Getty 49er fans outnumber Ram fans at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, January 9.
Players and coaches on the Los Angeles Rams weren’t the only ones who witnessed the hordes of fans cheering loudly for the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, January 9, with some throwing off members of the Rams.
A sea of 49er red and gold splashed inside the “Rams House” and let their cheers resonate throughout SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, which got Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford to admit how loud it got and how tough it became to communicate in this Heavy on 49ers article.
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Meanwhile, San Francisco All-Pro Deebo Samuel took his dig at Ram fans, saying “there wasn’t that many Ram fans out there.”
But it wasn’t just Stafford who heard the noise loud and clear inside his own Sunday home venue. So did head coach Sean McVay, who said to ESPN “It did catch us off guard.”
And the high noise levels reached to a non-football player, but also one member of the L.A. Rams front office who had his own ears ringing after the game.
And he told Heavy that he wasn’t surprised that 49er fans got loud and boisterous — reminding that SoFi Stadium was built for that.
‘Home Field Advantage’
Speaking at the “30 Days Out” Super Bowl LVI event held on Thursday, January 13 inside the Rams and L.A. Chargers’ home venue, Rams chief operating officer and executive vice president Kevin Demoff got honest about “home field advantage” inside the crystalized venue on Hollywood Park.
“We’ve had an amazing home field advantage — but maybe not as much this past weekend,” Demoff jokingly said.
Was the Week 18 contest against the 49ers the loudest SoFi Stadium got in its two-season history?
“Our players said the Tampa game (won by the Rams 34-24) was the loudest environment they ever played in and how hard it was for opposing teams to communicate,” Demoff said.
But then, Demoff explained why a 298-acre stadium can come with the potential for high decibel levels from anyone sitting inside.
“You start with a stadium that’s 100 feet underground, it’s got earth surrounding it and it’s got a roof on top of it. And then our seats being closer to the field anywhere in the world, there’s a tremendous energy that comes into this stadium,” Demoff said.
Either way, the 49ers faithful clearly had the louder vocal chords in that thrilling overtime victory over the Rams 27-24, which secured a playoff spot for S.F. and got Demoff to reiterate the effect the faithful had in that come-from-behind win.
“Our players said they were surprised by the crowd noise,” Demoff said.
Demoff, though, again stated how he wasn’t surprised by the loud energy, because SoFi was created for games of high magnitude like the Week 18 division contest that featured huge playoff implications.
“I think you’re going to feel an amazing vibe in this building anytime you build a great stadium in a destination like Los Angeles. You’re going to have visiting fans. That’s what this city attracts,” Demoff said. “It’s a city of transplants.”
Did the 49ers’ Victory Have a Lingering Effect?
Heavy asked Demoff if the Rams entered their playoff week with more positivity now that the 49ers game ended.
Demoff, though, traced back briefly to what his head coach said three days prior.
“Sean (McVay) said it on Monday, and I think he said a four-lettered word which I can’t repeat here about moving on and burying what happened,” Demoff said, drawing laughs.
The word McVay said was s***, mentioned here from Kevin Patra of NFL.com on Tuesday, January 11.
Yet, Demoff is a believer that the 49ers loss won’t be on the Rams’ minds.
“I think when you look back at the totality of a 17-game season, we won the NFC West which is the hardest division in football. We had three teams with double-digit wins and three playoff teams. It was an amazing journey filled with ups and downs and long win streaks and a hard three-game losing streak,” Demoff said. “Our team is battle-tested and they will be ready for Monday.”