The wife of a Rams veteran begged supporters not to sell their tickets to opposing fans after 49ers faithful swarmed SoFi
- The Los Angeles Rams are headed to the NFC Championship game.
- They'll host the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium, where they've had attendance woes all season.
The Los Angeles Rams are headed to the NFC Championship game.
After taking down Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-27 in Sunday afternoon's thriller, the Rams will head back to Los Angeles and prepare to host the San Francisco 49ers at SoFi Stadium.
And while home-field advantage would be a coveted asset for most teams seeking to punch their ticket to the Super Bowl, the Rams' return to their home stadium may feel just as hostile as an away game.
Los Angeles has struggled to draw home fans to SoFi Stadium throughout the season, but visiting teams have consistently boasted a significant turnout at the brand-new venue. Now, the threat of a 49ers-friendly crowd at SoFi Stadium next Sunday is so real, the wife of one Rams veteran is publicly begging fans to avoid selling their tickets to San Francisco supporters.
On Twitter Sunday night, Melissa Whitworth — who is married to Los Angeles offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth — offered to buy Rams fans' tickets herself if it meant they wouldn't fall into the hands of the 49ers faithful.
"If you @RamsNFL fans want to sell your tickets - I'll buy them," Whitworth wrote. "Just DO NOT sell them to the other team PLEASE!"
After a 49ers fan responded to the post that it "sounds like they're worried," Whitworth confirmed that she is.
"I am worried," she wrote in a follow-up tweet. "Wouldn't you be?"
"I've been around a LONG time and know how hard these games can be," she added.
Whitworth may be the lastest Rams spouse to voice concern about fan turnout, but she isn't the first. Just a week earlier, Kelly Stafford — the wife of Los Angeles quarterback Matt Stafford — made a similar request of Rams fans.
Ahead of Los Angeles' Wild Card matchup against the Arizona Cardinals, Stafford wrote on Instagram "My plea. Please don't sell you tickets to Arizona fans."
The "plea" came after the Rams struggled in their last game of the regular season — a home matchup against San Francisco — because 49ers fans came in droves. They were so raucous, Stafford said, that her husband's teammates couldn't hear his play calls.
"It was crazy," Stafford said. "I've never seen anything like that."
The Rams are taking a proactive approach to keeping Niners fans out of SoFi Stadium for Sunday's contest, according to Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams.
"Public sales to the (NFC Championship) game at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA will be restricted to residents of the Greater Los Angeles region," Ticketmaster, the NFL's ticketing site, posted. "Residency will be based on credit card billing address at checkout."
"Sales to other areas will be canceled without notice and refunded," the post continues.
It's unclear whether Ticketmaster's move will be enough to keep Niners fans from finding their way into SoFi. But the Rams will take whatever measures they can to secure the true home-field advantage they rightfully earned.