If you are a fan of the Los Angeles Rams, the offseason has been a cross between an unlimited supply of free massages and an endless tube ride at First Point.In other words, it has resembled something close to ecstasy.From the trade for one future first-ballot Hall of Fame defensive lineman to the recent unretirement of another, the Rams didn’t merely cement their status as preseason Super Bowl favorites — they practically sent out a call to start planning a parade route for next February.Only a true cynic could rain on that.And yet, because I also have my finger on the pulse of the NFL’s 31 other fanbases — and because my L.A. roots don’t preclude me from peering beyond the glitz and glamour — I’m going to take it upon myself to try.The reality is, if you’re not a fan of the Rams, you’re probably starting to hate them right about now.To be clear, I’m not saying the Rams deserve your enmity. I’m noting that, over the past seven months, they’ve been a lot.Aaron Donald comes out of retirement to rejoin an 'all-in' RamsNate AtkinsFor some observers, that steady drumbeat toward Super Bowl LXI has become more annoying than Lars Ulrich’s snare on Metallica’s St. Anger album.When we last saw the Rams in a meaningful football context, they were enduring an NFC Championship Game heartbreak in Seattle to the eventual Super Bowl champion Seahawks, with a discarded franchise icon, Cooper Kupp, adding salt to the sting of a season-ending defeat.Shortly thereafter, the Rams started winning … and winning … and winning.The franchise enjoyed a nice moment when quarterback Matthew Stafford, a few days before his 38th birthday, was named the league’s MVP for the first time.During his acceptance speech at the NFL Honors ceremony, Stafford affirmed that he planned to return for an 18th season, telling his four daughters, who were standing beside him onstage, “I can’t wait for you to cheer me on next year when we’re out there kicking ass.”From that moment on, the Rams began attacking the offseason — kicking ass and taking names.In March, L.A. swung a deal with the Kansas City Chiefs to acquire All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, subsequently signing him to a four-year, $124 million contract. Shortly thereafter, another ex-Chiefs cornerback, Jaylen Watson, arrived in free agency via a three-year, $51 million deal.On the first night of April’s draft, armed with the first-round pick they’d acquired from the Atlanta Falcons the previous year, the Rams surprised everyone and took Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson. By selecting a presumptive QB of the future, general manager Les Snead and coach Sean McVay mitigated any angst among the fan base that their “all-in” approach was overly reckless.Then came the bombs: In June, L.A. made a blockbuster trade to acquire Cleveland Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett, coming off his second NFL Defensive Player of the Year award in three seasons. The only thing scarier to opposing offenses than trying to block Garrett: Trying to block him and defensive tackle Aaron Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, who officially came out of retirement on Aug. 30.Five seasons ago, Donald made the game-clinching play in the Rams’ Super Bowl LVI victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, setting off a wild celebration in their home stadium.Guess where Super Bowl LXI will take place in February? Yep, SoFi Stadium.It all seems inevitable, as if Hollywood screenwriters were storyboarding it out over matcha pistachio lattes at Canyon Coffee in Echo Park.In other words, through no fault of their own, the Rams have created the impression that they’ve taken the suspense — and the fun — out of the 2026 season.It won’t be that easy, of course, but that hasn’t stopped skeptics from subjecting the Rams to the scrutiny that typically accompanies preordained “superteams.”This includes judging the behavior of the typically likable McVay, whose draft-night demeanor after selecting Simpson (both in a phone call informing the quarterback of the selection and in a news conference later that night) resembled that of a man in a hostage video.The coach later explained that he was grumpy for reasons unrelated to the pick, conveying to analyst Chris Simms that a “heated argument about another topic” had preceded the news conference. Various conspiracy theories nonetheless persisted.In recent weeks, McVay was weirdly cryptic about the Rams’ travel plans for their season-opening game against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne, Australia, which will air Thursday night in the U.S. The Rams apparently believe there’s a strategic advantage in sandwiching a pair of long flights (16 hours on the way there, 14 ½ on the return) around a visit to the continent lasting a day and change, which sounds like a buzzkill, but that’s their call.Declining to reveal their actual itinerary, as McVay did on multiple occasions before finally discussing it this week? That comes off as silly.Speaking of which, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky, Stafford’s former backup with the Detroit Lions, recently said on “Get Up” that if the Rams win another Super Bowl, Stafford enters the conversation as a “top five, top seven” quarterback in NFL history.With no disrespect to Stafford, who has had a very good career, this is a bit like a former Linkin Park roadie proclaiming that if the band were to come out with another hit album, they’d be considered one of the five best.One superlative that the 2026 Rams can rightfully claim: Most team captains ever. Like Spinal Tap, they go to 11, meaning more than a fifth of their active roster will wear jerseys adorned with a “C.”Somehow, in a division that includes the San Francisco 49ers (Brandon Aiyuk drama, electrical substation intrigue, Kyle Shanahan car accident, Jed York arrest, player-impersonator scandal) and the Seahawks (featured weekly on HBO’s “Hard Knocks”), the Rams are the team some people are sick of hearing about. That’s hard to believe, but it is what it is.None of this is that serious, but the truth is, Rams haters existed even before this ostentatious offseason. Because of the organization’s aggressive approach to player acquisition and salary-cap manipulation — exemplified by the “F Them Picks” mantra bestowed upon and embraced by Snead — a hearty chorus of naysayers perpetually moans that the Rams will eventually crash out and pay a steep price for their alleged sins.Not long after arriving in L.A., Myles Garrett throws out the first pitch for one of the town’s other superteams. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea / Getty Images)Further, the trade for Garrett fits right into the larger narrative surrounding L.A.’s professional sports teams and their propensity for landing superstars seemingly at will, sometimes at relatively minimal cost.Sharing a sports town with the Shohei Ohtani-led Dodgers (coming off back-to-back World Series wins) and the Luka Dončić-gifted Lakers does the Rams no favors when their detractors cast them as entitled.Some might say the rich get richer. Last week, we learned that an underperforming L.A. franchise — Major League Baseball’s Angels — were being sold by owner Arte Moreno for $4 billion.The buyer? Rams owner Stan Kroenke, naturally. Expect an announcement any day that the Rams are bringing in Mike Trout as a fantasy football consultant.It’s Kroenke’s sports world, and the rest of us live in it. He now owns teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA (Denver Nuggets), NHL (Colorado Avalanche), MLS (Colorado Rapids) and the English Premier League (Arsenal).Kroenke doesn’t own L.A., but if he entered the mayor’s race as a write-in candidate, incumbent Karen Bass and challenger Nithya Raman might be sweating come November.It seems likely that the winner of that election might be tasked with parade-planning as one of her first official duties. In the meantime, the Rams and their fans are enjoying the ride — even if they’re the only ones who see it that way.