Rams Owner Stan Kroenke Says He'd Rather Leave St. Louis Than 'Sit There And Be A Victim'

The St. Louis Rams are now the Los Angeles Rams again, after the NFL approved team owner Stan Kroenke's proposal to relocate for the 2016 season.

Kroenke sat down with the Los Angeles Times on Wednesday to discuss the move, which he set up by telling NFL owners that any team that remained in St. Louis would "be well on the road to financial ruin."

When the Times asked him if he had a hard time deciding whether to leave the city, Kroenke said he had no choice, lest he become a "victim."

"It truly is bittersweet," Kroenke said. "I grew up in Missouri, and there's a lot of wonderful people in St. Louis and Missouri. I'll always feel that way about Missouri. I never dreamed I'd be put in this position. But at the same time, you're not going to sit there and be a victim."

The St. Louis NFL Stadium Task Force, a creation of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D), offered to spend more than $470 million in taxpayer money to build Kroenke and the Rams a new stadium.

State and local taxpayers still owe roughly $100 million on the stadium the Rams are leaving behind.

H/T Erik Malinowski

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