How Long It's Been: A Los Angeles Team Won the Super Bowl

Last night, the Los Angeles Rams won the NFL Championship, defeating the Cincinnati Bengals, 23-20 in Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium, outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

For all of L.A.'s success in college football, mostly by USC but some by UCLA, this was only the 3rd NFL Championship won by a team from that metropolitan area. The Rams won the title in 1951, and the Raiders won Super Bowl XVIII in 1984.

But after the 1994 season, the Raiders moved back to Oakland. In 2020, they moved again, to Las Vegas. The Rams moved to St. Louis, and won Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000. But in 2016, they moved back to Los Angeles. And the San Diego Chargers moved to Los Angeles in 2017.

So the Rams' win last night was the 1st NFL Championship for a Los Angeles area team since the Raiders' win in Super Bowl XVIII, a 38-9 demolition of the Washington Redskins at Tampa Stadium. That was on January 22, 1984, 38 years and 23 days ago. How long has that been?

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The Raiders were owned by Al Davis, and coached by Tom Flores. They were quarterbacked by Jim Plunkett, winner of the 1970 Heisman Trophy. They had running back Marcus Allen, winner of the 1981 Heisman Trophy. They had receiver Cliff Branch, tight end Todd Christensen, defensive linemen Lyle Alzado and Howie Long, linebackers Ted Hendricks and Matt Millen, defensive backs Lester Hayes and Mike Haynes, punter Ray Guy and placekicker Chris Bahr. Davis, Flores, Allen, Branch, Long, Hendricks and Guy are all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The Buccaneers, New England Patriots, the Buffalo Bills, the San Diego Chargers, the Atlanta Falcons, the team then known as the Houston Oilers, the Seattle Seahawks, the New Orleans Saints had never reached an NFL Championship Game, under any name. The Denver Broncos had, but, along with the Pats, the Bucs, the Hawks, the Saints, had never won one. The Chicago Bears, the New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, the franchise then known as the Cleveland Browns, and the team then known as the St. Louis Cardinals had, but not in the Super Bowl era. All of those facts have since gone from true to false.

Only 4 of the 28 teams playing in the 1983 season, capped by Super Bowl XVIII, are playing in the same stadiums they were in then: The Bills, the Green Bay Packers, the Kansas City Chiefs and the New Orleans Saints. A few stadiums had domes, but none had a retractable roof. Tampa Stadium, site of Super Bowl XVIII, has been replaced and demolished. So has the Orange Bowl in Miami, which hosted 5 Super Bowls; Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, which hosted 3; and the Pontiac Silverdome, which hosted 1. Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California, which hosted 1, has been torn down and replaced with a new stadium on the same site.

There was an NFL team in Baltimore -- for 2 more months -- but it was the Colts, not the Ravens. There was an NFL team in St. Louis, but it was the Cardinals, not the Rams. There was an NFL team in Houston, but it was the Oilers, not the Texans.

The NFL did not yet have teams in Indianapolis or Carolina. Nor did it have teams in Arizona, Jacksonville, Tennessee (Memphis or Nashville), or, at the time, Oakland. And has never had teams in San Antonio, Oklahoma (Oklahoma City or Tulsa) or Birmingham. But the United States Football League did have teams in those places.

And while the Giants played at the Meadowlands, and the Jets were in the process of moving there from Shea Stadium, they still called themselves "New York" -- always have, always will. The USFL already had Herschel Walker, playing for a team proudly calling itself the New Jersey Generals, and was about to feature future Pro Football Hall-of-Famers Reggie White, Steve Young, Jim Kelly and Gary Zimmerman.

Major League Baseball had a team in Montreal, while people in the Washington, D.C. area had to brave nasty traffic to go up to Baltimore. The NBA had teams in Seattle, San Diego and Kansas City. The NHL had teams in Quebec City and Hartford.

NFL pioneers Red Grange, Bronko Nagurski, Don Hutson, Johnny "Blood" McNally and Fritz Pollard were still alive. NFL founder George Halas had been dead for only a few weeks.

Bill Belichick was coaching linebackers and special teams for Bill Parcells on the Giants. Neither of them had yet been employed by a Super Bowl winner. Pete Rozelle was still Commissioner. Current Commissioner Roger Goodell was -- are you ready? -- an intern for the Jets! Current Raiders coach Josh McDaniels was 7 years old. Current Rams coach Sean McVay... wasn't born yet.

The Quarterback Class of '83 -- John Elway, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, Ken O'Brien, Todd Blackledge and Tony Eason -- had just finished their rookie seasons. Terry Bradshaw, whom most of you only know from Fox NFL Sunday, had just retired as a player.

