"We've seen these movies before, or at least most of them. With the NFL's conference championship games set - the Rams at Seattle following New England at Denver - three of the four possible Super Bowl permutations are rematches. Rams- Patriots? There have been two of those, at the end of the 2001 and 2018 seasons. And Seattle has played both combinations, beating the Broncos in the 2013 season and losing to the Patriots a year later."
"There are strong ownership ties binding those two franchises. Among his many sports holdings, Rams owner Stan Kroenke also owns the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. Although he built his empire with real estate and as a developer, he's married to Ann Walton Kroenke - of the Walmart family - who is a first cousin of Rob Walton, who led the group that purchased the Broncos in 2022."
Three of the four possible Super Bowl matchups this season would be rematches, with Rams-Patriots occurring after the 2001 and 2018 seasons and Seattle having beaten Denver in 2013 and lost to New England a year later. Strong ownership ties link the Rams and Broncos: Rams owner Stan Kroenke also owns the Nuggets and Avalanche and is married into the Walton family; Rob Walton led the group that purchased the Broncos in 2022. The Broncos last won the Super Bowl ten years ago at Levi's Stadium when Peyton Manning captured his second ring and retired. Matthew Stafford, formerly of Detroit, remains elite and is a likely MVP candidate but turns 38 the day before the Super Bowl, which could make a title his final game. Rams tight end Terrance Ferguson is from Littleton, Colorado, and Broncos general manager George Paton grew up in La Cañada and played at Loyola High and UCLA.
Read at Los Angeles Times
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]