30 luckiest sports franchises

24. St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams

Outside of running into the buzzsaw that was the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XXXVI, the St. Louis Rams had an incredible stretch in the early part of the century that earned them the nickname “The Greatest Show on Turf.” All it took was landing a true needle in a haystack, when they signed Kurt Warner.

Most teams find success, or luck in this conversation, in the NFL Draft, with gems falling into their lap. However, some of the best stars are found outside of the draft, and aren’t even considered in the seven rounds and 253 selections that go on throughout the huge event each year. In this case, it happened well after the draft that Warner entered, and it worked out perfectly for the Rams.

Warner went undrafted in 1994, and originally signed with the Green Bay Packers. When nothing came from that, it didn’t look like anything was going to happen for Warner’s NFL career. He played arena football, and didn’t even get a chance immediately with the Rams when he was signed in 1997.

For the Rams, they were lucky to have the Cleveland Browns pass on Warner in the 1999 Expansion Draft, and the Browns chose no Rams in that entire process. Luckily for the Rams, they had Warner stick around, and he stepped in huge for the team when Trent Green went down with an ACL injury in the 1999 season. He won the league’s MVP award, and led the team to a Super Bowl appearance against the Tennessee Titans.

As if the Rams weren’t lucky enough, the Titans came up just one yard short from a potential game-tying touchdown with time expiring in the game, and gave the Rams their lone title in franchise history. All because the team remained lucky throughout their entire time dealing with Warner towards the beginning of his career.