Ramsey won Super Bowl LVI with the Rams, but now returns as an opponent for the first time Monday night
Even after being traded, former Los Angeles Rams Super Bowl LVI champion CB Jalen Ramsey still looks back on his time in LA as ‘amazing’. The Rams famously traded two first-round picks and a fourth in 2019 to acquire Ramsey midseason from the Jacksonville Jaguars, a move that was fundamental to the team’s Super Bowl run just two years later.
Fast forward to 2024, Ramsey now returns back to the stadium he called home for four years but as an opponent with the Miami Dolphins, who come into Sofi to take on the Rams Monday night. Regardless of his time with the team not ending how he probably would have hoped, Ramsey made a point of donating $5000 to five different local LA charities prior to the game this week as a thank you gift of sorts to the city that previously cheered for him.
“I never got an opportunity to give like a farewell gift to, you know, all the people out there,” Ramsey said Saturday. “It’s like a home to me. It’s like a family. I’ve got some family from out there. My daughter was born out there. Great memories out there. Everlasting memories of community, always treated me and my family right, nothing but loved and respected. So, still got a lot of ties out there. Still go out there often. A lot of positive energy out there. Nothing, like, negative that I could say about my time there.”
Ramsey reflected this week about his trade from a struggling Jaguars team to the contending Rams, who, at the time of the trade, were coming off a 2018 Super Bowl appearance and poised to make another shot at the title.
“At a time when I stopped liking football as much, I got traded to LA, it just drastically changed everything for me,” Ramsey said Saturday. “It’s amazing, just my whole LA experience. I literally have nothing bad to say about LA or my time in LA at all.”
Ramsey continued about his experience in Los Angeles, specifically touching on his 2021 season and how he continued chase the Lombardi trophy that year despite the adversity he faced of having two sprained his AC joints in his shoulders.
“It was extremely difficult,” Ramsey recalled. “Especially because I was having a really good year. I was like, ‘I’ll play through it, we’ll focus on it at the end of the year’ and then I ended up spraining the other one. It was definitely torture… It was tough, but, you know, we had a great team. We had great coaches. We were able to prepare well, we were able to practice well. And, it was fun.”
Unfortunately, after years of bringing in talent in an effort to secure a ring while the team’s championship window was still open, LA was forced to part ways with Ramsey in 2022 to shed his large cap number and repair their inflated cap situation. The Rams never wanted to lose Ramsey, but securing the franchise’s ability to spend on future rebuilding was a priority and it became a move that they were forced to make.
GM Les Snead mentioned how it felt like time had run out on that specific core of players that included Ramsey and another Ram turned current Miami Dolphin, WR Odell Beckham Jr.
“You just knew that … I don’t want to say the clock struck midnight, but the core, that team, that senior class, it just doesn’t last forever,” said Rams general manager Les Snead.
Ramsey has dealt with some injuries since being traded to Miami, but when he’s been available on the field he has played great for his new team. This season Ramsey has 29 tackles, four passes defended and an interception for the Dolphins fourth-ranked pass defense.
The Rams passing game isn’t to shabby itself though, and the team will look to take advantage their former teammate’s sometimes overly aggressive nature. While his style of play has helped him increase his interception total while becoming one of the top corners in the league, it also can get him in trouble and force him to jump routes he shouldn’t. Los Angeles could deploy more double moves and play action plays to possibly get Ramsey looking in the backfield or jumping a route early to take him over the top.
Another fun caveat for the game is that Ramsey will have a chance to face his former teammate Cooper Kupp this week. Ramsey spoke about the battles the two used to have in practice and how it made both of them better players in the long run.
“They were great,” Ramsey recalled. “I’ve got a ton of respect for Coop. I easily think he’s a top five receiver. He and Matthew (Stafford) have a chemistry, great connection. And yeah, it was it was truly iron sharpening iron. We worked. We made each other better.”
Jalen Ramsey only played four years with the Rams, but in those four years he cemented his legacy with the team. He will always be known as a Super Bowl Champion in this city and loved by the fan base. That said though, there will be plenty of time to appreciate what Ramsey did with the Rams another week, as Los Angeles need to take care of business vs a 2-6 Dolphins team that is desperate for a win. LA will need to get a victory Monday night, in what feels slightly like a trap game, if they hope to keep up in a close NFC West divisional race.
