On Tuesday, the Rams introduced new head coach Jeff Fisher. Apart from the predictable stuff, like Fisher gushing about his new employer, tap-dancing around the issue of who’ll have final say, and personally denying that he leveraged the Rams against the Dolphins (even though anyone with a pulse and common sense knows he did), owner Stan Kroenke had a chance to put to rest the renewed talk of a move to Los Angeles, which arose from a recent report that Fisher had concerns about joining the franchise give the possibility of a relocation.
“I think this is all out there,” Kroenke said of a lease that allows the Rams to leave after the 2014 season if the Edward Jones Dome isn’t among the top 25 percent of all NFL stadiums. “The chronology of what occurs with the lease is public knowledge. I don’t think that for me to comment on that process is particularly timely. The city or the authority has within their power, they’re dealing with their side of it and they present a proposal to us by February 1. There’s a team in place that deals with all that, so we’ll see how that process sorts itself out. It’s a thing that takes place over time.
“As I said earlier, I started in St. Louis, in one year from now, that will be 20 years, so I’ve been around here a long time,” Kroenke added. “Contrary to a lot of reports, I haven’t taken a lot of ‘jack’ out of the market. I think that’s what’s reported. I have put a lot of ‘jack’ into the market.”
(For the record, we like any NFL owner who publicly refers to money as “jack”.)
So, given that Kroenke is a year away from 20 in St. Louis, will he be there in another 20?
“We’ll see how that process works out,” Kroenke said.
Somewhere in L.A., they’re already starting to hollow out their watermelons and otherwise squirreling away discretionary “jack” for the purchase of season tickets.