With only one chance to make a good first impression, the Rams unknowingly did so in 1965 in the eyes of a six-year-old Midwestern boy named Mel Owens.
And it'd pay off 16 years later when they chose him in the first round of the 1981 NFL Draft.
"I loved it because the Rams were my favorite team growing up as a kid. It was unbelievable. Just unbelievable," Owens said. "The Rams always had the afternoon game, right? And that game was at four. In the winter, it got dark early and so you'd typically be inside. (And watching their games played in Los Angeles), all of a sudden, it'd be sunny and warm with palm trees and green grass. I loved the Rams and I loved Deacon Jones.
"They had just cut Hacksaw Reynolds and I think Bob Brudzinski, they traded him to Miami, so they were down a couple linebackers. And if you recall, they traded with Washington from (pick No.) 20 to 9, and drafted me."
Reynolds and Brudzinski were gone, but Owens was still joining a team with veteran linebackers in Jim Youngblood, Carl Ekern, and Joe Harris. While their presence would reduce the rookie's playing time, he still appreciated the advantage of having them as teammates.
"Those guys had great experience, and all I had to do was sit back, watch, listen, and learn," Owens said. "I remember Carl Ekern actually teaching me how to watch film. The technique and precision of how to watch film. And I knew eventually I'd get my chance somehow, someway."
That chance came the following year in Week 15 of the strike-shortened season when Owens made his first start, at left linebacker against the Raiders in the Coliseum.
"Jim Youngblood got hurt and I played, and Carl Eken told me, 'It was great because we didn't miss a beat with you in there,'" Owens said. "I think we lost [37-31], but I had a good game and that gave me energy and confidence I could play in the league."
When John Robinson and a new coaching staff took over in 1983, so did Owens. Becoming a mainstay as a first-string outside linebacker in L.A.'s 3-4 defense, he'd start 46 consecutive games, miss one, and then start the next 31.
And after collecting his first interception off of Danny White in the 1983 Wild Card Playoff loss to Dallas, in 1985, Owens' nose for the ball turned to sniffing out quarterbacks when he posted what would be a career-high nine sacks, even though he didn't feel that part of the game was necessarily his strong point.
"I really wasn't a rush linebacker," Owens said. "I was a cover guy. I'd either drop off or I played nickel, too. I played all the downs, plus special teams. I was athletic and had speed, so I could cover tight ends. And they could play different defenses with me. I liked covering because it gave the team the opportunity to do more things up front."
Twice during Owens' time with the team, the Rams were one game away from playing in the Super Bowl. During the 1985 season, they lost to Chicago in the NFC Championship Game. Four years later, they fell to San Francisco in the conference title game. Ever wonder what if?
"Well, I know what if? If we would have beat those teams, we would have won the Super Bowl as well, because those teams, the Bears and the 49ers, went on to win the Super Bowl," Owens said. "And in my mind, we were better than the AFC teams that we would have played.
"You can play the what if game all you want. We didn't win. But if we did win and went to the Super Bowl, we probably would have won those two."
Playing with the Rams for nine seasons, Owens' fondest memory occurred on Day One, when he was drafted out of Michigan.
"It was like a dream come true," he said. "But then all the friends I made and all the experiences I had because I played, and what playing in Los Angeles with the Rams afforded me, words can't explain.
"I try to tell people that this is like something that you can only dream up, and then it happens to you. So I don't take any of that lightly. I truly appreciate it. I'm grateful for all of it. All those experiences with the players are so unique and to be treasured. Those are things that I'll always remember."
Following football, Owens acquired a Series 7 license and was a financial advisor for three years with Merrill Lynch. But that wasn't really doing it for him. And so he decided to become a lawyer, and earned his Juris Doctorate at the University of California at San Francisco – Hastings School of Law.
"After I graduated from law school, I went down to Brazil and was helping my friend start his business, a sports management company with soccer," Owens said. "And when I came back in 2000, I worked for the first XFL, for the San Francisco Demons (as the Director of Football Operations), and that shut down after a year and a half."
Following football for a second time, Owens would concentrate on law, specifically workers' compensation cases for professional sports-related injuries.
"It was really fortuitous because I went to a sports lawyers conference in Phoenix and saw the attorney that did my case with workers' comp," Owens said. "I pitched him for a job and he said, 'No.' But the guy that was next to him, worked for the insurance companies that he opposed, he heard my story and hired me.
"So it was just really by chance that I got into it. Even though I was trying to work on a player's side at the beginning, the insurance side hired me first."
A founding partner of NBO Law in 2006, Owens specializes in representing professional athletes regarding injuries, disability benefits, and workers' compensation. And when he sees he has made a difference in a client's life…
"Oh, it's the best because these guys are my friends and my peers, my contemporaries. I'm just like them," Owens said. "When I'm working on their case, it's like working on my case. So it makes me feel good and proud and the fact that I can do something for them."
As a linebacker, Owens has been on the line of scrimmage and faced men who were trying to get past him and into the end zone.
As a lawyer, he has been in courtrooms and faced judges who would decide the fate of his clients.
And now as the star of ABC's The Golden Bachelor, which makes its season premiere on September 24, Owens, 66, will be facing 23 women aged 58 to 77, who are all vying for his attention in hopes that they'll get married and live happily ever after.
"A friend of mine called and said he had a friend that was looking for somebody for The Bachelor series," Owens said. "I didn't really know too much about it and how it worked. I've seen The Bachelor, obviously, but not about the casting work. So I didn't call and he kept on bugging me and saying, 'You've got to call her!' So I called.
"And then from there, one thing led to another and I kept getting interviewed. You have to go through the process of casting and see if you're the right person. They have to know your background and those types of things.
"Then finally, I was casted. So it wasn't something that I signed up for, or a friend of mine or my son did. It was something that came to me through another channel."
Did the thought of being on ABC channels across the country and sharing his life with millions of strangers ever cause Owens to be a little apprehensive?
"Well, anybody can just Google me, right? I've led a pretty interesting life, in my opinion. I've done a lot of different things and I've always been up to doing new things," Owens said. "I was recently divorced and wanted to see if I could find someone that was compatible with me because I hadn't dated in a while.
"My sons, Lucas and Andre, they're older now. They're more independent, driving, and in college and high school. So it was something that I wanted to explore. I came in with an open mind and an open heart to see what would happen. And I'm looking for someone that I can spend my life with."
