The throwbacks will be worn for five home games this season at The ColiseumGETTY IMAGES
The Rams will wear their royal blue and yellow throwback jerseys "as their primary uniform" during the '18 season, according to Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.com. Rams COO & Exec VP/Football Operations Kevin Demoff said that the change "comes after fans wrote letters and tweets expressing displeasure with the uniform situation" last year, when the Rams "wore what appeared to be mismatched navy-blue jerseys and pants." He said, "We’ve been talking to the league about trying to wear our throwbacks more often and with the change to the white and blue. They understood our fans’ request for why we wanted to wear our throwbacks more. They saw the passion, we sent them all the letters, all the discussion from last year and as they went and re-evaluated uniform policy … they considered that this would be a unique request for our organization to allow us to basically swap out the navy jerseys for our classic jerseys, full time." The Rams will "no longer wear the navy blue uniforms." Demoff said that he "expected the uniforms to remain consistent" in '19. The Rams are "expected to roll out new uniforms" in '20, coinciding with the team's move to its new stadium. Those uniforms "are in the initial design phase" (ESPN.com, 7/27). In L.A., Gary Klein noted the throwbacks will be worn for "five home games this season, increasing by three the number of times they will don the popular and nostalgic ensemble" (L.A. TIMES, 7/28).
CHARGERS MAKING BABY STEPS: In L.A., Dylan Hernandez reported there is evidence that the Chargers have "made inroads" in the L.A. market after the first couple days of training camp despite the scene looking "strikingly similar" to when the team opened camp last season. Active players "received louder ovations" at the Jack R. Hammett Sports Complex in Costa Mesa, Calif., than Pro Football HOFer LaDainian Tomlinson, who "returned as a special assistant" to Chair Dean Spanos. An estimated crowd of almost 7,000 fans at the team's first training camp practice "watched the workout, up from the 5,000 or so last year." The upcoming season will "offer a more precise measurement" of the team's popularity in the new city, with the "real test being whether the Chargers can actually have home-field advantage" when playing at StubHub Center (L.A. TIMES, 7/29).
