HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks,’ Starring Los Angeles Rams, Ends Tuesday Night With Emotional Season Finale
All good things must come to an end and Tuesday, after one of the better seasons in recent memory, Hard Knocks with the Los Angeles Rams will conclude. With a season that has featured players getting cut for breaking rules, the return to the City of Angels, and Jeff Fisher’s quality mustache, Hard Knocks has kept fans interested and watching over the past few weeks.
And now, we’ve finally hit the end. HBO released a memo on Monday morning to media saying the following:
“The Rams travel to Minnesota for their final preseason game against the Vikings; the coaching staff reduces the roster to 53 players in preparation for the Sept. 12 season opener against the San Francisco 49ers.”
Cut week will definitely make for some great television. For those unaware of who got cut this past weekend, the local NBC affiliate in Southern California published a full list of all cuts made by the Rams on Saturday night.
The #Rams announced their final roster cuts to move to the required 53 players on Saturday. #LARams pic.twitter.com/m5HXEHz3BH
— SoCal Sports 4 You (@SoCalSports4You) September 3, 2016
The decision to cut Ayers, who signed a two-year deal with the Rams in 2015, was one of the more curious ones made this weekend by any of the 32 teams. Ayers, a Southern California product who went to college at UCLA, could certainly wind up back with the team on a restructured deal, but rookie and Kentucky alum Josh Forrest would likely be the starter at strong-side linebacker for next week’s opener against the 49ers. Also fighting for that linebacker spot would be fellow rookies Cory Littleton (University of Washington) and Nicholas Grigsby (University of Pittsburgh).
The Rams do save three million by cutting Ayers, but the cut still seems perplexing. While Rams head coach Jeff Fisher didn’t spend much time on Sunday going in-depth about the cuts, the former Bears linebacker did say the following (via the Los Angeles Daily News).
“If you’re going to assume this is the group we’re going to San Francisco with, it would be incorrect. Some of the decisions that you make are not permanent. That’s all I can say. Akeem has played well for us. We’ve enjoyed having him. We’re kind of hopeful that this is not the end between us and Akeem. I’ll just say that.”
Fisher also touched on Rams running back Tre Mason, who remains absent from the team due to personal issues that are both mental and legal.
“We’ve been in communication with the family. Not Tre, but with the family. The organization’s position — including the league and the (NFL) Player’s Association — is to take care of him. Help him get the help that he needs to get through this life crisis that he’s having.”
Los Angeles will kick-off their season next Monday night against the San Francisco 49ers in the second of two Monday Night Football games on ESPN; the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins will be the first game that night. The Rams’ first home game in Los Angeles will be a 4:05 kickoff in week two against the Seattle Seahawks, but Jeff Fisher and friends best not get used to home because four of their first six games will be on the road.
Due to playing a home game in London against the New York Giants on October 23, the Rams will only play seven games in Los Angeles this season. That is surely an interesting decision by the NFL, as was their choice to not have the Rams’ first home game be a Sunday or Monday night game. Not that attendance for a nationally televised game would be a problem that is.
[Photo by Jack Dempsey/Associated Press]
