Photography by Katherine Bish
Jim Lake has worked for the Rams for the last 29 years. He started in L.A., shagging footballs at practice, and as of four years ago, he became the team’s head equipment manager. Which player has the dirtiest laundry? Only Lake knows, and he’s not telling.
• We handle everything you see on the field, as far as what the players and staff wear: helmets, uniforms, protective padding, shoes, even the slacks and pullovers of the staff and the headsets.
• From Monday to Saturday, we manage the facility at Rams Park in Earth City, as far as the locker room and all the players’ laundry and pads and personal needs. On game day, we move into the stadium seven hours before the game and set the locker room up so everything is ready to go. The only thing they need to bring is their desire to win and their ability. Before the game, the locker room looks like a museum. Jerseys are hanging on pads, undergarments laid out, shoes laid out, lockers nice and clean…
• During the game, we might handle holes in the players’ jerseys, broken helmets or shoulder pads, torn shoelaces—any kind of uniform breakdown. We check everything during the week, so hopefully on Sunday, we get to watch the game as fans. Sometimes, it doesn’t work out that way; sometimes it does.
• Postgame, we load up and take everything back to Rams Park in Earth City. We pretty much move the equivalent of a four-family home every weekend. We fill a 53-foot semi truck to the gills.
• We have three industrial washing machines; each one holds what you could put into four regular home washers. We have four dryers. The machines start around 6 a.m. and won’t stop till 9 or 10 at night. There are just tons of towels from practices.
• People would be amazed by the volume of laundry we do.
• We have three industrial washing machines; each one holds what you could put into four regular home washers. We have four dryers. The machines start around 6 a.m. and won’t stop till 9 or 10 at night.
• Everything is personalized, and every piece of clothing, pad, helmet—everything a player wears—has his name and number on it. We have a computer program that prints out heated labels, and we stick them to the items. It’s like an updated version of what your mom put in your underwear for summer camp.
• How long a uniform lasts depends on the player. For instance, a kicker may have just two jerseys for the season. Then you have a linebacker like Jo-Lonn Dunbar, who is such a hard hitter, he can ruin a jersey in one game.
• Some guys want to wear the same shirt their whole career. Chris Long had this T-shirt under his pads that had so many holes in it, but it was from his college days. He insisted we keep it until it disintegrated in the washing machine. But all the guys are actually pretty low-maintenance and easy to work with, to be honest.
• Sometimes what removes tough stains is just regular elbow grease. We use commercial-grade laundry soaps and detergents, but sometimes it’s just a matter of washing it a couple times.
• We clean the helmet shells with a mineral spirit, and wipe off residue with a microfiber cloth. Helmet paint is close to automobile paint. The horn decal is replaced every week, and shells are repainted twice a year.
• Throwback jerseys are a lot more work, but definitely worth it for our fans. The players love them, too. Everyone loves that reminder of the Greatest Show on Turf. The helmets are exactly the same; we just change the decal.
• This is the only job I’ve ever had. I think people get blown away by the hours and dedication it takes. Sometimes people ask me to meet them somewhere at 8 p.m., and I tell them I can’t—I have another eight hours of work still to go. We do a lot more than just showing up on Sunday.
• I started when I was 13, so I have been working for the Rams for 29 years. I was helping out in training camp shagging footballs, pulling sleds, and then doing laundry and picking up towels, all kinds of gofer stuff. Then I had some internships for eight-month stints during the season. When we relocated to St. Louis, I became the assistant equipment manager. Four years ago, they promoted me to head equipment manager.
• Assigning players jersey numbers happens according to a number of rules. We have some great Rams that have played in the past, and we have a certain number of retired numbers. Also, the league puts out a guideline on numbers according to position: wide receivers are in the 80s or teens, quarterbacks are 1 to 19. Sometimes, a vet comes in the door and wants a certain number. We try to handle that request. The biggest time of the year for dealing with who gets which jersey is the influx after the draft. We have 40 new people. We tell them the numbers available and ask which they’d like. The coach helps with that.
• We go nonstop, seven days a week, from the second week of July hopefully all the way until you’re lifting the Lombardi Trophy. I only get one or two days off during that time. We pride ourselves on giving everything we can, whether it’s a jersey alteration or a shoulder-pad tweak. My staff focuses on all the small details, because anything can add up over time to make a championship football team.
• My favorite story comes from ’99, when we were getting ready to play our first playoff game in the Edward Jones Dome… Isaac Bruce really loved this one pair of ankle bracelets, and he realized not long before the game was going to start that they were still back at Earth City. I rushed out and drove to Rams Park, with the help of some of St. Louis’ finest as an escort. Isaac didn’t even go to workouts for the game; he just sat in the locker room and waited. We got him his ankle bracelets. The first play from scrimmage was a 77-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce.
• Isaac is one of my favorite Rams of all time. My youngest son is named for him. I really admired the way he carried himself on and off the field, as a human being. But I have countless friends and relationships I’ve developed, and that’s the best thing about the job.
