Chris Garrett and the LA Rams are ready for Super Bowl LVI
LOS ANGELES (BVM) – Around this time last year, Chris Garrett was fresh off of an appearance in the Hula Bowl and was gearing up for the NFL Draft. Now, the outside linebacker out of Concordia University, St. Paul and a Milwaukee native is preparing for Super Bowl LVI with the LA Rams.
“It’s unbelievable when you think about it,” Garrett said. “Then to come in and make the team after sitting out a year, that was a blessing. The team saw what I could do in the preseason and then to grow throughout the season and now be in the Super Bowl. It’s really indescribable.”
“Just random moments it hits me like, ‘Wow I’m really in the NFL and in California no less,’ it’s just an amazing experience and I’m truly blessed to be allowed to do this.”
Garrett’s journey just to get to the draft last year was incredible. A potential DI walk-on from Wisconsin Lutheran High School, he opted to go to DII CSP on a full scholarship. From there, he became one of the best pass rushers in DII history and caught the attention of the NFL.
Projected as a late-round pick, the Rams grabbed him in the seventh round of the 2021 NFL Draft with the 252nd pick.
Garrett had to compete for a roster spot in OTAs and training camp having played only one legitimate game of football since 2019.
“To start, I was not doing that well,” Garrett said. “I’ll be honest with you and it definitely helped that I was drafted and they had somewhat of a belief in me already so my mentality just had to be, which it always is, is just one day at a time, one snap at a time, one practice at a time, get better and better.”
That mentality set him up for success. In the second preseason game for the Rams against the Las Vegas Raiders, Garrett had four total tackles, 1.5 sacks, three QB hits and two pass breakups.
Throughout that time, he kept focusing on the moment, not looking too far ahead and as the roster cuts began, he was ready for them.
“I didn’t allow myself to jump ahead, not a single day…I couldn’t allow all that extra pressure on me,” Garrett said. “At the end of the day when it came down to those couple of days where I’m waiting to see if I made the team, I could be somewhat at peace and like, ‘OK I did everything I could to make this team, so whatever happens now, I know I gave it my all.’”
Garrett made the final cut and was officially an LA Ram. However, soon after that, he contracted COVID and was put on the reserve/COVID-19.
“It was tough,” Garrett said. “It was really tough because you make the team and then you expect to contribute on special teams or hopefully get a couple snaps in on defense. I feel like I was really taking huge strides before COVID. Then when it hit, it hit hard.”
Luckily for Garrett, he has the mentality needed to overcome those setbacks and for the first time in a long time, he had the resources at his disposal to thrive. At Concordia, Garrett constantly had to go above and beyond to make up for the lack of resources he had around him at a small DII school.
Garrett was able to get to the NFL by doing that, but once he was in the NFL, it was almost overwhelming how much was at his disposal.
“It was unbelievable honestly,” Garrett said. “Just so many things just handed to you that you know a smaller DII school won’t be able to offer and it was just more of me accepting it and taking those and just listening when they’re like, ‘Hey you should come in and get some extra rehab or prehab or whatever it is.’”
Along with the facilities and trainers, there were also the coaches, the players and the culture. Between head coach Sean McVay, defensive coordinator Raheem Morris and assistant linebackers coach Thad Bogardus, he has been able to absorb so much.
The notebook he had used to write down things he wanted to remember from his time in high school soon turned into notebooks, and then the Rams traded for Von Miller.
“I’ve been through so many notebooks,” Garrett said. “I was taking a lot of notes before Von and then
Von got on the team. Because he’s in the meeting room with me, it’s just tons of notes. He’s just constantly bringing new stuff to me and a lot of it is just his mentality, too, and I’m just like, ‘Wow he thinks about the game in a totally different light than I do.’ I’m just trying to learn for as long as I’m on the team.”
Garrett has learned from Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and others as well but having Miller in the linebackers room with him has made all the difference. Teaching Garrett and the rest of the room how to set up their moves, play to their strengths and approach film study.
According to Garrett, his addition was so important to what the Rams have been trying to do. Since day one, it has been about playing for a Super Bowl. Garrett has watched everyone become a leader in their own way and buy into that type of mentality but in particular, to see the big names lead the way has been incredible.
“He’s (Miller) been teaching a lot of us how his mind thinks,” Garrett said. “Then AD (Aaron Donald) and Jalen Ramsey and now we got Weddle (Eric Weddle). Just unbelievable leaders that I’m just watching and it’s just like, ‘Is this real? This many hall of famers on one team, I don’t know.’ It’s pretty unbelievable.”
“It’s huge because these guys, they don’t miss a moment. They don’t blink when the lights are on for sure and they don’t miss a moment to speak up.”
That has been so important for the Rams in the postseason. Garrett talked about how everything went to a whole new level once the playoffs began. The intensity increased, the speed was different and the focus was off the charts.
Now the Rams are preparing for a Super Bowl appearance in their home stadium and the excitement is palpable.
“We got the city behind us and we’re going to do this thing,” Garrett said.
With a matchup against the red-hot Cincinnati Bengals and their budding superstar quarterback Joe Burrow, Garrett and the Rams know what they need to do to get the job done and keep the Lombardi Trophy in Los Angeles.
“I think, and a lot of guys are saying we just got to play within ourselves,” Garrett said. “We have so much talent…If we can play within ourselves and do what we’re capable of doing. If our stars are our stars and our role players are our role players, we’re going to win this game and we all know that.”
