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So I posted this video on the 100 year thread and something jumped out at me:
This day, game 5 of the 1999 season, marked a transition in time. The end of one era, and the beginning of another.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vrXnzNn8nKU
When the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995 there was hope for a change in fortune. The Rams had turned into a perennial loser after getting embarrassed by the SanFrancisco Forty Niners in the 1989 NFC Championship Game, moved from California to the Midwest, and wanted a fresh start.
But the hated Niners were determined to remind the Rams that things would remain the same.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEfD82fCwc
Guys like DeMarco Farr, Todd Lyght, Keith Lyle and Isaac Bruce were humiliated, year after year by their hated rivals. They were warriors, determined to change their fate, change their legacy, and avenge Dana Stubblefields SOSAR moniker and put the Whiners in their place.
And we as fans were determined, as well.
Then came that fateful day in October, 1999. Perhaps some of you ROD members were in attendance?
Go back and watch the video of Bruce’s incredible performance again, and make note of a few things. The Rams were in year 3 of a Dick Vermeil coached era, with no real reason for optimism.
But we all know the story. The Rams add Marshall Faulk, Adam Timmerman, and Trent Green, draft Tory Holt, and Dre Bly, take on offensive guru Mike Martz, and cautious whispers of optimism make their way through the organization as the preseason begins with a new feeling of success.
Then Green goes down for the year, Vermeil vows to rally around a grocery boy, and we all hold our collective breath.
And so it began. Kurt Warner stepped in and lead his team. The Rams began 4-0. The offense Was the talk of the league. But in stepped the bully on the block.
At 3-1, the San Francisco Forty Niners would set it straight. On the heals of several winning seasons under the leadership of Steve Mariucci, just four years removed from their fifth Super Bowl title, they came into St. Louis to show the upstart, first place Rams who was boss. With a win, they would pull into first place in the West, and not look back.
Bruce was determined to write a different chapter. And he would.
With four touchdowns, and the most emotional performance of his career, Reverend Ike personally killed off a dynasty, ended the SOSAR myth, and rubbed the beginning of the Greatest Show on Turf in the face of the enemy.
Hats of to the maker of the video, chronicling Bruce’s historic day. Some notes from every touchdown of that day:
Touchdown 1:
Bruce would roast the Niner secondary all day, but the first touchdown on the opening drive may have been the prettiest. He broke to the outside, then froze the corner with a sudden inside move and a perfect strike from Warner. 7-0 Rams.
Touchdown 2:
Still first quarter, Warner lofted a beautiful ball to the back of the end zone, and the graceful Bruce tapped in, and the Rams went up 14-0.
The crowd began to sense the excitement. This was going to be fun.
...and as Bruce celebrated the beginning of a route, he gestured to the crowd, “It’s over!” He seemed to be saying. Throat slash. These ain’t your same old Rams!!
...and the message seemed to be received loud and clear. Not only by the huge crowd of Ram fans that day, parched for the renewal of a proud franchise, but by the Niners themselves, represented perfectly by Mariucci himself.
Here he seemed to be saying, “We’re done.” And he was right, as the Rams victory that day would not only launch them to a 5-0 record, and eventual Super Bowl title, but seal the fate of the Whiner cucks, who would only win one more game in a pathetic 4-12 season.
It also served as a great reminder to Mariucci that day, that he once valued Ty Detmer more than this future Hall of Fame stud, just a few years earlier with the Packers.
Touchdown 3:
As the first quarter drew to a close, the Rams took advantage of a great kick return from Tony Horne, and Warner launched this perfect pass into the seam of the Niner defense.
...Bruce beautifully cut back, breaking the ankles of the Niner DB, and raced to glory!
The OMG Guy:
One of my favorite shots in this video is the cut to the crowd after the THIRD of Bruce’s first quarter touchdowns as fans cannot believe what they are seeing! This man in the white shirt clearly says, “Oh my God!” As he lets out years of frustration, echoing the sentiment every last one of you swinging d!cks were expressing at that moment, me included.
He said, “OMG! This is really happening!...OMG! I don’t have to take crap from my whiner buddies anymore!...OMG! THIS. FEELS. SOOOO. GOOOD!”
As teammates and Coaches congratulate Ike, he seems to have a breakdown on the bench. He’s having his OMG moment, and it is like casting out demons that tormented him for years.
Sobbing. Joy. Relief. Gratefulness. Thank you, Lord.
Touchdown 4:
But the Rams weren’t done yet. Those pesky Winers thought they were sneaking back into this game. But Bruce, Warner and the Rams would have none of it, as Kurt struck Isaac one more time early in the fourth quarter to seal the deal!
This beautiful pass would be reminiscent of another touchdown nearly two decades later, on a Monday Night in Los Angeles, against Missouri’s “other team”, and caught by Gerald Everett.
Finally, after Bruce’s fourth touchdown, he is greeted by his fellow long-sufferers. Lyght, Lyle, Farr. They knew what it was like to hear same-old-sorry-ass. They knew the pain. And now they would celebrate the sweet taste of victory. Together.
And look across at that sorry crew on the other sideline.
