Shots Fired: Former Rams Defensive Tackle Says His New Team Will Beat Los Angeles

Michael Brockers

Getty Michael Brockers has already called victory for the Detroit Lions down in SoFi Stadium over the Los Angeles Rams on October 24. Brockers played nine seasons with the Rams before getting traded in March for a seventh rounder.

Michael Brockers already has the Los Angeles Rams on his mind on October 24, and declared victory over his former team from LAX in a TMZ video released Tuesday morning.

The new Detroit Lion Brockers, who played every season with the Rams, was spotted at the airport and began asking a TMZ reporter’s questions about his former team. Brockers was asked if he’s already calling the week seven contest a win for the Lions, to which the defensive tackle immediately replied:

“Oh definitely. Come on now.”


Brockers With the Rams

Before heading to the Motor City, Brockers had only had two NFL addresses: St. Louis and Los Angeles.

The 6-foot-5, 300-pounder was drafted No. 14 overall by the then-St. Louis Rams in the 2012 draft. The rookie out of LSU responded with 31 tackles, 20 solo stops, seven tackles for a loss and four sacks. That performance culminated in Brockers earning All-Rookie Team honors.

His stats elevated the following season: 46 combined tackles, 38 solo stops and 5.5 sacks. Brockers in total collected 395 tackles, 250 solo, 62 quarterback hits and 28 sacks in his near-decade run with the Rams.

Outside of the defensive statistics, Brockers rarely missed a day of work and was hardly injured. In five of his nine years with the Rams, Brockers started all 16 games. His fewest number of season starts was 12, which happened during his rookie year.


Where Things Went South Between Brockers and the Rams

Brockers was once the longest tenured Rams player on their roster, even on a team with veteran left tackle Andrew Whitworth and fellow defensive tackle Aaron Donald.

In 2020, Brockers finished fourth on the Rams with five sacks but finished with more total tackles than Donald at 51 (Donald had 45). Brockers, though, was traded to the Motor City in exchange for a 2023 seventh rounder. Brockers had a figure of $9.83 million in cap number heading into the 2021 season. Brockers spoke highly of the Lions’ new coaching staff in his introductory video conference on March 22.

“I’m excited to get with this group. This group, this coaching staff, has really fired me up,” Brockers told reporters. “Got me to a level to where I can truly change things there.”

Brockers, however, said the Rams’ decision caught him by surprise.

“I really didn’t know I was going to be dealing with it. I just signed a deal last year,” Brockers said. “I felt really good with the team. But as the players signed the agreement where we felt the cap should be cut regarding us getting our paychecks during COVID, I was really lost to the fact we even signed that deal because it came around so quick. Really didn’t feel like I was going to be dealing with this but it is a shock to me. It was a shock, but it is a business and I understand it’s a business. But it’s a new experience for me.”

Now we officially know Brockers has the utmost confidence in his new team that they can pull the upset against the trendy NFC pick, his former team, by calling the “W” from LAX.