Getty The Rams versus the 49ers during the January 30, 2022 NFC title game.
Training camp is closing fast and the 2022 season is fast approaching with the Los Angeles Rams kicking off the year on September 8, but there are those people out there who can’t wait for Monday, October 3, 2022 — when the rematch of the NFC title game with the San Francisco 49ers goes down.
And one of those people has played a big part between the newly fueled rivalry between the NFC West squads, to the point where this rival captain says he has “no love” for the Super Bowl 56 champs and claimed to the NFL Network that the Rams wouldn’t shake his hand after regular season games.
The 49er Who Called Out the Rams
Veteran safety Jimmie Ward, known to be one of the more verbose and outspoken members of the 49ers, clearly has that Monday Night Football game at Levi’s Stadium circled down.
“I’m ready to play them,” Ward said in an interview with NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Maurice Jones-Drew. “I don’t got no love for them.”
But that’s not all…or what’s most telling about Ward’s mindset toward the Rams.
Ward claims that after the 49ers snatched both regular season meetings 31-10 and 27-24 in overtime last season, he told both NFL Network personalities that no prominent member of the Rams roster walked up to the 49ers captain to shake his hand and say “great game.”
“I keep everything on the field but I just remember when we won both of those games last year, I was looking at some of their main players, I was going to shake their hands and all that, but they walk off the field,” Ward said. “But when you finally win a game you want to shake our hands? Alright, I got something for you.”
Ward was a major thorn on the side of the Rams last season during their first meeting: Snatching an interception while helping cover Odell Beckham Jr. on the Rams’ first drive, then delivering a pick six on the second defensive series in the MNF romp at Levi’s Stadium — which was a victory that helped ignite the 49ers’ turnaround from a slow 3-5 start. That would be Ward’s only interceptions of the regular season.
Ward didn’t specify or reveal which players refused to shake his hand. The interview, though, can be listened to below:
“I’m ready to play ‘em. I don’t got no love for ‘em.”
#49ers DB Jimmie Ward had some thoughts on the #Rams (and more) when he joined @MJD and me on @nflnetwork
Not the First Time Ward Called Out the Rams
Before both teams played each other three times last season, Ward had some words for Rams head coach Sean McVay.
In an interview with Grant Cohn of Sports Illustrated’s Fan Nation, he accused McVay of testing him too often on the field…making him ask if McVay has a big head.
“What’s with their coach (Sean McVay)? Does he have the big head? I don’t want to say he has the big head, because I think he’s a hell of a coach. But what does he have against me to make him go at me every game and lose? And I don’t even talk s— when we play the Rams,” Ward asked. “I don’t remember me talking s—. But I’ve had some good games against them. I don’t understand why he tries to go at me. I think I would try to go at somebody else.
“If you look at my track record, you’d be like, ‘Damn, this m—– f—– dominated against the Rams.’ I even blocked a punt against them. Why even go at me?” Ward continued. “I don’t know, maybe there’s film. I wish I knew what offensive coordinators think of me. Do they say, ‘We’re going to go at this guy, he doesn’t cover as well, doesn’t tackle well.”? I don’t think they say that. I just would like to know.”