Every NFL team gets booed. Most of the time, those boos come on the road in enemy territory. But even some home games can feel like an away game when opposing fans take over the stadium.
49ers fans are known for invading SoFi Stadium when the Rams host their division rivals in Inglewood, which is something Puka Nacua was not prepared for in his first taste of Rams-49ers as a rookie in 2023.
During the Rams’ home opener against the 49ers that year, Nacua vividly remembers seeing a sea of red in the lower sections of SoFi Stadium and being booed during player introductions – something that caught him completely off guard.
“And when you come out to the pregame, everyone’s wearing red,” Nacua told Julian Edelman on his “Games With Names” show. “Like, the lower bowl is already filled up and everybody in the stadium’s wearing red. I’m like, ‘Yo, this is supposed to be our first home game.’ And everybody’s like, ‘Get used to it. When we play the Niners, everybody shows up wearing red.’ Just a sea of red. It was crazy. Come out and do the intros and it’s like, ‘Are people cheering or is everybody booing?’ It’s just random noise and like, ‘Boooo.’ I’m like, ‘What the heck? It doesn’t feel right.’ Because in high school, in college at BYU home games, you go to some crazy stadiums, but this is our home field. Everybody is wearing the opposite color of what we’re supposed to be wearing. But the intro, I remember, took me for a whirlwind of being like, ‘Yo, they just called my name and we just got booed.’ Our whole intro, everybody got booed. ‘This can’t be real, right?’”
Nacua was just a rookie coming off a historic first game against the Seahawks, riding high after a season-opening win. He didn’t expect to be booed at his first home game, which is understandable.
But that’s what makes the Rams-49ers rivalry different, which he realizes now.
