The full story of the Rams’ relocation to Los Angeles, and the contentiousness that came with it, has been told by ESPN. Rams owner Stan Kroenke made several moves that irked a lot of owners, but two powerful men, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, helped turn the process into a “s**tshow,” according to the report.
Outside the Lines detailed how fractured the NFL’s ownership was over the move, with Kroenke’s Inglewood plan being backed by “new-money” owners, and Chargers owner Dean Spanos having the support of the “old guard” to move to Carson. Jones spoke loudest in favor of Inglewood, and even gave a speech in which he spoke for eight minutes dropping curse words and ending it by saying the owner who moved to L.A. had to have “big balls.”
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Richardson vocally tried to move owners to vote for the Carson plan, largely because Spanos was more well-liked by the owners, and had been loyal to the league since he took over the team. Richardson’s approach, however, turned off many of those he was trying to reach.
Richardson said the league would set a bad precedent by turning down a St. Louis proposal to keep the Rams that included significant public money, and reminded many owners of favors he’d done for them. "He bullied people," a team executive said. "Some were turned off by his forcefulness."
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Eventually, the process got wild, including NFL exec Eric Grubman, who led the committee to decide the relocation dispute, openly campaigning for Kroenke’s Inglewood plan, and Disney CEO Bob Iger involving himself in favor of the Carson plan, only to flop in his presentation.
Throughout it all, the sense was that Kroenke’s tactics were underhanded, but ultimately more lucrative than Spanos’ Carson proposal. At the end of ESPN’s piece, Jones was quoted saying "Stan is a tremendous asset for the NFL," Jones said. "He's God-sent, really."
Dean Spanos, Raiders owner Mark Davis, and Richardson would all beg to differ.
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