It was sunny and 65 degrees during early warm-ups, but a blanket of clouds had since swept over the stadium as the teams came out for kickoff. The Chiefs ran onto the field first, greeted by boos from the 64, fans.
The Raiders had all sorts of problems filling the 90,seat Coliseum that season. I mean, it was built as an Olympic stadium. That day, though, I remember a decent crowd. I spent the game in my office, fielding any issues from game-day tickets and also working on potential playoff scenarios. The Raiders could pack the cavernous Coliseum on occasions like this game with the 49ers in , but lesser crowds could make the place seem empty.
This was a pre-playoff playoff game; the winner would be an AFC wild card. The Chiefs, led by Montana and a stingy defense, were 8—7. As they jogged onto the grass, a bit dug up and yellowed from a long season, the black-and-silver speckled crowd booed.
The only way to earn respect is to win out here. Gotta win in Los Angeles. The Raiders ran out next, flanked by Davis. As Los Angeles players spilled onto the sideline, Davis, in a white jumpsuit and Cazal shades, jogged back toward the tunnel and slapped hands with fans in the front row. Al Davis slapping hands with the masses? It happened. Lakers forward Vlade Divac watched from his seat in the second row.
Upstairs in a suite, Whoopi Goldberg snacked on popcorn. Rams PR director Rick Smith settled into his press box seat, preparing for a long day. Two or three St. Louis media] first started coming around, they would interrupt Knox during his press conferences, or not ask questions at the right time. It was a whole new ball game for them. Now, out of the tunnel walked the star of the show, Kelsey Grammer, to sing the anthem.
He wore a cobalt blue sweater layered over a white collared shirt. Surprisingly sonorous, the sitcom star nailed his rendition, then pumped his fist. Allen had one of his final great games as a pro in his old stomping grounds: yards on 33 carries, including 16 attempts in the fourth quarter. He also went over 10, yards for his career.
Sure enough, in the first quarter Shuler tries to force a throw and it goes right in my direction. The crowd, though it was small, was going nuts. We all loved Coach Knox. We saw him kind of like a grandfather figure. My favorite Knox story was that he always yelled at us if we kept the locker room messy.
It kind of made you take a step back and say, Wow. Anyway, we loved that guy. We wanted to win for him. No matter what happened in the offseason—and we knew there would be a lot of changes—this was one thing we could control.
Fans sporadically booed Rams owner Georgia Frontiere throughout the game. It had been all over the papers that she was looking for a more lucrative home for her team. The fans waved homemade signs:. And of course there was booing for Georgia [Frontiere]. But we were just focused on the game. Everyone in that game just wanted to end the season with a win. Down 7—3 with 12 seconds left in the half and the Raiders positioned on the Chiefs 28, Los Angeles coach Art Shell opted to try one more play.
The decision backfired. On the Kansas City sideline, wide receiver J. Birden skipped back and forth. Playing in there was always tough because if you got caught up in what the crowd was yelling, you could lose focus. Our coaches actually told us to keep our helmets on when we were on the sideline, and running into the tunnel, because fans were known to chuck pennies or cigarette lighters at you.
Fans in Anaheim knew the team was likely on the way out; those at the Coliseum had only an inkling that the Raiders would head back north. Getty Images. Mission Viejo Calif. But the Rams offered a hefty payment, and the band really needed new tubas. Only half of the brass quartet could show up, so saxophone players had to learn their parts. They drove the half-hour to the stadium, and when they arrived in Anaheim a mishandled flagpole whacked a trumpet player above the left eye.
Blood gushed everywhere. So here was the slightly mangled group, ready to take stage. That just about covered the hotel and airfare—for Camp and his dogs. They darted from end zone to end zone, and garnered cheers when Whitey put on a pair of sunglasses. But this was one of our favorite venues. I loved coming out to Los Angeles. With a playoff berth at stake for both teams, the Chiefs harried Hostetler and benefited from a pick-six at the close of the first half.
