The Los Angeles Rams did something very unique you don’t typically see from NFL teams during draft week.
While NFL draft war rooms typically take place at a team’s headquarters or somewhere fancy, the Rams held their 2025 NFL Draft war room from LAFD Air Ops as a way to honor first responders in Los Angeles. The Rams have been very active in honoring first responders since wildfires devastated the area in January, which killed at least 30 people and forced at least 200,000 people to evacuate.
Star running back Kyren Williams explains why the Rams made the decision to hold their draft war room from LAFD Air Ops, which saw head coach Sean McVay, general manager Les Snead and multiple players from the team — including Williams, Jared Verse, Matthew Stafford and Puka Nacua — meet with first responders during draft week. 150 first responders were honored by the Rams during the week.
“We were there to really play our part and give our respect to the people, to the women and the men, the first responders who put their lives at risk,” says Williams in a one-on-one interview. “Sean McVay, he was really highlighting the first responders, the people who were there, the people who were part of that event (the wildfires).
McVay describes how “humbling” it was to meet the first responders who saved so many lives from the wildfires that devastated Los Angeles.
“It was incredibly humbling and powerful,” says McVay of meeting the Los Angeles first responders. “We’ve been given this platform, and Les and I often talk about the responsibility that comes with it—to lead by example by being servant leaders. Meeting those hometown heroes who chose to go into these incredibly dangerous professions, especially those that faced the wildfires, was a reminder of what true service looks like.
“These are people who run toward danger when the rest of us are running away,” McVay continues to say. “They choose a life of selflessness, of being part of something bigger than themselves. That kind of courage, that calling to act in the face of real crisis, is the definition of a servant leader—and it was an honor to recognize them.”
Williams further details what a surreal experience it was to see the LAFD Air Ops base.
“It was a cool opportunity, cool experience for me, because I had never seen a hangar before I walked in,” says Williams. “You drive up, you don’t really see a hangar. But once you walk in, you see all the planes to the fire trucks, you see the helicopter. It’s a really surreal moment.”
The Rams’ decision to hold their draft in a unique location such as the LAFD Air Operations was a “love letter” to the city and to pay tribute to the first responders who sacrificed their lives during the wildfires back in January.
“Our draft campaign this year was love letter to Los Angeles and the incredible brave first responders who answer the most important calls daily,” says Rams chief marketing officer Kathryn Kai-ing Frederick.
The wildfires were so devastating to the area that it took place during nearly the entire month of January. The Rams were forced to relocate from their scheduled first-round home playoff game at SoFi Stadium to State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
“It was a time of fear,” says Williams. “It was a time of just not knowing what was going on. I remember we were in Los Angeles as the fires were going on, and we came out of practice one day, you could see from our practice field the fire started in the distance. That the closest fire hit home to us right in our backyard. That was when we realized as a team, as an organization that this is more serious than what we originally thought.”
The Rams ended up defeating the 14-3 Minnesota Vikings and advancing to the divisional round of the playoffs despite everything that was going on in the Los Angeles area. From a football perspective, observers saw an upset when the Rams defeated the Vikings. From an off-the-field perspective, Williams details why that was such a unique time for the team.
“It was an experience that I probably would never get to experience again in the NFL,” says Williams. “I’ll always cherish because this was the only time in my career ever playing football that we traveled with everybody’s family, from kids, wives, girlfriends, adults, cats and snakes. It doesn’t matter who it was, everybody came.
“It was like a bowl game experience in the NFL, being able to stay in a hotel for three, four days with your teammates before the game,” Williams continues to say. “Just knowing that we came down here for our safety, but also to put on for the city of Los Angeles.”
McVay doubles down on Williams’ comments, saying that everyone was taken care of – -friends, family and pets – and were moved to Arizona during that time period.
“The biggest priority was making sure that the health and safety of our people, family, friends were taken care of,” says McVay. “There were a lot of people that deserve a ton of credit for helping move that game so seamlessly to Arizona – we took families, staff, and even pets to ensure there was as little additional stress added to an already stressful time, and our players deserve a ton of credit for being able to lock in during such a scary and unpredictable period.”
He says that the Rams embraced being that “hope” for the city while they were going through a tough time with the devastation of the wildfires.
“We were able to be that hope for the city, somebody that they can look to and kind of get what they’re going through,” says Williams. “Being able to experience that, being able to go through that and know the feeling, it was so cool to meet those guys and women and tell them how much pride and how much energy they gave to us to go out there and play the Vikings and play the Eagles and just to compete despite what was going on back at home.”
The Rams will continue to be active in the local community as they will host events during the summer in areas that were directly affected by the fires. That includes a beautification project for an impacted school in Altadena (14 miles from downtown Los Angeles) in June and a fundraiser for fire recovery at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in July.
“Given our platform, we feel like we have a responsibility to keep the community’s ongoing needs in the spotlight and to continue to bring the community together to help address the needs collectively,” says Molly Higgins, Rams Executive Vice President of Community Impact and Engagement.
Sean McVay Talks Rams’ Draft Picks: ‘Everybody’s Excited’
The Rams are coming off a successful 2024 campaign in which they came within one possession of upsetting the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles on the road.
The priority in this year’s draft was to add to the current core in hopes of getting the team over the hump of being a pesky playoff contender back into being a Super Bowl contender.
Los Angeles had six draft picks and used three on offense (running back, wide receiver and tight end) and three on defense (inside linebacker, outside linebacker and defensive lineman).
“I think it all worked out really well,” says McVay of the Rams’ 2025 NFL Draft class. “We said in an ideal scenario, defensively we’re able to address the front and continue to add to that both inside and outside. To add an inside linebacker and add to the depth on our offensive skill. We were able to add a receiver, tight end and running back. You add an edge player, you add an interior player and then to be able to add the inside linebacker, that’s a really good scenario.”
The Rams initially held the No. 26 overall pick in the draft, but traded out of the first round and picked up the No. 46 pick in the second round. Los Angeles used that pick to select Oregon Ducks tight end Terrance Ferguson.
The other players Los Angeles selected were linebackers Josaiah Stewart and Chris Paul Jr., running back Jarquez Hunter, wide receiver Konata Mumpfield and defensive lineman Ty Hamilton.
“I think everybody’s excited,” says McVay of the rookie draft picks. “Then there’s going to be some really good added undrafted free agents. We had seven guys, eight, if you include [RB] Cody Schrader, who were rookie free agents that played in football games for us last year as undrafted guys. You’re talking about seven guys from our undrafted free agent class that played meaningful snaps for us last year. Hey, the best players will play no matter what. We’re all about competition and we expect these six players to upgrade our roster.”
