“Let’s Ram It!” (1985)
Oh, “The Super Bowl Shuffle”—what hath thou wrought?
Firstly, congratulations to the L.A. Rams for winning the Super Bowl last night. That’s really neat for them and I hope everyone had a good time playing the game.
But we’re looking further into the past than just last night. No, gentle reader, we’re traveling all the way back to an era clouded in mystery and superstition: 1985. After “The Super Bowl Shuffle” incredulously, impossibly became a musical hit for the Chicago Bears, sports teams everywhere tried to create their own rallying team single. They all involved terrible hooks, players introducing themselves by name and their role on the team, and some music video with very stilted choreography. That last part is fascinating as these are athletes trained in executing specific physical moves. But I digress…
It wasn’t just NFL teams that jumped on the improbable “Shuffle” bandwagon—the Houston Rockets got in on it, Boston College’s hockey team, Minnesota Twins, Calgary Flames…from 1985 to 1987, the world was lousy with these ripoffs (I believe a few soccer teams did it as well in the UK and the results are possibly even worse somehow?). The current reigning champions, the Los Angeles Rams (before they moved to St. Louis and before they then moved back to L.A.), released their own team anthem called “Let’s Ram It.”
Let’s. Ram. It.
Even in 1985, I gotta believe people heard that song and were like “…this is pretty fucked up right here.” The title alone is questionable, but paired with the lyrics, well, here’s the chorus:
Ram it. If you know how to Ram it, just Ram it
We know how to Ram it
We’ll be rocking L.A., so let’s Ram it today. Just Ram it
We’re going to Ram it. Just Ram it. Everybody Ram it
We’ll be rocking L.A., so let’s Ram it today. Just Ram it
Ram it
If you want more of the lyrics, Los Angeles Magazine has you covered from when they ran a story on this the last time the Rams went to the Super Bowl in 2019. Also, for Yahoo Sports, Frank Schwab delightfully composed an oral history of the conception, execution, and reception of “Let’s Ram It”.
Found Footage Fest used to show a bunch of these team songs as, again, there was plethora of these things. Many were sold on VHS to superfans who simply couldn’t get enough of listening to defensive end Gary Jeter rap “They call me Jeter,/nobody dresses sweeter/But under this cool is a quarterback mistreater”.
So enjoy this video uploaded by Found Footage Fest and please—ram it responsibly.