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49ers quarterback John Brodie looks to hand off during a game against the Rams at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in November 1971. The 49ers will face the Rams at the Coliseum on Saturday for the first time since 1979. James Flores/Getty Images
John Fassel teaches players about 49ers rivalry
Alden Gonzalez
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- The head coach is gone, the season is winding down and the record is poor, so John Fassel is searching for motivation.
For Saturday's game, he resorted to history.
Fassel, the special-teams coordinator who was named interim coach in the wake of Jeff Fisher's firing, brought up the storied rivalry between the Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers with his players during a recent team meeting, days before the 49ers visit his Rams at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the first time since 1979. Fassel enlisted the help of some special-teams players and dug up an assortment of factoids. He brought up the fact that the teams have played 134 times, and that the 49ers have won three more games. And he went into how heated the rivalry used to be when they shared a state.
“I studied," Fassel said. "I made sure I had my facts right, so if I’m standing there in front of the whole team -- the coaches, the players, the trainers -- that I’m throwing out factual information."
Fassel was impressed by all the different places the 49ers hosted this rivalry from, including Kezar Stadium, Candlestick Park and, most recently, Levi's Stadium. He believed it was important for the players to know how often these two teams have faced each other, pointing out the fact that 30 of those games were played at the Coliseum.
The Rams and 49ers both arrived in California in 1946, with the Rams becoming the first NFL franchise on the West Coast and the 49ers going from the All-America Football Conference to the NFL by 1950. The Rams and Niners have played in the same division ever since, meeting twice a season for 66 years. From 1970 to 1989, the two teams finished first and second 11 times. Their only playoff appearance was in the NFC Championship Game in 1989, a 30-3 victory by the 49ers that pushed them to their fourth Super Bowl.
During the next five years, the Rams went a combined 23-57, leading them directly into their 21-year relocation to St. Louis.
“I wanted them to respect the history of the rivalry and know the position they’re in, coming back here to L.A.," Fassel said. "That’s been discussed.”
Steve Young, Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Jerry Rice, Eric Dickerson, Merlin Olsen, Deacon Jones and Jackie Slater all played in the rivalry when the Rams and 49ers shared California. Hall of Famers such as Bill Walsh and George Allen coached in it. At one point in the 1970s, the Rams won 10 straight games. At one point in the 1990s, the 49ers won 17 in a row.
But Fassel is more concerned with recent history.
The Rams faced the 49ers on the road to open their season and were embarrassed, losing by a 28-0 score in front of a Monday Night Football audience. The Rams won their next three games, then lost nine of 10. The 49ers, winding down their first year under Chip Kelly, have not won a single game since.
"We got our butt kicked in the first game," Fassel said. "We got it kicked pretty bad."
The Rams don't have much to play for now, but they would at least like some retribution against the hapless team that beat them so thoroughly 15 weeks ago. They'll sport their popular blue-and-yellow throwback jerseys from the Coliseum on Saturday for a Christmas Eve game that begins with a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff. And they'll have a foundation of knowledge for their ensuing matchup.
"This would help not only our morale, but the morale of the true Rams fans that will be showing up to the Coliseum," Fassel said. "Hopefully everybody believes us that we understand -- even though the season hasn’t gone how we wanted it, no doubt about it -- that this game is important and it is impactful to us and a lot of people. We’re looking forward to it.”
[www.espn.com]
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