The LA Rams were scheduled to play the Minnesota Vikings in LA on Monday, January 12.
The Rams and Vikings were slated to play in the NFL Wild Card game at Inglewood’s SoFi Stadium on Monday, but the game was moved due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, specifically the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the Palisades Fire in Pacific Palisades.
State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the home of the Arizona Cardinals, opened its doors to the team. Despite being 400 miles from home, it was still treated as a home game for the Rams, and the field even had the Rams logos on it.
The Rams were the No. 4 seed in the NFC, facing off against the No. 5 seed, the Minnesota Vikings. The higher seed always has home field advantage.
To ensure they really did have a home-field advantage, the Rams filled 30 buses with fans and brought them to Glendale to help cheer on the blue and gold.
Singer-songwriter Rachel Platten was the pre-game performer and national anthem singer.
Rachel Platten was announced as the national anthem performer and pre-game performer on social media.
During the pre-game show, she performed her most well-known song, “Fight Song,” and dedicated it to the city of LA. During the first chorus, a banner reading, “LA Together” was put up, making the moment all the more emotional.
The people of LA can relate to the words in the chorus:
“This is my fight song
Take back my life song
Prove I’m alright song
My power’s turned on
Starting right now, I’ll be strong
I’ll play my fight song
And I don’t really care if nobody else believes
‘Cause I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me”
After this powerful performance, she also sang the national anthem.
Before she began singing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” the whole stadium observed a moment of silence in honor of the victims who lost their lives in the LA fires, as well as a tribute to Los Angeles as a whole, including the brave men and women on the front lines.
Platten performed the song a cappella, which can be a lot more difficult than singing along to music. She updated a couple of notes, but stayed true to the song. At the very end, you could tell she was getting emotional and even had to wipe some tears away.
Watch her powerful performance of the national anthem HERE.
