St. Louis Rams, Warner, and the Show

The Saint Louis Rams have been playing football in the National Football League for 74 years, though not always in the same location. In fact, they've been a wandering team, beginning in Cleveland for ten years before moving to Los Angeles. From there, they picked up roots and plodded off to Anaheim before finally settling in Saint Louis for good - or at least for now. They have, at times, had an offensive unit that is just as movement-oriented. For instance, their offense was so potent between 1999 and the year 2001 that it earned the nickname "The Greatest Show on Turf". Had it lasted, it might have rivaled the dynasties of Green Bay, Chicago, and San Francisco. Though it ended all too soon, it was still an impressive and exciting time in football history.

The curtain rises

The Greatest Show on Turf got its start when the Rams' quarterback Trent Green went down with an injury in the preseason campaign of 1999. Rallying around backup quarterback Kurt Warner - a former Arena Football star, the Rams went on to score 526 points during the '99 campaign. That record-setting performance would only stand for a single year, as the Rams would break it with a 540 point season in 2000. That 1999 season resulted in a 13-3 overall record and a trip to Super Bowl XXXIV against the Tennessee Titans. Warner passed for more than 400 yards during the game, and the Rams won 23-16.

The Script

Of course, the success of the Greatest Show was not simply a matter of having good players - although the Rams had their share and then some. The system of offense that the team employed was designed to move the ball, and to move it fast. With constant five receiver sets, the Rams extended the opposing defenders all across the field, executed quick release passes to their open men in space, and did so with the precision accuracy for which Warner has been well recognized. The system enabled the receivers to catch the ball on the run, thus ensuring extra yards after the catch. Warner's skill at releasing the ball quickly and hitting his targets in motion as developed when he quarterbacked the Arena League Barnstormers team, and was put to good use in Saint Louis.

The cast

Of course, had the team just been Kurt Warner, the Show would have never seen its curtain rise. He also had the best running back in the League at the time, in Marshall Faulk, as well as receivers like Isaac Bruce, Ricky Proehl, Torry Holt, and Az Hakim. Protected by an incredible offensive line unit, Warner was able to conduct an offense that produced five hundred plus yards in each of the years from 1999 through 2001. Faulk, a star of the offense, was awarded the Offensive honors for the League all three years, and shared the first two spots in each year's MVP vote with Warner.

Two years after their Super Bowl win, the Rams went back to the title game, only to lose to the Patriots. Though most experts failed to realize it at the time, the Greatest Show on Turf was, for all intents and purposes, closing up shop. The term would continue to be used for several more years before commentators realized that the Show had been over for some time.
Check out this Michigan Wolverine Ornament and these New York Giants Bedding