Ray Lewis was 8 years old, Peyton Manning was 7, Tom Brady was 6, Drew Brees was 5, Eli Manning was 3, Troy Polamalu was 2, Ben Roethlisberger was a year and a half, Aaron Rodgers was a newborn; and Colin Kapernick, Matthew Stafford, Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Nick Foles, Cam Newton, Rob Gronkowski, Jimmy Garoppolo and Odell Beckham Jr. weren’t born yet.

Current Giants coach Brian Daboll was 8 years old, and Jets coach Robert Saleh was about to turn 5. Mets manager Buck Showalter had just retired as a player, and been hired as a coach with the Oneonta Yankees. Tom Thibodeau of the Knicks was an assistant coach at Salem State College in Massachusetts. Lindy Ruff of the Devils was playing for the Buffalo Sabres. Barry Trotz of the Islanders was playing for the minor-league Hershey Bears, Gerard Gallant for the minor-league Adirondack Red Wings, Lindy Brondello of the Liberty in high school. Aaron Boone of the Yankees was 10 years old, Steve Nash of the Nets was 9, Ronny Deila of NYCFC was 8, and Gerhard Struber of the Red Bulls was about to turn 7.

The Raiders won by dethroning the defending Champions, the Redskins. The other defending champions were the Baltimore Orioles, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the New York Islanders. The Heavyweight Champion of the World was Larry Holmes. Out of the Raiders, the O's, the Sixers and the Isles, none of those teams have won a title since.

The Olympic Games have since been held in America 3 times; twice each in Canada, Korea and China; and once each in Bosnia (then still part of Yugoslavia), France, Spain, Norway, Japan, Australia, Greece, Italy, Britain, Russia and Brazil. The World Cup has since been held in America, Mexico, Italy, France, Japan, Korea, Germany, South Africa, Brazil and Russia.

There were 26 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. The idea that people of the same gender could marry each other was not seriously considered. Then again, neither was the idea that corporations were "people" and entitled to the same rights and privileges thereof. No Justice then on the Supreme Court is still on it now.

The President of the United States was Ronald Reagan, and he was doing a terrible job: Not only was the Cold War especially frigid at that point, in large (but not sole) part due to his escalating rhetoric, but unemployment was 8 percent, higher than the 7 percent he'd inherited from the unfairly maligned Jimmy Carter.

George Bush was his Vice President -- we generally didn't add the "H.W." initials until his son, George W., became President.  George W. was drinking like a fish and running an energy company into the ground. Bill Clinton was in his 2nd term as Governor of Arkansas. Barack Obama was at Harvard Law School. Former Presidents Carter, Gerald Ford and Richard Nixon, and their wives, and the widows of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, were still alive.

The Governor of New York was Mario Cuomo. The current Governor, Kathy Hochul, had just graduated from law school, and had also just gotten married. The Mayor of New York, uh, was, uh, Ed Koch. The current Mayor, Eric Adams, was at the New York Police Academy. The Governor of New Jersey was Tom Kean. The current Governor, Phil Murphy, had recently begun his career at Goldman Sachs.

The Governor of Los Angeles' State, California, was George Deukmejian. The current Governor, Gavin Newsom, was in high school.  Jerry Brown, had served 2 terms as Governor already, but was in the political wilderness, and, as befitting his image as "Governor Moonbeam," went abroad to study philosophy and religion. The Mayor of Los Angeles was Tom Bradley, and the current Mayor, Eric Garcetti, was in junior high school.

There were still living veterans of the Spanish-American War, the Philippine Campaign, the Boxer Rebellion, the Boer War, the Russo-Japanese War and the Potemkin Mutiny. Polish Cold War hero Lech Wałęsa was the holder of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Pope was John Paul II. The current Pope, Francis, was Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, teaching in San Miguel, Argentina.

Lech Walesa had recently been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The Prime Minister of Canada was Pierre Trudeau, although he was about to retire. The monarch of Great Britain was Queen Elizabeth II -- that hasn't changed -- but the Prime Minister was Margaret Thatcher. Liverpool were the holders of the Football League title, Manchester United of the FA Cup. There have since been 7 Presidents of the United States, 7 Prime Ministers of Britain, and 3 Popes.

Tom Clancy was about to publish The Hunt for Red October, and Milan Kundera The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Stephen King had recently published Pet Sematary. George R.R. Martin published the murder mystery/fantasy The Armageddon Rag. J.K. Rowling was a freshman at the University of Exeter.

Angel, about an honor student by day and a hooker by night, was in theaters. Woody Allen's Broadway Danny Rose was about to premiere. Footloose would arrive the next month. George Lucas was still reaping the benefits of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi. Gene Roddenberry was overseeing the filming of Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, and Steven Spielberg that of Gremlins, while Lucas and Spielberg were working on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Roger Moore was still playing James Bond, Peter Davison was still playing The Doctor, Christopher Reeve was still playing Superman, and Adam West was still the last live-action Batman.

