Pyrate News

By: Martin Rand, III
Date: October 16, 2011

Great football on the west coast has been confined to college for the last ten years. With USC keeping California in the football national eye, it's easy to forget the pro west coast teams haven't been as competitive.

Magic Johnson is eager to get NFL football back in L.A.. Is his excitement premature?

All of that could change by the end of the 2011 NFL season.

For the first time in a decade, all CA teams have a winning record (San Francisco 49ers 5-1, San Diego Chargers 4-1, Oakland Raiders 4-2) this late in the season. With these teams having promising seasons ahead of them, the talk is even louder about bringing the NFL to the largest city in CA: Los Angeles.

None louder than Magic Johnson.

Speaking with ESPNLosAngeles.com, Johnson says he still wants L.A. to be home to a NFL team.

"I'm truly excited. It's going to improve our community and help our community," said Johnson. "We need jobs, we need more conventions to come to our city, and then of course ... I'm a football fan.

I used to be a season ticket holder for the Rams and the Raiders when they played here. I want football here. I'm tired of cheering for everybody else's team. I want to cheer for my own team."

While a stadium is still trying to be acquired, two questions still linger over the City of Angels. First, would a NFL team last in Los Angeles?

I know the sports world has of memory span of two seconds, so I'm sure people forgot why there is no team in L.A. in the first place.

The Rams and Raiders both called L.A. home in the 80s and early 90s. However, in 1995 due to poor attendance, the Rams skipped town for St. Louis. The same year, The Raiders went back to Oakland, their birthplace, because Al Davis couldn't get city support to build a new stadium. Oakland fulfilled his wishes.

At a time when the economy was doing well, L.A. didn't support its teams, why would it support a team now?

The second question that needs answering is how will a team actually get to the city? In a league that just went through an off-season long lockout because the owners said they weren't making enough money, expansion is out of the question. The only option is relocation of an established team.

Looking at the current NFL standings, a team with a bad record and no historical significance to the city would be the best choices.

The two teams that popped out are the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Carolina Panthers. Both are in very small markets, have no history with their city and have rookie quarterbacks with huge potential, who could lead a new franchise into the future of L.A. football.

But will the NFL let a small market, which probably needs the jobs more than a city like L.A., lose a NFL team?

These are decisions that need to be made before Johnson can celebrate a new L.A. NFL team. But, until then, choosing to root for a trio of winning CA teams will have to suffice.