Former Rams All-Pro Talks First Meeting With Sean McVay

WOODLAND HILLS, Ca. When former Los Angeles Rams offensive lineman Rodger Saffold III was drafted by the organization back in 2010, there was zero indication that his career would go the way it did. For starters, Safford had no way of knowing that when he was drafted to a team located in St. Louis, he would depart from them while in Southern California.

Another thing he could have never expected is that he would become an important piece, linking up with Andrew Whitworth to put forward one of the most explosive offenses in the modern NFL. After wrapping up a phenomenal career in which he spent nine years with the Rams, Safford spoke on his final years with the organization, mentioning his first time meeting the man who would change his career.

Safford Talks McVay

In 2017, the Rams would hire Sean McVay to be their head coach and he immediately turned around the organization. For Safford, he career would find stability under McVay. After moving around on the offensive line for the early part of his career, McVay would keep Safford at left guard, making it the first time Safford played a consecutive year at the position and he would be named a Second-Tear All-Pro.

Sep 8, 2022; Inglewood, California, USA; Buffalo Bills guard Rodger Saffold (76) entire the field in the game against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Recently, Safford spoke on the first time he met McVay, expressing his amazement at McVay's ability to relate to players along with his overall knowledge of the game.

"Well, first of all, he comes in and they're like, yeah, he's 31, I'm like, he's like, a year and a half older than me," joked Safford. "I was like, so my older brother's coming in here to coach the team. Gotcha, alright? But then it was our first it was our first team meeting, and you're listening to this guy go on, and he's like, talking about all of us like he's been coming to the family reunion at the barbecue for like, 10 years, like he knows all of us, Todd Gurley's running, Roger's blocking, and he's calling everything out and I'm like, this dude is impressive."

Nov 9, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay walks onto the field prior to the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images | Cary Edmondson-Imagn Images

"Then you get started to get to those offensive meetings, and you're like, oh, whoa. This guy might be a genius. And then after that, we just continued to take off. That belief in him shot up, and then we all wanted to play hard for him. We started looking around at our roster, and we're like, wow, we got some players on this team. We said, all we have to do is just continue to grind and continue to play with that that belief and that tenacity that we already had before, and we did that.

Safford, who left the team after the 2018 season, won two NFC West titles and an NFC Championship to wrap up his career with the organization.

Over the two years McVay and Safford worked with each other, Safford was one of 11 total All-Pro selections.

Never again miss one major story related to your beloved Rams when you sign up for our 100% FREE newsletter that comes straight to your email with the latest news. SIGN UP HERE NOW.

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @RamsInsideronSI and @BrockVierra.Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE