It’s been an extremely difficult few days around Los Angeles as citizens deal with wildfires across the area. The catastrophe led the NFL to relocate Monday’s Rams vs. Vikings playoff game to Glendale, Arizona, because of concerns about the community, air quality and first responders needed with thousands of fans at a game.
“We’re the Los Angeles Rams. We play for the people in this community, the people who support us,” Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, a former Georgia Bulldog, told reporters. “This week will be another example of that, obviously. Hopefully a great escape for people who have been going through a lot of tough times here the last couple days.”
The fires have covered thousands of acres, destroying countless homes and long-time establishments and taking at least 10 lives and forcing almost 180,000 people to evacuate. Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said the damage “looks like an atomic bomb was dropped in these areas.”
The Rams (10-7) were expected to host the Vikings (14-3) at SoFi Stadium, a reward for winning the NFC West division despite having an inferior record to Minnesota. Instead L.A. will face the Vikings in Glendale, where the Rams last played Sept. 15 against the Cardinals. The Rams defeated the Vikings 30-20 at SoFi Stadium earlier this season.
Kelly Stafford, Matthew’s wife, is renting at least one charter bus for fans who want to attend the game in Arizona. The Staffords lost power for a couple of days, but “we’ve been lucky in that regard, that power is the worst thing that’s happened to us,” Matthew Stafford said.
“Obviously it’s a tough thing to watch on the news, to be around, to see,” Stafford said. “Driving around seeing all that, it’s sad to see what’s going on. A bunch of people are doing everything they possibly can to get things under control and get people back to normal as quickly as possible. Thinking about and feeling for people who’ve been affected all across the city.”
The Rams were traveling to the desert Friday. Rams coach Sean McVay, a Marist product, shared the following message with reporters Thursday:
“Our thoughts and prayers are with everybody who’s been affected by these fires. It’s one of those deals that almost doesn’t feel real, but it’s certainly real to the people who are affected. Praying that as many people are OK. You just see the amount of people affected, it just gives you perspective. Hopefully get this stuff under control. It’s been a unique week. Unfortunately for us, there have been some people who’ve been affected in regards to power outages, recommended evacuations, a couple of our staff members did have our homes affected, but fortunately, to my knowledge, nobody has been injured, and for that we’re grateful.”