It was his fault, the coach insisted, that the Raiders trailed. They dominated the game. Frustration stewed. It was famous for its celebrity guests Maureen Reagan, daughter of the former president, was a regular and its endless lunch spread. On this day the offerings included roast beef, salads and a dessert bar with make-your-own hot fudge sundaes. Super-agent Leigh Steinberg brought his 8-year-old son, John. Steinberg spearheaded the Save the Rams campaign, assembling local businessmen to keep the team in town.
One fan brought a poster to the game that read, Leigh Save Our Rams. Progress seemed to stall, so Steinberg was hoping to approach Frontiere for one last plea. She gave me a Rams jersey with my name on it that I had in my office for a while. But I also knew how, well, difficult she could be. She was an eccentric. Once, for example, I wanted to discuss a client with her.
Agent Leigh Steinberg was active in trying to keep the Rams in California but had a hard time pinning down owner Georgia Frontiere. A shirtless man with sagging black cargo pants and silver facepaint darted onto the field. He waved a black T-shirt and ran within inches of where the Raiders were lined up for 2nd-and-long.
Two policemen and three security guards swarmed the guy, collared him, and escorted him off the field. Four minutes earlier another fan had tried to do the same. On the sideline, Chiefs players laughed. You saw some booing the owner, some had bags over their heads, and who can blame them. I tuned all that out; I was in the zone that day. My dad had passed away a few days before. He was one of my biggest fans. By the time I had an interception in the third quarter, I remember a pretty thin crowd.
After the game I flew back home to Ohio to bury my dad. I never really thought of this as the last game in Los Angeles. I never put it into that context. One fan who stayed: photographer Christopher Grisanti. The chief artifact in this story—a ticket from that last game at Anaheim—belongs to him.
He shot a few Rams home games that season and was offered a press pass to cover this one. He had been a fan from the beginning. It started in when he loved UCLA. As fate had it, Cleveland relocated to Los Angeles, and he was a fan ever since. I went to my first L.
Rams game in , when I was 9 years old. I got a pair of season tickets for my high school graduation. Going to Rams games was how my father and I bonded.
We knew this was the end for the Rams here in Los Angeles. The day was kind of dreary … it definitely fit the occasion. He was battling through what he thought was the flu. A few weeks later he found out it was lung cancer. Down 17—3 entering the fourth quarter, with a chance to make a late push, the Raiders gave up a safety. Later Montana bruised his left knee, and then Hostetler twisted his right ankle. As the final whistle got closer it was two backup quarterbacks—Steve Bono for the Chiefs, Vince Evans for the Raiders—milking the seconds off the clock.
I think we were all ready to start a new season. Not Marcus Allen. Games against the Raiders were always personal to him, because he felt Al Davis made it personal with him. That asterisk had had one of the best postseasons in NFL history in , rushing for yards over three games, including in a Super Bowl MVP performance against Washington.
Sixteen times he carried the ball, for 70 yards. All season long there were whispers that we would be relocating. I loved it there. And when we heard we might be going to St. Louis, I was like, What?! I knew nothing about St.
Louis, let alone Missouri. Honestly, the only thing I could think of was what I learned in elementary school geography class—that it was near the Mississippi River. All I knew was it would be different. As the clock wound down, a man in a green shirt in the section munched on french fries, nobody within a seat radius. It was a frustrating time. Los Angeles is so critical to the league. I knew there was a good chance that if the Rams left, the Raiders would leave soon after, and there was no guarantee the NFL would return.
If anyone knew the Coliseum, it was Allen. That Christmas Eve in , he finished with 33 carries for yards—more touches and more yards than any other game over the final 10 seasons of his career. In that game, he also became the eighth running back in history to rush for 10, yards.
Ornstein had worked for Al Davis for years until a bitter parting in , and now he was one of Allen's biggest allies. And thus, one of the Chiefs' biggest allies. Question, Comment, Feedback, or Correction?
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