All Los Angeles wants for Christmas is an NFL Team

While Los Angeles is quite a beauty, the NFL still thinks the time isn't right for the city

With Christmas just around the corner, many of us are scouring about with those last minute holiday necessities such as decorations, food, and presents. I still remember those days when I was younger and would wake up and like four or five in the morning, just waiting for my parents to get up so I could unwrap gifts from under the tree. Nowadays, I really just hope gifts that come along the lines of cash and boosted knowledge to help me do little bit better in school, but that's the personal side to me. The sports fan side of me is wishing that my Chicago Bears would give this city the gift of a new head coach, GM, quarterback, and others on the list as well. However, that won't be happening this Christmas I'm sure.

There were sports fans that were excited though for Christmas, and they were the the ones found in L.A. Over the past few months, there was a lot of talk stirring up in the forms of whether or not the city of Los Angeles would be given an expansion team or if a current NFL team would make the move to the city. After awhile, the idea of another expansion team coming into the NFL quickly was burned out which only left us with the talk of an NFL team making the jump over to the city of The Angels. The talk continued to brew up more and more before it looked like NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL needed to make a call on the decision. Goodall eventually made his words known on the matter by saying that L.A. would not receive a football team in 2015. I have a feeling that the whole city is now looking at Goodell as the Grinch for stealing their dreams instead of Santa Claus.

There were three teams looking to make the move to come to Los Angeles: Oakland Raiders, St. Louis Rams, and San Diego Chargers. Why these three? Well because they all have some sort of connection to the city at one point in their history.

Deacon Jones loved sacking the quarterback
 while playing of the L.A. Rams

Eric Dickerson set the
NFL single-season rushing record
of 2,105 yards with the Rams in L.A.

The Rams were the first NFL team in the city when they made the move back in 1946 from Cleveland and eventually changed their named to the Los Angeles Rams. During their time in L.A., the Rams saw some of their best years with Hall of Famers like Deacon Jones, Jack Youngblood, Eric Dickerson, Norm Van Brocklin, and Dick "Night Train" Lane along with other legendary names from NFL history. However, the rams did make a move out of Los Angeles prior to the move to St. Louis, when they decided to move their play to Anaheim Stadium in 1980, the named stuck to the franchise. From 1946-1994, the Rams made 21 playoff appearances with 14 of them coming off of seasons where the team won 10 or more games and was able to win a championship back in 1951. Since then, the franchise has seen a constant downhill slope from those days. Despite winning their only Super Bowl just four years after making the move St. Louis in 1999, the Rams have only made the playoffs five times since the move and have had just four seasons where the team has posted 10 or more wins. It seems to me that maybe now that the Rams seem to have some magic stirring up in their roster, the move to Los Angeles may bring back those glory days of old.

Ron Mix: The only Pro Football Hall of Famer
from the 1960 Los Angeles Chargers

During the great NFL-AFL war of the 1960s, the [then] new American Football League helped to give life to the San Diego Chargers. But back then, the team was known as the Los Angeles Chargers and it would be their only season in the city. While there are just five players in the Chargers' Hall of Fame, the only Charger from that team that is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in former guard Ron Mix. That single season in L.A., the Chargers were able to muster up a 10-4 regular season record and made it all the way the very first AFL championship game, only to lose to the Houston Oilers 24-16. Since their move to San Diego in 1961, the Chargers have produced 17 playoff appearances with 10 of them coming off of seasons where the team won 10 or more games and won their championship just two years after the move in 1963 and lost only Super Bowl appearance in 1994 to the San Fransisco 49ers. So while they may not have as deep a history like the Rams do, the team might be able to get over the hump to win a Super Bowl with a change in setting.

