The Los Angeles Rams travel to London for the second consecutive year to take on the Arizona Cardinals as a part of the 2017 NFL season international series of games. Players are accustomed to long road trips, however, the 5,000-mile trek to Twickenham Stadium is certainly no walk in the park.
As a result, the Rams will be away for quite sometime before returning to the friendly confines of the L.A. Coliseum. Players like running back Todd Gurley have not been shy about voicing their displeasure over their upcoming trip, according to ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez:
“Terrible,” Gurley said. “They need to stop this, all this stuff. This London, this Mexico City stuff, it needs to stop.”
Gurley emphasized that it was not so much the much the NFL atmosphere, rather just the overall trip from a logistical standpoint.
“It’s cool playing over there, don’t get me wrong,” Gurley said. “Just more of the long week, messes up a bunch of people’s schedules. I’m pretty sure y’all [the media] wanna be in y’all bed right now, too. But no, it’s all good. It’ll be love. The fans over there are great.”
The trip to London is just the cherry on top for Los Angeles who has now had to travel more miles than any other team for the second straight year. In a game as crucial as this divisional matchup with the Cardinals, any coach would like their players to be as rested as possible.
It also takes away from the Rams fans who essentially get a home game taken away from them as well. However, Los Angeles will likely remain an integral part of the NFL’s international lineup for years to come, which could actually pay huge dividends for them in the long run with global branding.
