Local Rams fans celebrating team’s NFC Championship and Super Bowl berth
SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- After the Los Angeles Rams thrilling NFC Championship victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night, local fans are still celebrating the big win.
"Awesome! Awesome!" said Larry Sauceda, a longtime Rams fan from Santa Maria. "It was great joy where there was no more timeouts, when they took a knee and said the Rams are going to the Super Bowl, I was like, ohhhh yes!"
With the victory, the Rams have earned a very short trip to Super Bowl LVI, which will be played on the home field inside Sofi Stadium on Sunday, Feb. 13.
The Rams will take on the Cincinnati Bengals, who beat the Kansas City Chiefs earlier on Sunday afternoon in the AFC Championship.
"Going to the Super Bowl, can you image that?" said JIm Glines, longtime Rams fan from Santa Maria. "And right in their home stadium too and that's just an extra bonus too."
While many Central Coast fans watched the NFC Championship on television, there were also many others who were inside Sofi Stadium watching it in person.
"It was just overall electrifying," said Jim Wesner, a Rams season ticket holder from Orcutt. "Awesome game. Couldn't ask for a better game. Hopefully, the Super Bowl will be just as good."
Wesner added he took great satisfaction in seeing the thousands of 49ers fans that were in attendance leave the stadium extremely unhappy with the result.
"After we scored those three points and kicked that field, everybody hit the aisles," said Wesner. "That was the best feeling in the world, seeing them go home. Bye! Have a good trip!"
For Rams fans, the upcoming game is another chance to see their team win its first ever Super Bowl championship while based in Los Angeles.
In 1980, the Rams lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XIV, and in 2019, the Rams fell to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LIII.
The only Super Bowl victory for the franchise came in 2000 when the then-St. Louis Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.
"Oh my gosh, it's going to send LA fans into a frenzy," said Wesner, when asked what a Rams Super Bowl victory would mean. "They're not going to know how to act. All those people that have been waiting for so long, to come in with a victory like that, with a Super Bowl, it would mean everything for the fans."
The Rams fanbase may not be quite as large locally as, say the Raiders or 49ers, but those that do support Los Angeles say a Super Bowl win would go along way towards changing it.
"Everybody loves a winner, so I think we're going to pick up a significant number of Rams fans and if we can be fortunate enough to win this Super Bowl," said Glines. "I tend to think we will of course, but if we do, absolutely I think it will really, really help our fanbase."
With two weeks go to until the big game, Rams fans are anxious and confident the team will soon lift the NFL's Lombardi Trophy.
"It not done yet," said Sauceda. "It ain't finished yet. It's awesome feeling we're going back and we're going to win it this time."
