ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The NFL is investigating allegations that the Miami Dolphins paid its head coach to lose on purpose – also known as tanking – in an effort to get the top draft picks. A prominent sports attorney believes the league should also look into the end of the Los Angeles Rams' stay in St. Louis for alleged tanking.
New York Sports Attorney Dan Lust says the fact that the St. Louis Rams had nine consecutive losing seasons – including the five worst years in NFL history – before winning out west raises some questions. The full argument was laid out on Lust's Conduct Detrimental website:
"In the six years the Rams were in St. Louis under Stan Kroenke, their records were 7-9, 2-14, 7-8-1, 6-10, and 7-9 respectively. This leads to a 29-50-1 record in St. Louis. They failed to make the playoffs under Kroenke’s ownership.
"In Los Angeles, omitting the first season where the Rams fired Jeff Fisher and finished 4-12, the Rams have a 55-26 record in the regular season. In the postseason, the Rams have appeared in two Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl LVI and losing Super Bowl LIII, and have a 7-3 record in the postseason."
Lust says there's no direct proof at this point, however there was some incentive from a business perspective for owner Stan Kroenke.
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"Part of the reason that St. Louis ended up losing the team was because fans weren't supporting the team," Lust says. "That was partially because the team wasn't reallying performing that well on the field."
And there's some evidence that Rams leadership was happy about losing. Most notably was when Rams COO Kevin Demoff said in 2015 when the St. Louis Rams were in the playoff hunt: "Thankfully or not thankfully we went on a four game losing streak in November."
Lust says for the possibility of an investigation to begin, someone would have to come forward with concrete evidence, or congress would have to step in.
There's talk that if allegations that the Miami Dolphins lost on purpose to get the top draft pick are true, owner Stephen Ross could be forced to sell the franchise. Maybe Kroenke should be nervous...
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