Honestly, if you ask most people about the rams first game in los angeles, they’ll probably start talking about Todd Gurley, Jared Goff, or maybe that scorching hot afternoon against the Seahawks back in 2016. It makes sense. That was the "homecoming." But the actual history goes way deeper than the modern era. We’re talking about 1946, a year when the NFL was barely a blip on the national radar compared to baseball, and the West Coast was basically an island as far as professional sports were concerned.
The real debut happened on September 29, 1946. It wasn't just a football game; it was a massive gamble by a guy named Dan Reeves who decided to drag his championship-winning Cleveland Rams across the country because he was tired of losing money in Ohio. He ended up staring down a crowd of 30,500 people at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That might sound like a lot, but in a stadium built for over 100,000, it probably felt kinda empty.
The 1946 Debut: Heat, Injuries, and History
The Rams were facing the Philadelphia Eagles. It was hot. Like, ninety-degree-weather hot. The Rams actually started off looking like the defending champs they were. Bob Waterfield—the quarterback who was basically a Hollywood lead before he even got to LA—orchestrated a 75-yard drive right out of the gate. Pat West punched it in from the two-yard line. 14-6 at halftime. Everything looked great for the home crowd.
Then the wheels fell off.
Waterfield got absolutely leveled by Bucko Kilroy. Cracked ribs. He had to sit out most of the second half, and the offense just cratered. Jim Hardy and Kenny Washington took turns trying to salvage things, but it was a mess. The Eagles ended up dominating the second half, walking away with a 25-14 win. But the score honestly mattered less than the fact that the NFL had officially arrived in California.
✨ Don't miss: Watch Free Live Football Online: What Most Fans Get Wrong About The Modern Stream
Why the 1946 Game Changed Everything
- The Integration Factor: This is the part people usually gloss over. Before the Rams could even sign a lease for the Coliseum, they were told they had to integrate. The stadium was taxpayer-funded. You couldn't have a "whites-only" team playing there. This led to the signing of Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, effectively ending the NFL's shameful thirteen-year color barrier.
- The Travel Nightmare: Think about 1946 travel. No private jets. You're talking about grueling train rides or loud, shaky prop planes. The Rams being in LA made the NFL the first true coast-to-coast professional sports league in America.
- The Hollywood Connection: Waterfield was married to Jane Russell. The team wasn't just a sports franchise; it was an entertainment property from day one.
The 2016 "Second" First Game
Fast forward seventy years. The Rams had gone to St. Louis, won a Super Bowl, lost their way, and finally came back. Most fans today point to September 18, 2016, as the "true" rams first game in los angeles.
The vibe was totally different. It was an absolute circus. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were playing on a stage in the end zone. 91,046 people showed up—nearly triple the attendance of the 1946 opener. It was another heatwave, too. If you were there, you remember the $6 bottles of water running out by the second quarter.
The game itself? Kinda ugly. The Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks 9-3. No touchdowns. Just three field goals by Greg Zuerlein. But for a city that had been without NFL football for twenty-one years, a 9-3 slog felt like a masterpiece.
💡 You might also like: Why the Air Jordan 9 G Is Actually Great for Your Golf Game
A Quick Reality Check on the 2016 Return
The Rams actually played a preseason game against the Cowboys before that Seahawks game. That one drew 89,140 fans and featured a 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Dallas’s Lucky Whitehead on the very first play. It was a "welcome back" punch to the gut that felt very "on-brand" for the Jeff Fisher era.
But the Seahawks game was the one that "counted." Case Keenum was under center. Todd Gurley was struggling to find holes in the defense, gaining just 51 yards on 19 carries. It wasn't the high-flying Sean McVay offense we’d see a couple of years later. It was "middle-of-the-road" football at its finest.
What Most Fans Get Wrong
There's this myth that LA isn't a "football town" because the Rams struggled with attendance later in the 2016 season. People forget that by December, the team was 4-12 and the novelty of sitting in a 90-year-old stadium with no shade had worn off.
In 1946, the Rams also struggled with attendance because they were competing with the Los Angeles Dons of the AAFC. LA has always been a town that loves a winner but has zero patience for a "sorta-okay" product. Dan Reeves knew that in the 40s, and Stan Kroenke definitely knew it when he built SoFi Stadium.
Making Sense of the Legacy
The rams first game in los angeles—whether you mean 1946 or 2016—was always about more than the box score. In 1946, it was about proving the NFL could survive in the West and forcing the league to finally integrate. In 2016, it was about correcting a historical mistake and proving that the second-largest market in the country actually wanted the "shield" back on its turf.
If you’re looking to dive into the nostalgia, you’ve got to look at the numbers. 30,500 fans in '46 vs 91,046 in '16. The game has grown, the stakes have changed, but the Coliseum remains the silent witness to both of these massive shifts in sports history.
How to Explore This History Yourself
- Visit the Coliseum: They do tours. Stand near the peristyle and imagine Bob Waterfield dropping back in 1946. It hits different when you’re actually there.
- Watch the 2016 Highlights: Go find the footage of the Red Hot Chili Peppers pre-game set. It perfectly captures the "Hollywood" energy the Rams have tried to maintain since the Dan Reeves era.
- Read Up on Kenny Washington: His story is just as important as Jackie Robinson’s, yet he doesn't get a tenth of the credit. His "first game" in LA was a civil rights milestone disguised as a football game.
The Rams' history in LA is basically a series of "firsts" that keep happening every time the team reinvents itself. Whether it’s 1946, 2016, or the opening of SoFi, the first game is always a statement.
🔗 Read more: What Time Do the Washington Nationals Play? Avoiding the Navy Yard Traffic Jam
Next Steps for You
You should check out the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s digital archives on the 1946 Rams. They have some incredible high-res photos of the original uniforms and the Coliseum layout from that season. It’s a trip to see how much—and how little—has changed.