INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Thursday night marked two major milestones for Rams head coach Sean McVay.
Personally, it was his son Jordan's first birthday. Professionally, he became the winningest head coach (regular season and playoffs) in Rams franchise history with the team's 30-20 Week 8 win over the Vikings at SoFi Stadium.
The victory marked McVay's 80th overall, passing John Robinson (79). McVay accomplished the feat in one fewer season than Robinson, who needed nine to become the winningest head coach in team history.
Per ESPN Research, the 38-year-old McVay became the second man since the 1970 merger to be the winningest coach of a franchise before turning 40, joining John Madden, who became the Raiders' all-time wins leader at age 36 in 1972.
McVay initially tossed a game ball to quarterback Matthew Stafford postgame after Stafford passed Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino for ninth on the NFL's all-time career completions list, only for Stafford to toss the ball back to him to recognize his achievement.
"I think that was a really cool thing for Matthew," McVay said Friday. "It shows how selfless he is. I mean, here's a guy that you're etching yourself in the all time books in completions, surpassing Hall-of-Famer Dan Marino, to be able to flip that around. But you guys have heard me say it was incredibly special, because you talk about real perspective, having a son, and what he's done, and what he's meant to me and my wife, Veronika, and just some of the different things that he's provided where you're just growing as a human, but for that to occur was really special. And it's such a credit to the players, coaches. Football is the greatest team sport that there is. I'm sure proud to be a part of that. And it was definitely a special night. And that was really cool of Matthew, I appreciated that."
