Thousands Descend On Downtown LA For Rams Super Bowl Parade
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Tens of thousands of people descended on downtown Los Angeles as the Rams held their Super Bowl victory parade on Wednesday.
The 1.1-mile parade, the first in L.A. since the Lakers 2010 title, started at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown L.A., where the Rams players, many smoking victory cigars, boarded four double-decker buses bound for L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
PHOTO GALLERY: Rams Super Bowl Parade
The parade wound its way down Jefferson Boulevard to Figueroa Street, and down Exposition Park Drive before ending in a rally at L.A. Memorial Coliseum's Olympic Plaza, where upwards of 20,000 fans greeted the team.
"The mental toughness, the resilience of this group, it took every single person, that's the best thing about football, it's the greatest team sport there is," McVay said.
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti took the stage and presented three keys to the city to Rams stars Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp.
"They can unlock any door in L.A. any day, and it gives me great joy as mayor of the city of L.A. to declare L.A. Rams Day in L.A.," Garcetti yelled proudly.
Fans of all ages lined the streets to cheer on their Rams. Christian talked to CBSLA about why he brought his sons.
"Definitely important, just because, you never get an opportunity like this, once in a lifetime," Christian said.
"This is awesome, I've been a fan since the Roman Gabriel days, fearsome foursome, and to have them back in L.A., and to win a championship, it's phenomenal," said another man, who attended the parade with his daughter, who was flew down from Seattle to attend with him.
Entry to the rally was free and open to the public. No tickets were required. However, all fans had to show either proof of vaccination against COVID-19, a negative antigen test taken within 24 hours, or a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours. No masks were required after L.A. County officials lifted the outdoor mask mandate Tuesday.
Public transportation was an option for those looking to avoid traffic and parking issues. Metro has two train stops along the parade route: at Jefferson/USC and at Expo Park/USC.
"Once you get off the Metro train stations, it's a short walk possibly a couple blocks to those locations," said Metro spokesperson Dave Sotero.
For those who chose to drive, there was limited parking available at the Grand and Flower lots.
Street closures ahead of the parade began at 6 a.m., and were expected to last until 2 p.m. Most streets in the University Park area will be restricted during those hours to local access only. The streets that were closed included:
- Figueroa Street between Adams Blvd. and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
- Jefferson Blvd. between Vermont and Grand avenues
- Exposition Blvd. between Vermont Ave. and Flower Street
- The southbound 110 Freeway off-ramp at Exposition Boulevard.
- The 110 express lane on- and off-ramps at 39th Street will also be closed.
Los Angeles police were patrolling the parade route and sending extra resources to the downtown area in case celebrations become problematic, similar to Sunday night.
"But individuals will believe that the celebration's not over for them until they've caused a little bit of a disturbance or recklessness," said LAPD Chief Michael Moore.
Once the parade ends and the rally begins, officers will transition to patrol duty to ensure the celebrations do not turn into disturbances.
"Once that parade route is completed those officers will be freed up for added patrols, both around the parade area, the celebration area as well as around the downtown area," said Moore.
USC students and staff have been cautioned that they will likely experience significant delays trying to get onto campus. Some instructors have already said they will hold classes remotely Wednesday. The school noted that the best way to try and enter campus during the rally will be from the Vermont Street.
In 2020, the Lakers won the NBA title and the Dodgers won the World Series, but both were denied victory parades because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lakers superstar LeBron James proposed Monday that the Rams, Lakers and Dodgers have a joint parade.
"We, Dodgers and Rams should all do a joint parade together!!!! With a live concert afterwards to end it!!" James tweeted. "City of Champions."
The Rams defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in a 23-20 thriller Sunday.
