LA Rams head coach Sean McVay spent some time during the May 2020 lockdown getting to know Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta.
The Rams, owned by Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke, held their nerve to produce a late game-winning drive and claim a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl 56.
Arteta famously shared a two-hour video call with McVay in which the two swapped ideas and discussed different aspects of management.
The Spaniard was said to be particularly interested in how NFL teams train in units, while McVay listened to Arteta's advice on a range of topics including team discipline and training drills.
“Arteta is really an impressive guy," said McVay at the time.
“I think he’ll do a great job, and I'm certainly a fan of Arsenal and love following them, just through those relationships, through the Kroenke family.
“But it was more than anything a chance for us to connect, kind of share some ideas.”
McVay, 36, is the youngest head coach to win the Super Bowl and fans on Twitter have joked that Arteta deserves 'credit' for the advice he gave the coach in recent years.
The Rams have reached the play-offs four times in the last five seasons and it's believed that the Super Bowl is expected to earn them £350million.
Kroenke has taken a back seat role at Arsenal in recent years and left the running of the club to son Josh, who is listed as a director.
Interestingly, the Rams took a gamble on signing the best available veteran players instead of taking players from the young pool of players in the NFL draft.
"We worked on this project for a number of years and it’s wonderful to see it come to fruition," Kroenke told NFL Network.
"Reaching the big game in our house means a lot, we are proud of it."
