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With the NFL announcing that the St. Louis Rams will be moving back to Los Angeles, how do St. Louis fans pick a new team to root for?

Weatherford: Before I get to answering how St. Louis football fans should go about the business of finding a new football team to root for, I first want to congratulate the city of Los Angeles on the return of the Rams. Football returning to the city of Los Angles has been a long time coming and with the city being the second largest media market in the United States, professional football returning to the LA area has been long overdue. Speaking for myself, I am extremely excited to see how the fans in the Los Angeles will celebrate the return of the Rams. I am really looking forward to seeing football back in the city of angels.

With that said, I do feel very sorry for the fans in St. Louis. This is the second time in the last 30 years that professional football has been yanked away from the city. Having played several games in St. Louis throughout my career, I can personally attest to how passionate the fans in St. Louis are and I truly feel for them now that their team is gone.

Still, the fans in St. Louis are not out of luck!

For those diehard St. Louis fans who cannot live without watching their Rams play on Sunday, you could continue to support them even though they will playing in Los Angeles next season. Fortunately, with all of of the modern TV packages that the NFL provides, fans have the ability to tune in and catch any game they want, whenever they want, so the fans in St. Louis can continue to support their team on Sundays.

(AP Photo/Tony Avelar)

However, if the fans in St. Louis feel so betrayed by the Rams’ ownership group for their decision to leave, the fans can always start rooting for the next closest NFL franchise, the Kansas City Chiefs. While I know that may be awkward at first, but the Chiefs are one of the oldest franchises within the NFL and have a great history that is rich with tradition. I am fairly certain that once the next season begins, ex-St. Louis Rams fans will have no problem getting behind a team like the Chiefs and continuing their Sunday football traditions!

As a special teams player, what was your reaction to Blair Walsh’s 27 yard failed field goal attempt that ended the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks?

Weatherford: When I saw Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh miss a chip shot field goal at the end of regulation, I felt absolutely horrible for him. As a punter myself, I can personally identify with the feeling of letting your teammates down when you fail to do your job as a special teams player, especially when it happens at a moment that would have propelled your team into the next round of the playoffs. I can’t even begin to imagine how upset and how responsible for the loss Blair Walsh must feel. As a kicker or a punter, you just want to contribute to winning efforts when your number is called.

Knowing that your teammates have given everything they have all day between those white lines only heightens the pressure that kickers and punters feel to do their jobs and perform. Still, I am a big believer in the philosophy that you win as a team and that you lose as a team. They were plenty of plays throughout that game that the Vikings players could have made to change the outcome of that game. It is completely unfair to blame the entire loss on Walsh when there were 52 other guys who could have stepped up and made a play to help get the Vikings into the next round of the playoffs.

(AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)

For example, on that specific game ending play, Walsh’s placeholder made a gigantic mistake when he placed the ball down with the laces facing Walsh. The degree of difficulty when the laces of the ball are facing the foot makes it three times harder to kick a football, especially in frigid weather like that game. Kicking the laces affects both accuracy and distance because the foot is prevented from finding the “sweet spot” or the flat surface of the football and kicking the laces of the football definitely played a big role in Blair Walsh missing that field goal.

At the end of the day, just because Walsh made the final mistake that ended the game, does not mean that other Vikings players didn’t make costly errors throughout the game. I also believe that nobody is perfect and that we all make mistakes. To condemn a man for being human is just plain wrong in my opinion. The sports world should embrace Walsh instead of ostracizing him. I sincerely hope that Walsh is able to put that missed field goal behind him and continue on to have a long successful career as one of the better kickers in the NFL.

(Image of Steve Weatherford courtesy of Dustin Snipes)