Todd Gurley Blames Los Angeles Traffic for Rams' Low Attendance

Todd Gurley's reason for the Rams' poor attendance makes a decent amount of sense.

Rams running back Todd Gurley has an interesting theory behind why attendance has been so bad for Los Angeles football games this year.

"Definitely a basketball town," the third-year back said during an appearance on SI Now. "Hasn't been football over here in 20 years. So you just can't expect someone to just start coming to football games all the time. And I heard the traffic for football games is probably the worst, so I'm pretty sure why people don't come to the games as well."

The Rams are 27th in the league in average attendance this year, and the Chargers are dead last, so there definitely is a trend when it comes to people in Los Angeles coming to NFL games. Last season the Rams were second to last in the league in attendance, with only the Raiders brining in fewer fans each game.

It has become common to see pictures of empty seats at Memorial Coliseum or StubHub Stadium on Sundays, but Gurley said the players have no issue playing in front of so few home fans.

• How Do Los Angeles Fans Really Feel About the Rams' Return to California?

"At the end of the day, it is what it is," Gurley said. "We don't play the game for fans to show up. At the end of the day, we have to go out there and play a game. If they show up, they show up, if they don't they don't. Obviously we would love to have the stadium filled every week for sure, and that's the goal for us: To just keep winning. You have to win in order for fans to show up or want to come to a game. We understand that and want to just keep winning so we can get LA fans to come to the games."

The Rams have already surpassed last season's win total, but if the traffic for Rams games is anything similar to what it was like after Game 1 of the World Series, it makes a lot of sense for people to decide to stay home, no matter how good the team is.

The traffic leaving Dodger Stadium after Game 1 has to be seen to be believed. pic.twitter.com/lDAtiDjiY4

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 25, 2017

The 5-2 Rams are on the road to take on the Giants this week, but will be back in Los Angeles for a Nov. 12 matchup with the Texans.