It was, perhaps, a welcome diversion for Los Angeles natives.
The NFL honoured L.A. firefighters and held a moment of silence before the Rams' wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday, which was moved to Glendale, Ariz., due to wildfires ravaging the California city.
Later, the Rams did their part with a 27-9 rout of the Vikings.
Quarterback Matt Stafford said his team, which was uprooted from its normal schedule on Friday when it moved to Arizona, was "resilient."
"This was for the people of Los Angeles struggling right now. It’s been unbelievable to watch the whole community, the state, the country kind of get behind them. It’s a tough time to be back there and we’re just happy that we came out and played like this tonight to give them something to be happy about," he said in a post-game interview with ESPN's Pam Oliver.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in an interview with ESPN before the game that 45,000 Rams fans travelled to the game.
"One of the things we wanted to do by playing this game tonight is send that message to the people back in Los Angeles that the NFL, this community, every community, this nation and around the world are there to support them," Goodell said.
He added that the quick switch to Arizona and the number of Rams fans who made it there was "extraordinary."
“When we made that decision, the league comes together,” Goodell said. “And we have preparations for what we call contingency plans, (which) includes two stadiums every week and this was a perfect fit as far as the location for the Los Angeles Rams fans."
During a pre-game ceremony, longtime Rams offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth addressed the crowd.
He saluted the firefighters, noting that 150,000 people were forced to evacuate and that the clean-up work is just beginning.
"But I believe in the people of Los Angeles. We are strong. We will not be defined by this devastation. We will rebuild L.A. hand in hand together for as long as it takes and whatever it takes," Whitworth said.
Rams players, families and even pets — a travelling party of 355 people, six dogs and two cats — were transported to Phoenix on Friday via two team planes owned by the Arizona Cardinals.
L.A. fans filled large swaths of the parking lot before the game, tailgating by the thousands. Both end zones were painted in the Rams' blue-and-yellow colour scheme, and the team's logo was painted at midfield. As fans entered the stadium, they were greeted with Rams towels.
A “Thank You Firefighters and First Responders” banner was prominent in one end zone and an “LA Together” banner was on display before the game.
State Farm Stadium — with a capacity of 63,400 — appeared nearly full at kickoff.
“There’s a feeling amongst the team — this is for L.A.,” Rams running back Kyren Williams said Saturday. “This is for hope back at home that they can cling onto, that the Rams are going to be the people who can take them away from whatever they’re going through for a few hours.”
Game relocations are rare in the NFL, but not unprecedented. Arizona has been a popular location for the last-minute moves.
In 2003, the league moved a Monday night regular-season game between the Chargers and Dolphins from San Diego to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., to avoid wildfires in Southern California. In 2020, the San Francisco 49ers spent about a month in Arizona because of COVID-19 restrictions at home in Santa Clara County.
While the Rams temporarily relocated to Arizona, other live sports events were set to return to Los Angeles on Monday.
The Lakers were scheduled to host the San Antonio Spurs at Crypto.com Arena in downtown to last L.A., while the Clippers were welcoming the Miami Heat to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif.
--with files from The Associated Press
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