39th overall pick of the NFL draft, and the seventh selection of the second round. They traded a fifth-round pick on Saturday and their second-round pick in 2025 to the Carolina Panthers to move up from No. 52 to complete their set of Seminole pass rushers that will step in to help fill the void created by Aaron Donald’s retirement last month.

Verse and Fiske had discussed this possibility, as recently as Thursday. Not with the Rams, necessarily, but about how special it would be to continue to build upon the bond they forged in their one season together in Tallahassee.

“I just cannot believe that happened,” Fiske said over Zoom, a Rams hat already snugly on his head.

Like Verse, Fiske did not start his career with the blue-blood Seminoles. He spent his first five years of college at Western Michigan before spending his final season at Florida State, where he was named to the AP’s All-American third team following a six-sack campaign.

Verse, who got his start at FCS-level Albany, recognized quickly a similar work ethic in Fiske that soon became the foundation of their relationship.

“I’ve never in my life met somebody who works harder or just as hard as me until I met Fiske,” Verse said. “This guy’s in the training room, he’s in there an hour before me. I’m in the weight room, he comes in there five minutes later and I gotta extend my workout because I can’t let him be in there longer than me.”

“I wasn’t going to let someone outwork me,” Fiske echoed. “That’s something that made us gravitate towards each other.”

There might have been some competition, but they worked together, too, watching film together late into the evening for 1-2 hours per day, not to mention going to lunch together. As they spent more time studying offenses, their shorthand together became non-verbal.

“It got to that point in the season where you give that head nod and you just look at each other and we knew what was coming,” said Fiske, who did not talk to the Rams during the pre-draft process outside of a few texts with defensive line coach Giff Smith this week.

“Those two guys, one of the things that jumped off the tape was both of those guys in combination,” Rams head coach Sean McVay said. “The way they were able to influence and affect games, it was really cool.”

Snead said the Rams always wanted to move up in the second round to go get Fiske, so long as he lasted until Friday. When Verse fell to the Rams on Thursday, Snead said he felt lucky that the Rams would have the opportunity to pair the two teammates. So long as they were able to get the deal done for Fiske, a task Snead said they began working on Thursday night and into Friday morning.

The Rams still have other needs to address, and they began that with two picks in the third round, selecting to back up Kyren Williams and to reinforce the secondary.

But the most glaring assignment entering the draft was to shore up the defensive front, and they are betting a future second-rounder that pairing Fiske with Verse will go a long way toward replacing Donald by committee.

“Seeing a team trading up to get you, that means they really want you and they saw something in you from the beginning,” Fiske said. “I’m going to give in return everything I got when I get there.”

Kinchens, the 99th overall pick in the draft, had 59 total tackles and five passes defended in each of his final two seasons with the Hurricanes. He totaled 11 interceptions as a sophomore and junior. He was a first-team Associated Press All-American in 2022.

He joins a safety room that lost both starters from last season. Captain Jordan Fuller signed with the Carolina Panthers, while John Johnson III remains a free agent. The Rams signed Kamren Curl to a one-year deal to add to the room, which also returns Russ Yeast and the versatile Quentin Lake.

“It was a really full-circle moment, like, I’m playing for the Rams in the NFL,” Corum said over Zoom Friday. “It’s been amazing.”

Using the 83rd overall pick, the Rams addressed a need that head coach Sean McVay had spoken about since the owners’ meeting in March. The Rams needed a dependable backup for starting running back Kyren Williams after last season’s breakout star dealt with multiple injuries, including an ankle sprain that cost him four games.

Corum, 23, rushed 258 times for 1,245 yards and 27 touchdowns as a senior, serving as a team captain during the Wolverines’ unbeaten run to a national championship. It was his second consecutive 1,000-yard campaign after rushing for 1,463 yards as a junior. He developed a reputation with Michigan for his ability to score at the goal line, with 58 touchdowns in his collegiate career.

The 5-foot-8, 213-pound running back tore his meniscus as a sophomore and required surgery to repair the injury, but was able to bounce back and play a key role in two trips to the College Football Playoff.

Corum said he spoke with running backs coach Ron Gould last week and called it a productive phone call, and came away from the conversation with a sense that the Rams might be the team to take him.

“Next thing you know, I’m a Ram tonight,” Corum said. “I’m excited to get to work, meet my teammates and do whatever I can to help the organization continue to win.”

He figures to play a complementary role alongside Williams, a former fifth-round pick who rushed for 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns in his second season in the NFL despite missing four games. The Rams have second-year back Zach Evans on the roster and brought back Ronnie Rivers on a tendered contract, but McVay wanted to add more competition for the backup job.

Corum had 75 pass-blocking opportunities the past two seasons, but he did not allow a sack in his collegiate career, per Pro Football Focus. He caught 56 passes in his four seasons at Michigan, gaining 411 yards and three touchdowns.

“I think there are some different things that he can do that bring an added element in the pass game,” head coach Sean McVay said. “You can see he’s at his best when his shoulders are square to the line of scrimmage. … You just see the competitive toughness and then as games wear on, it seems like that’s when he gets better and better.”