Uni Watch » Uni Watch Profiles: Todd Hewitt
As many of you know, the Rams fired longtime equipment manager Todd Hewitt
back in January. Today we have an extensive interview with him, but it wasn’t conducted by me. It was done by football historian Robert Harvell, whose photo archives have been featured here on the site
many times.
Robert interviewed Todd last month, and the resulting transcript was recently posted over on Helmet Hut. But Robert and Helmet Hut honcho Curtis Worrell both felt that the interview deserved to be published here at Uni Watch as well. After reading it, I wholeheartedly agreed.
As you’ll see, the interview has nothing to do with Todd’s firing. That’s another topic for another day. This is all about the work he did with the Rams, the team’s uniform history, and so on. It’s really good stuff — enjoy.
Robert Harvell: Todd, when did you start working for the Rams?
Todd Hewitt: Well, my dad was hired by the Rams in 1967. I was 11 years old at the time and helped out in the locker room and was a ball boy. In 1978, I was officially hired by the Rams as Assistant Equipment Manager and continued to work with my dad until his retirement in 1984. In 1985, I took over as Rams Equipment Manager, although my dad remained with the team as Equipment Manager Emeritus through 1994, the Rams’ final year in Los Angeles. In 1995, the Rams relocated to St. Louis. My dad joined us there for one final year. So all told, I was with the Rams for 44 years and have worked under 14 different Rams head coaches! Funny, I still remember when the Packers came to town in 1967, my first year with the team. I walked down the Coliseum tunnel flanked by Vince Lombardi and Bart Starr!
RH: How many hours per week would you put in once camp began?
TH: Let’s put it this way: Once camp started I definitely spent more time at work than at home. In at 5am, leave at 7pm, seven days a week. The only day I’d take off during the season is the Sunday of the bye week. The players’ day off was a treat, because I’d “only” work from 5am to 4:30pm. But I made up for that on game day, especially when we returned from road games, often working very late. It wasn’t unusual for me to spend the night at work after road games. During the off-season I typically worked five days a week, from 6am to 4:30pm.
RH: Like most teams, the Rams have changed their uniform color schemes over the years. Do you have a favorite?
TH: Honestly, I like them all. For sentimental reasons, I really like the blue and white. But I would have to say that my favorite color scheme was what we wore from 1973-1999, the blue and yellow, what we wore when we won the Super Bowl. In fact, when we wore those colors again for a throwback game, I realized just how much I missed them, they were just so vibrant. I really like the current uniforms as well, but they are so much darker than what we wore before....
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