The same year that the Los Angeles Chargers were born, the city of Oakland was given a franchise that would build a reputation that reflected the type of person their owner was: The Oakland Raiders. I would say that from 1960-2002, the Raiders had always been considered a very violent and tough team which is how they won many of their games. The team made most of it's noise in Oakland from 1960-1981 where the Raiders had 11 playoff appearances with 9 of them coming off of seasons where they won 10 or more games (their1963 season had 10 or more win but no playoff appearance) and were able to capture two Super Bowls in 1976 and 1980. during that time, the Raiders were able to be the home of many Hall of Fame legends such as Jim Otto, Gene Upshaw, George Blanda, Fred Biletnikoff, Art Shell, Ted Hendricks, Dave Casper, and Ray Guy. The team also brought of Hall of Fame head coach and broadcaster John Madden.

Linebacker Ted Hendricks was a key piece
throughout the Raiders' three Super Bowls

After the Super Bowl season in 1980, Legendary owner Al Davis (who started the franchise from day one) was unable to have plans passed to help improve the Oakland Coliseum. That same year, Davis was in an agreement to move the franchise to Los Angeles but found himself blocked after the NFL owners voted against the move. Davis then took it upon himself to move the franchise anyways which eventually turned into a antitrust lawsuit between Davis and the NFL. After two years of fighting, Al Davis won the right to move the Raiders to L.A. for the 1982 season. The Los Angeles Raiders' history was brief [in NFL years] as they only last from 1982-1994, but they still were able to create many exciting moments and give the world outstanding players to watch. During that time, the team was able to have seven playoff appearances with five of the seven containing seasons in which the team had won 10 or more games and was able to win their third Super Bowl in 1983. Also during that time, the Raiders produced more Hall of Famers to add to there collection like Marcus Allen, Howie Long, Mike Haynes. The only ones from the first Oakland group of Hall of Famers to witness L.A. was Gene Upshaw (1982), Ted Hendricks (1982-1983), Art Shell (1982), Dave Casper (1984), and Ray Guy (1982-1986). It's also worth mentioning that they were the team that allowed the nation to see the living legend known as Bo Jackson.

Marcus Allen came out of USC with a Heisman Trophy
and helped the L.A. Raiders win the Super Bowl in 1983

After the 1994 season and and unable to renovate the stadium due to damages done from a large earthquake, Davis decided to move the team back to Oakland after agreeing on an offer for a new stadium renovation for the Oakland Coliseum. Since returning, the Raiders have only been able to make the playoffs three times that spanned from 2000-2002 with all three being the only seasons in which the organization has won 10 or more games and had only championship appearance in 2002 where they were "blown out of the water" by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (If you see what I'm saying). As for Hall of Famers, they've had three since in the 1995 move with Jerry Rice, Warren Sapp, and Rod Woodson. However, these players came to the Raiders at the very end of their careers and already had their Hall of Fame resumes set. So with all that the Raiders have endured since returning to Oakland, they either should have never left Oakland in '82 or they should go back to L.A. and hope that the magic is able to return with it.

Roger Goodell's decision to not have a team in Los Angeles in 2015 is quite spearing as the city is one of the best markets for any professional team to be in and would help bolster the NFL as well as the city itself. But his decision has been made and now neither of those teams can make that move out. However, the decision does not stop these teams from making a move to somewhere else of their choosing, but I have a feeling that all three are hoping to possibly try to land that spot in Los Angeles in 2016. According to NFL.com, the Raiders are looking to stay in Oakland after deciding on "a one-year extension of their lease" with O.Co Stadium (Rapoport). As for the Chargers, they've made it known they will be in San Diego for 2015, but also stated that this "will constitute the fourteenth year of work on a San Diego Stadium solution" which sounds like this could be it after next season (Rapoport). The Rams are the only ones of the three that have not given out any word yet, but the Rams currently "have a deadline of Jan. 28 to decide if they are going to go year by year on their lease in St. Louis" which sounds like the Rams may be trying to either exit the city or try to see what St. Louis can offer them(Rapoport). Regardless, the city of Los Angeles and it's people will have to just wait till next year for a chance to unwrap their presents and see if they get what they've been wanting in an NFL team.

Rapoport, Ian. "No L.A. Team in '15; Raiders to Extend Oakland Lease." NFL.com. National Football League, 21 Dec. 2014. Web. 21 Dec. 2014.