This day, game 5 of the 1999 season, marked a transition in time. The end of one era, and the beginning of another.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vrXnzNn8nKU
When the Rams moved to St. Louis in 1995 there was hope for a change in fortune. The Rams had turned into a perennial loser after getting embarrassed by the SanFrancisco Forty Niners in the 1989 NFC Championship Game, moved from California to the Midwest, and wanted a fresh start.
But the hated Niners were determined to remind the Rams that things would remain the same.
View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ojEfD82fCwc
Guys like DeMarco Farr, Todd Lyght, Keith Lyle and Isaac Bruce were humiliated, year after year by their hated rivals. They were warriors, determined to change their fate, change their legacy, and avenge Dana Stubblefields SOSAR moniker and put the Whiners in their place.
And we as fans were determined, as well.
Then came that fateful day in October, 1999. Perhaps some of you ROD members were in attendance?
Go back and watch the video of Bruce’s incredible performance again, and make note of a few things. The Rams were in year 3 of a Dick Vermeil coached era, with no real reason for optimism.
But we all know the story. The Rams add Marshall Faulk, Adam Timmerman, and Trent Green, draft Tory Holt, and Dre Bly, take on offensive guru Mike Martz, and cautious whispers of optimism make their way through the organization as the preseason begins with a new feeling of success.
Then Green goes down for the year, Vermeil vows to rally around a grocery boy, and we all hold our collective breath.
And so it began. Kurt Warner stepped in and lead his team. The Rams began 4-0. The offense Was the talk of the league. But in stepped the bully on the block.
At 3-1, the San Francisco Forty Niners would set it straight. On the heals of several winning seasons under the leadership of Steve Mariucci, just four years removed from their fifth Super Bowl title, they came into St. Louis to show the upstart, first place Rams who was boss. With a win, they would pull into first place in the West, and not look back.
Bruce was determined to write a different chapter. And he would.
With four touchdowns, and the most emotional performance of his career, Reverend Ike personally killed off a dynasty, ended the SOSAR myth, and rubbed the beginning of the Greatest Show on Turf in the face of the enemy.
Hats of to the maker of the video, chronicling Bruce’s historic day. Some notes from every touchdown of that day:
Touchdown 1:
Bruce would roast the Niner secondary all day, but the first touchdown on the opening drive may have been the prettiest. He broke to the outside, then froze the corner with a sudden inside move and a perfect strike from Warner. 7-0 Rams.
Touchdown 2:
Still first quarter, Warner lofted a beautiful ball to the back of the end zone, and the graceful Bruce tapped in, and the Rams went up 14-0.
The crowd began to sense the excitement. This was going to be fun.
...and as Bruce celebrated the beginning of a route, he gestured to the crowd, “It’s over!” He seemed to be saying. Throat slash. These ain’t your same old Rams!!
...and the message seemed to be received loud and clear. Not only by the huge crowd of Ram fans that day, parched for the renewal of a proud franchise, but by the Niners themselves, represented perfectly by Mariucci himself.
Here he seemed to be saying, “We’re done.” And he was right, as the Rams victory that day would not only launch them to a 5-0 record, and eventual Super Bowl title, but seal the fate of the Whiner cucks, who would only win one more game in a pathetic 4-12 season.
It also served as a great reminder to Mariucci that day, that he once valued Ty Detmer more than this future Hall of Fame stud, just a few years earlier with the Packers.
Touchdown 3:
As the first quarter drew to a close, the Rams took advantage of a great kick return from Tony Horne, and Warner launched this perfect pass into the seam of the Niner defense.
...Bruce beautifully cut back, breaking the ankles of the Niner DB, and raced to glory!
The OMG Guy:
One of my favorite shots in this video is the cut to the crowd after the THIRD of Bruce’s first quarter touchdowns as fans cannot believe what they are seeing! This man in the white shirt clearly says, “Oh my God!” As he lets out years of frustration, echoing the sentiment every last one of you swinging d!cks were expressing at that moment, me included.
He said, “OMG! This is really happening!...OMG! I don’t have to take crap from my whiner buddies anymore!...OMG! THIS. FEELS. SOOOO. GOOOD!”
As teammates and Coaches congratulate Ike, he seems to have a breakdown on the bench. He’s having his OMG moment, and it is like casting out demons that tormented him for years.
Sobbing. Joy. Relief. Gratefulness. Thank you, Lord.
Touchdown 4:
But the Rams weren’t done yet. Those pesky Winers thought they were sneaking back into this game. But Bruce, Warner and the Rams would have none of it, as Kurt struck Isaac one more time early in the fourth quarter to seal the deal!
This beautiful pass would be reminiscent of another touchdown nearly two decades later, on a Monday Night in Los Angeles, against Missouri’s “other team”, and caught by Gerald Everett.
Finally, after Bruce’s fourth touchdown, he is greeted by his fellow long-sufferers. Lyght, Lyle, Farr. They knew what it was like to hear same-old-sorry-ass. They knew the pain. And now they would celebrate the sweet taste of victory. Together.
And look across at that sorry crew on the other sideline.
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