#NFLVideos: Watts Rams adopted by Los Angeles Rams during 10-year milestone

Watts Rams adopted by Los Angeles Rams during 10-year milestone

Whose house I’m sorry whose house left do it right do it left do it right do it left do it right do it left do it right do it left right left right left right left right run it up you see our Lincoln Rams we see our

Watch Rams and you see all the Rams people here that we are not just supporting this game because we love the professional game we love this game because of the opportunity to build young men and build young women as they go out and Inspire change in other

People today at the Inspire change pool the vision was always to bring together South La and East LA through the Watts Rams and the Lincoln Rams and bring them on the field to not only play each other but have that camaraderie and that companionship and for the Los Angeles Rams to be

Present supporting both of our programs when you go to that game and you see a African-American team and a Latino team not just playing against each other but at the end they’re dapping each other up right you grow up with this historic perspective and philosophy that he

Doesn’t look like me I can’t talk to him he doesn’t come from where I come from we have nothing in common but yet to create this space in this environment to have some crucial conversations to talk about and highlight the common ities that’s the beauty of the Watson Lincoln

Ramsy you know I was in high school and I remember that there were riots that happened in high school black and brown riots and you had to either be on one side or the other and you had to protect yourselves to get out of those riots but my best

Friend was a Hispanic dude that lived across the street who we walked to and from school together and I remember having to walk in those riots with my best friend and and my back to his and his back to mine to get out of there and

And and shield each other from being hit I remember that in the community of Watts there’s been so much change as it relates to the makeup of the community in the 80s and 90s the public housing developments in Watts were predominantly black now the public housing developments are predominantly Latino and blacks and

Browns are coexisting in these densely populated communities often times there’s conflict because they don’t understand one another or when resources come in someone’s worried about the black folks getting more than the brown folks and it causes this divide I was once told by a good friend

That watt stands for we are taught to survive and I think that speaks to the challenges of Watts but also the resiliency of Watts my favorite part about playing with the Watts friends is like the of environment is like like all my friends is so like joyful nice in

2013 we had police officers assigned to our community safety partnership program where we placed officers in some of the violent parts of the Watts community and one of our officers said let’s create a football team let’s get kids from the different parts of watts to come

Together and play on one team like a family all the players give out they loved me and all that ever since I joined it’s just like they really family to me like I ain’t never felt this this way like playing football feels good feels like I’m at home just another one

We decided to expand the program after seeing the success in Watts through the Watts Rams program and talking with Chief T we knew there was something special about this youth football program that was Bridging the Divide between communities of color and law enforcement and really the vision all

Along has been to expand and she brought Lincoln Heights to my attention my name is Joe Casada I’ve been in law enforcement now for close to 30 years I was born in boil Heights and I was raised in South La I work in the community of boil Heights and Lincoln

Heights predominantly Hispanic a lot of Rich history in the community high schools that have been there over a hundred years so there’s there’s a lot of Pride it’s a great place it’s a great community when I first got assigned to the community safety partnership the recruitment of gang members was growing

Immensely I started looking at what age they were recruiting which is as young as 13 football helped me that’s what I knew so what better way to run interference than being consistently there building those bridges and developing those relationships with these kids and with their families especially when the kids have buyin on

The sport families tend to follow shortly thereafter we were the Lincoln Heights Tigers before and we should have been called The Bad News Bears it was just quite challenging every season so when the Rams came along it was just a sigh of relief I learned U mainly

Everything I know about football I came here like not knowing how to play football but they taught me everything and uh yeah they just they just teach me like the right way they just help me in a lot of stuff like they help my mom and

Stuff with a lot of stuff they take his places and I just like playing here there is transformational power in the game of football that goes well beyond the wins and losses work ethic discipline teamwork dedication commitment it can all be developed right here on these football fields through

The game of football but these kids are also been exposed to leaders like Mark May who has made Youth Development in our inner city his life’s work and today on behalf of the Rams I am honored to surprise mark as this year’s Los Angeles Rams inspired change change maker to

Further his work and Mission right here in the community Sports is just a little thing we dangle in front of them to say hey come here come here right but it’s so much more other than Sports you know our five pillars that we really really hammer on is academic service life

Skills support and safety is another and health and wellness we talked to them about violence in their Community violence in their family we talked to them about etiquette we focus on the whole child to make them better people individual right that’s African-American to be able to break the barriers with

The Lincoln Rams that’s a powerful thing that we get to do he was a former teacher he’s from the community has lived experience he’s able to really connect with these kids in ways that others can’t and he understands the challenges of the families he has such a

Unique passion for this program I’m so proud to call him our GM this is a generational change he’s the core of this he he keeps this engine running and and without Mark May I don’t know where we would be if you come here it it’s going to be awesome like like you going

You going to love it like you going to grow so often in our underresourced communities especially kids lack that consistency we as an organization have proven to them that it’s not about photo op philanthropy it’s about being present in these kids’ lives on a consistent basis and always showing up for

Them they breathe New Life into that Community the kids took a greater sense of pride in their football team and sense of Pride that they are representing the Lincoln Heights area and now they’re the Rams I enjoy playing here for the coaching staff and it’s more than football you know they help us

Out with school stuff too I see them as my coaches Mentor people I can talk to trusted adults like that I feel like it’s working on somebody I trust and somebody that cares for me to see the kids from one side of town build relationship with kids from the other

Side of town and come together for the love of people and the love of the game has been instrumental in change in our communities on the counter three I want everybody here to say Unity 1 2 3 Unity

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