LOS ANGELES RAMS TO HOST MINNESOTA VIKINGS FOR THURSDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL ON SEPTEMBER 27 Throwback Thursday: Rams to Wear Throwback Uniforms & Fans to Receive Throwback Rally Towels Actress & Singer Vanessa Hudgens to Perform National Anthem Compton-Native & Rapper YG to Perform During Second Quarter Tickets Available at TheRams.com/Tickets The Los Angeles Rams will host the Minnesota Vikings for Thursday Night Football on September 27 at 5:00 PM PT at the LA Memorial Coliseum. The Week Four matchup will be broadcast nationally on FOX & NFL Network, as well as on radio in English on ESPN LA 710 AM and in Spanish on ESPN Deportes/KWKW 1330 AM. Rams Throwback Rally Towels will be distributed to fans at all gates, which open at 3:30 PM PT, with select gates (1 and 28) opening at 2:30 PM PT for fans who wish to visit the Corona Beach House or Rams Party Zone spaces located on the Peristyle end of the stadium that feature concessions and shade open to all ticketholders. These select areas will feature happy hour beer specials from 2:30-4:30PM with prices starting at $5. The Thursday Night Football showdown will mark the first time the Rams will wear their throwback uniforms in 2018, which also will be worn for subsequent home games at the Coliseum this season. The Rams throwback uniforms feature royal blue jerseys with yellow accents, yellow pants with blue and white stripes, and blue helmets with yellow horns worn by the team from 1973 through the 1999 season that culminated with a win in Super Bowl XXXIV. In addition, the Coliseum Peristyle will light up royal blue and yellow to celebrate the return of the throwback uniforms. For information about tickets to Rams games, including flex plans, group tickets and single game tickets, visit therams.com/tickets. Below are some of the features in this week’s game. For more information about the Rams gameday experience, please visit therams.com/gameday or the Rams Mobile App. ACTRESS & SINGER VANESSA HUDGENS TO PERFORM NATIONAL ANTHEM California native, actress and singer VANESSA HUDGENS will sing the National Anthem. Born in Salinas, California, Hudgens had an early love of show business that drove her to perform in local musical productions at the age of 8. In 2006, she landed the lead role in Disney’s popular film series High School Musical. Hudgens later took on roles in Bandslam (2009), Sucker Punch (2011), Spring Breakers (2013), and starred as Gigi on Broadway (2015) and as Rizzo in Grease Live! (2016). She also served as a judge on the 14 seasons of So You Think You Can Dance. This year, Hudgens will be starring in the film Second Act featuring Jennifer Lopez. The AMERICAN LEGION AUXILIARY JACKIE ROBINSON UNIT will present the colors. The American Legion Auxiliary Jackie Robinson Unit is a women’s organization that has worked to assist veterans and their families for over 30 years. The 12-member group has won many awards throughout the years as they continue to participate in parades, civic ceremonies and Legion Family installations. The 146TH AIRLIFT WING out of Port Hueneme will partake in a C-130 flyover following the National Anthem. MORNINGSIDE HIGH SCHOOL & OAKS CHRISTAIN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT-ATHLETES TO STAND WITH TEAMS ON FIELD DURING NATIONAL ANTHEM Players on the Oaks Christian and Morningside High School varsity football teams, who participated in an interactive leadership program developed by RISE (Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality) in partnership with the Rams, will stand with the teams on the field during the performance of the National Anthem. The Los Angeles Rams have teamed up with the Ross Initiative in Sports for Equality (RISE) to launch a season-long leadership program featuring Morningside High School in Inglewood and Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village. The collaboration is designed to build relationships between two Los Angeles area high school football teams with a cross-section of races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and to build leadership, understanding, acceptance and cultural competency for student-athletes and coaches. FEARSOME FOURSOME LEGEND & LOCAL HS FOOTBALL PLAYERS TO LIGHT THE TORCH Rams Legend and Fearsome Foursome member ROSEY GRIER will be joined by the Rams 7-on-7 Passing and Big Man Champions to light the Coliseum Torch prior to kickoff. As a member of the Los Angeles Rams’ “Fearsome Foursome” in the 1960s, Grier played alongside star players such as Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen and Lamar Lundy. Upon retirement in 1967, he served as a body guard for Robert F. Kennedy, who at the time held the position of U.S. Senator. Grier also made a handful of TV appearances in hit shows such as Make Room for Daddy (1953-1964), The Man from U.N.C.L.E (1964-68), The Wild West (1965-69) and had a starring role in the series Daniel Boone in 1969. Representatives from Arcadia High School, winners of the 7-on-7 Passing Tournament, and varsity football players and coaches from Cathedral High School, the Big Man Championship winners, will join Rosey Grier in the lighting of the torch ceremony. In June, the Los Angeles Rams hosted a 7-on-7 Passing & Big Man Championship for 34 High School Varsity football programs across the Southern California region. The event consisted of pool play games, tournaments, skill stations and competitions. Rams alumni and team representatives made appearances throughout the event to support the local high school teams and to provide tips and instructions to participants. Each championship-winning program received a trophy presented by a member of the Rams organization. Footage from this year’s 7-on-7 Passing & Big Man Championships can be viewed here. CEDARS-SINAI TEEN VOLUNTEER & ACTRESS-SINGER VANESSA HUDGENS TO JOIN CAPTAINS FOR COIN TOSS Cancer-survivor and teen volunteer at Cedars-Sinai Hospital BEN PEARSON and actress-singer Vanessa Hudgens will join the captains at midfield to participate in the game’s opening coin toss. At the age of 6, Pearson was diagnosed with acute lymphocytic leukemia. After three years of treatment at Cedars- Sinai, he was in remission and had developed a strong interest in medicine. Once he was old enough to volunteer, Pearson came back to Cedars-Sinai to help patients and he currently plans to be a surgical oncologist. COMPTON-NATIVE & RAPPER YG TO PERFORM DURING THE SECOND QUARTER Def Jam Recordings & Multi-platinum Rapper YG will perform his new track “Take-Off” in the end zone during a commercial timeout in the second quarter. The new track was created as a tribute to his hometown NFL team. A native of Compton, California, YG achieved Top 100 status with Multi-platinum singles “My Hitta” and “Who Do U Love”. He affirmed his commercial appeal with albums such as My Krazy Life (2014) and Still Brazy (2016). YG also has been featured in various artist’s songs, working closely with Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Meek Mill and more. His new album Stay Dangerous was released on August 3rd and features premiere track “Big Bank” in collaboration with 2 Chainz, Big Sean & Nicki Minaj. YG also recently starred in the film White Boy Rick (2018), co-starring Matthew McConaughey. ACADEMIC CHALLENGE PARTICIPANT TO SERVE AS RAMS COMMUNITY WATER BOY An Academic Challenge participant from South East High School will serve as the Rams Community Water Boy of the game. This year’s Academic Challenge features six Los Angeles Unified School District varsity high school football programs from Gardena High School, Grant High School, Hamilton High School, Lincoln High School, South East High School and Venice High School. Each varsity program submitted their team’s cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA) at the beginning of the fall semester in August and participated in character development sessions, financial literacy workshops, and professional etiquette training. At the end of the Fall semester, the six teams will re-submit their cumulative GPAs and the program(s) that recorded the highest cumulative GPA and the most improved GPA for the semester will be named the winner(s) of the Rams 2018 Academic Challenge. The winning high school team(s) will receive a $2,500 Equipment Grant to support their football program. Footage from an all-school assembly announcing last year’s Academic Challenge winners can be viewed here. As part of the Rams Community Water Boy program, a student from each high school participating in the team’s Academic Challenge will serve as a water boy on the sideline for an entire game. Selected students are those who are showing continuous and consistent improvement in the classroom and who are serving as stewards in their community. RAMS LEGEND NOLAN CROMWELL TO SERVE AS ALUMNUS OF THE GAME Four-time Pro Bowl Defensive Back NOLAN CROMWELL will be honored during the first timeout of the second quarter. In his 11-year career with the Los Angeles Rams, Cromwell was named to four consecutive Pro Bowls (1980-83) and was a consensus 1st team All-Pro in three of those seasons. Upon retirement, he held a team record with 671 return yards on 37 interceptions, four of which were returned for touchdowns. He was later named to the second team of the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1980s. After retiring as a player, Cromwell served as a Wide Receivers Coach for the Rams from 2010-11. RAMS TO SALUTE 29-YEAR NAVY VETERAN During the first quarter of Sunday’s game, the Rams will recognize JEFFERY D. PERSIANI, who served in the United States Navy for 29-years. Since he reported for Naval Boot Camp at RTC San Diego in January of 1989, Persiani has dedicated himself to a life of service.