Dick Vermeil doled out bear hugs by the dozens. Georgia Frontiere wrote a special poem.
The occasion? The St. Louis Rams capped their unlikely rise from NFC West doormats to division champions.
“I came here thinking we could get it done,” said an emotional Vermeil, hired by the Rams in 1997 after a 14-year coaching hiatus.
Frontiere, the team owner who took a chance on Vermeil, went to the locker room after the game to give him a poem she wrote especially for the occasion.
“Except for my children and my grandchildren, this is my life,” she said. “I knew that if he had enough time, he could handle it.”
Kurt Warner threw for 351 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair to Az-Zahir Hakim. He has 32 touchdown passes, breaking by one the team record set by Jim Everett in 1988.
“The records are nice,” Warner said, “but we want something that can never be taken away from us. We want that little ring.”
The Rams’ defense had shut out its last three opponents in the second half, but Carolina (5-7) scored 14 points to make it close before Dre’ Bly’s 56-yard interception return put St. Louis up by 10 with 9:48 left.
