Monday night's wild-card round finale between the Rams and Vikings had to be moved from Los Angeles to Arizona this week amid the ongoing wildfires that are ravaging Southern California.
Ahead of the contest, former Rams Super Bowl champion Andrew Whitworth grabbed the microphone at State Farm Stadium and relayed a moving message to the city of L.A.:
"For the past week, our Los Angeles region has been ravaged by catastrophic wildfires. Over 150,000 people have been evacuated. Our friends and our neighbors have lost homes, and entire communities have been devastated—and there's still more work to do."
"The courage and bravery of our firefighters and our first responders prove that real-life heroes live among us," Whitworth continued. "But I believe in the people of Los Angeles. We are strong. We will not be defined by this devastation. We will rebuild L.A. Hand-in-hand, together, for as long as it takes, and whatever it takes, we will build it together. Los Angeles: I love you, we love you, and we are with you."
Here's the full video:
"We are strong. We will not be defined by this devastation. We will rebuild L.A. hand in hand together.”
— ESPN (@espn) January 14, 2025
–Andrew Whitworth’s pregame message rallying the LA community pic.twitter.com/FhTY987uZX
Powerful.
The Rams may have used Whit's words as motivation, as they cruised down the field on the game's first possession for a seven-play, 70-yard drive resulting in a Kyren Williams touchdown
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Rams Great Andrew Whitworth Delivered Moving Speech in Honor of L.A. Ahead of 'MNF'.
