Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Rams sent several employees to Australia. The team had just been told it would host the league’s first regular-season game in Melbourne, and since no other NFL team had ever played there, it’s standard practice for the logistics team to test-run the itinerary. That includes everything from mapping out the bus trip from the hotel to the stadium to working with the hotel’s culinary crew to design a menu for player meals before and after the game.
But that’s not all the Rams were doing. Beyond the itinerary, Sean McVay also asked the logistics crew to document everything related to travel. How was the flight? How much sleep did they get? When did they start to feel tired? When did they start to feel better? How long did it take for their circadian rhythm to catch up? And what was the recovery process like after landing back in Los Angeles?
The reason behind this was simple: The Rams pushed the boundaries last year when the team flew from Baltimore to London the day of the game, beat the Jaguars, and then flew home to Los Angeles that night without ever staying in a hotel. Now, the Rams wanted to see if they could do it again. Except this time, the team wouldn’t have to deal with a 7-hour flight and a 5-hour time difference. They would have to deal with a 16-hour flight and a 17-hour time difference.
Most of you have already heard this storyline. It’s essentially the opposite of what the 49ers have decided to do by arriving in Melbourne a week early, and pretty much every media outlet has been discussing it for weeks. That said, I still think everyone is missing the point. So for today’s newsletter, we’re going to dig into the details, including what the Rams’ itinerary actually looks like, why the team believes it can win such a physical game just hours after one of the world’s longest flights, and whether any other NFL teams might copy them in the future.
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