It’s funny how a simple moment can drastically change the course of an NFL franchise.
One guy giving his thumbs up or down about a potential hire can end up having a huge impact on a team’s future.
That was the case with the Los Angeles Rams, as team legend Marshall Faulk reportedly played a key role in the hiring of HC Sean McVay.
Apparently, the legendary running back was less than impressed with McVay, who was just 30 years old at the time, and thought the franchise was making a ‘stupid’ move.
He still agreed to go out to dinner with him and the team’s brass, and he ended up hitting it off with McVay and letting team owner Stan Kroenke know that he was the right guy for the job, as Rams COO Kevin Demoff recalled on The Athletic’s “The Playcallers” podcast:
“Marshall was the perfect person because he was explaining to me why we had needed a veteran offensive mind to be the head coach,” Demoff said. “And he was happy to go to dinner with this 30-year-old, but he thought that was stupid, and that we were stupid.”
“At dinner, the two of them got going and they hit it off immediately. They’re talking the whole time. I remember walking out and Marshall told Stan [Kroenke, Rams owner], he goes, ‘You let that guy leave tomorrow, you’ve made a huge mistake. That’s your guy.’”
Random Ramsdom: (At first) Marshall Faulk was reportedly not keen on hiring Sean McVay https://t.co/tOyw51rm7N
— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) July 13, 2023
Fast forward to today, and McVay is widely recognized as one of the best in the league, not to mention the fact that he coached them en route to two NFC titles and one Super Bowl win.
Still, it’s easy to see why the legendary RB was skeptical about hiring a 30-year-old, and it’s more than safe to say that he wasn’t the only one who doubted and even blasted the move at the time.
Rams fans must be thankful to Faulk for agreeing to go to that dinner even if he wasn’t on board at first, and it takes a big man to admit when he’s wrong.
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