The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
» Rams’ McVay, Snead have deep local ties,
NEW ORLEANS — Rams coach Sean McVay and general manager Les Snead both have ties to Atlanta and were elated about advancing to Super Bowl LIII.
McVay is a Marist School graduate. Snead was a longtime executive with the Falcons before landing the Rams position.
“Growing up in Atlanta, it’s awesome,” McVay said. “My parents are probably a little bit more excited than I am. This is about our football team. Excited about it.”
McVay was also at the last Super Bowl played in Atlanta.
“It’s kind of ironic that the only Super Bowl that I’ve been to as a fan was the last time the Rams played the Titans,” McVay said. “I was at that game. My grandpa, when he was still involved in the NFL, he got me tickets for my birthday.”
He saw a thriller as the Rams prevailed over the Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV when Rams linebacker Mike Jones stopped Titans receiver Kevin Dyson just short of the goal line to preserve the win. The play went down in Super Bowl lore as “The Tackle.”
Snead, a native of Eufaula, Ala., was with the Falcons
for 13 seasons. He started as a scout and moved up to director of pro personnel. He was hired by the Rams as general manager in 2012 after the Falcons reached the NFC Championship game.
“I spent a lot of years there” in Atlanta, Snead said. “That will be fun to go back.”
The Rams were eliminated by the Falcons in the wildcard round of the playoffs after the 2017 season. Snead, outside of the Rams locker room in the L.A. Coliseum that night, was seething after the game. He said he never wanted to have that feeling of losing a playoff game again.
“I never allowed myself to think about that, but I can tell you that I don’t know if there is a more fitting place for me to go back to from Arthur (Blank) to Thomas (Dimitroff ) to (Falcons president) Rich McKay, plenty of people mentored me to get here,” Snead said. “So, I’m looking forward to going there.”
The road to Atlanta was bumpy as the Rams trailed the Saints 13-0 Sunday before rallying. They needed a fake punt called by McVay to get them moving.
“Really, it goes back to the confidence in the players,” McVay said. “We needed a little momentum. We were going to take it. … We ended up getting some points and that gave us a little bit of life to get us going.”
Snead backed the call.“One of his messages is ‘don’t fear failure,’ ” Snead said. “We’re coming here to win.”
‘I spent a lot of years there. That will be fun to go back.’
Rams GM Les Snead Former Falcons executive