If Rams need equipment, he’ll manage it
Throughout the season, the Los Angeles Times examines some of the behind-thescenes jobs associated with the Rams:
During the Rams’ season, Ben Bloomer’s work is never done.
On Monday, the assistant equipment manager unpacks game-day gear at the Rams’ temporary training facility in Thousand Oaks and starts the laundry. Tuesdays are spent checking and repairing helmets. On Wednesday, Bloomer begins to pack bags for the next game. Uniforms are put together Thursdays, and Friday the equipment truck gets loaded … only to be unloaded at the game site Saturday. Sunday is game day.
And Monday? Rinse and repeat.
Between the start of training camp in July and the end of the season — typically in January — Bloomer gets “maybe” two days off.
“I love my job. I wouldn’t want to do anything else,” Bloomer said. “It’s a fun environment to work in and it’s just a cool job. It’s not like anything else that you could work in.”
Bloomer is in his sixth season on the job with the Rams. He took the position after spending four seasons working in the equipment department as a student manager and graduate assistant at the University of Illinois.
“It’s a lot of work and it’s a lot of attention to detail,” Bloomer said.
Bloomer considers his job an integral part of the Rams’ organization. “We are like the garbagemen of society,” he said. “If they quit, then nothing happens and everything gets shut down.”
Among Bloomer’s several responsibilities, and his most important duty, is ensuring the players’ safety. After games he must meticulously check all 53 helmets for repair.
“I take them all the way apart — take the facemask, all the fittings out, check the chinstrap, check the buckles, check all the bladders, check the air valves, check any part of the helmet to make sure that it’s functional and it will survive a game,” Bloomer said.
After each helmet is deemed safe and functional, it’s time to make it sparkle. Bloomer must inspect and replace most of the horn decals on the helmets.
“If there’s any nick or anything where the clear coat is coming off the paint, you’ve got to change it so that it looks good because it’s on camera and you want it to look good,” Bloomer said.
And if any piece of equipment is even slightly off, Bloomer said he could count on players to let him know. “You have to have a thick skin to work here,” he said with a chuckle.