Night Court had recently premiered on NBC, and a pair of super-helicopter shows, trying and failing to copy NBC's Knight Rider, also did: ABC did Blue Thunder, based on the previous year's film; and, after showing the Super Bowl, CBS premiered Airwolf.

No one had yet heard of Celie Harris, Forrest Gump, Jack Ryan, Goku, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Terminator, the Ghostbusters, or Freddy Kreuger. All would be introduced in 1984.

Nor had anyone yet heard of the Thundercats, Marty McFly, Bart Simpson, Robocop, Codename V, John McClane, Zack Morris, Hayden Fox, the Seinfeld Four, Deadpool, Buffy Summers, Fox Mulder, Ross Geller & Rachel Greene, Bridget Jones, Xena, Carrie Bradshaw, Tony Soprano, Jed Bartlet, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Rick Grimes, Lisbeth Salander, Bella Swan, Don Draper, Katniss Everdeen, Walter White or Richard Castle.

The Number 1 song in America was "Owner of a Lonely Heart" by Yes. It dethroned "Say Say Say," a duet between former Beatle Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson. Jackson, riding the crest of Thriller, was the biggest musical star on the planet. But 5 days after the Super Bowl, while filming a commercial for Pepsi with his brothers, in preparation for their upcoming Victory Tour, a spark from an explosion set his hair on fire, and he was badly burned. While he was back performing within weeks, there are people who think his troubles began with the pain medication he took for his injury.

Yoko Ono released Milk and Honey, the album she and John Lennon were working on when he was killed. Bruce Springsteen was finishing up Born in the U.S.A. Billy Joel was enjoying the success of An Innocent Man and his relationship with Christie Brinkley (although it would be another year before they got married). Bon Jovi released their self-titled debut album the day before the Super Bowl. Madonna had debuted, but wasn't yet a superstar. Prince had released 1999, but was still working on Purple Rain.

Andre Romelle Young had just begun deejaying under the name Dr. J, named for his favorite athlete, Julius Erving; he would soon change this to Dr. Dre. Kurt Cobain was in high school. Jay-Z, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Snoop Dogg and Eminem were in junior high. (Though the idea of Snoop only being a junior "high" is funny.) Kanye West was 6. Kourtney Kardashian and Alecia Moore, the future Pink, were 4. Kim Kardashian, Beyonce Knowles and Christina Aguilera were 3. Justin Timberlake was about to turn 3. Britney Spears was 2. Forget Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and Halsey: Even Khloe Kardashian, Katy Perry, Drake, Adele and Rihanna weren't born yet.

Inflation was such that what $1.00 bought then, $2.71 would buy now. A U.S. postage stamp cost 20 cents, and a New York Subway ride 90 cents. The average price of a gallon of gas was $1.20, a cup of coffee $1.18, a McDonald's meal (Big Mac, fries, shake) $2.85, a movie ticket $3.46, a new car $11,374, and a new house $94,700. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the previous Friday at 1,259.11.

The tallest building in the world was the Sears Tower. Birth control pills had been long established, but there was, as yet, no Viagra. The 1st analog cellular system widely deployed in North America was introduced in 3 months earlier: The Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS). There were personal computers, but almost nobody had yet heard of the Internet. Even VCRs weren't in every home yet. Home video games were a battle between the Atari 5200 SuperSytem and ColecoVision -- Nintendo's systems were yet to come. Chrysler had recently introduced the 1st minivan, the Dodge Caravan.

During the Super Bowl, Apple aired, for the one and only time, its renowned "1984" ad, directed by Ridley Scott, and 2 days later put the 1st Macintosh computers on sale. The hammer-thrower, dressed in what looks retroactively like a Hooters waitress' outfit, was 17-year-old British discus thrower Anya Major. She later played the title character in Elton John's video for "Nikita." Contrary to a rumor, she did not die of cancer in 2000; rather, she is alive and well, living in England with a husband and 3 children.

In early 1984, the court-ordered breakup of AT&T's "Bell System" took effect. The British protectorate of Brunei gained independence. Soviet Premier Yuri Andropov died, taking with him the Soviet Union's best chance to survive to the present day. Medicare, Australia's universal-health care system, went into effect. And American astronauts from the space shuttle Challenger made the 1st untethered spacewalk. 

Ray Kroc, and Jackie Wilson, and Johnny Weissmuller died. Kate McKinnon, and Jon Lester, and Arjen Robben were born.

January 22, 1984. The Raiders, then in Los Angeles, won Super Bowl XVIII. It has taken this long -- and a lot of political maneuvering, in the NFL and out -- for another Los Angeles-based football team to win one.