When Lady Didn’t Sing, Knox Declined a Return Engagement

On a winter evening, 1983, John Robinson’s luck runs out. It is mostly the fault of Chuck Knox.

At the time, Knox has just left Buffalo, where he served as coach. He is summoned to Seattle, where he is interviewed for the coaching job at that station.

And now Knox is contacted by Dominic Frontiere, then husband of Georgia, for an interview related to the coaching position with the Rams.

It develops into a dinner meeting at the Frontiere mansion, inherited by Georgia from a previous husband, Carroll Rosenbloom. From the same husband, she also inherits the Rams.

Seated at the table are Dominic, Georgia, Chip Rosenbloom (son of Georgia), Ram executive John Shaw and Knox. Between dessert and coffee, Knox is offered the Ram job.

At a time in the past, under another ownership, Ram coach Hampton Pool was fired between the Iceland herring and the soup. Historically, the Rams move swiftly between courses.

Knox thanks his hosts and says he will give the matter serious thought.

Often at the mansion, it was Georgia’s custom after dinner to entertain her guests by singing. With an easy glide, swishing a large silk scarf, Georgia would move through the room, in good voice. She sang love songs, cute songs, songs of flirtation, sometimes songs from light opera.

When Knox coached the Rams between 1973 and ‘77, it was his privilege, as a dinner guest at the mansion, to hear the singing of Georgia.

It isn’t Chuck’s fault he gets fired. Nor is it Georgia’s. Chuck runs a five-year record with the Rams of 54-15-1 and he takes the team to five playoffs.

But Carroll Rosenbloom decides there isn’t enough Broadway in Knox’s attack.

“We are sitting in the entertainment capital of the world,” said Carroll. “And our offense is putting people to sleep.”

Knox gets the foot, and after five seasons under Ray Malavasi, George Allen is hired, only to be kicked out after the second exhibition game.

Now at dinner in ‘83, the normality of the Rams crosses the mind of Knox, who also discovers after dinner that Georgia isn’t singing. No doubt, he is disappointed.

It is the unclouded view here that Georgia’s taking the night off killed the deal. Knox would later inform the Rams he was taking the job with Seattle, opening the door at Anaheim for Robinson.

During his eight-year incumbency as Ram coach, Robinson has turned out winning teams six times. He has advanced to six playoffs. Yet, up until word arrived Friday that he would be retained, he was made to fight for his job.

Maybe he wasn’t fighting too hard in view of what he deals with in the front office. It has been established openly that Executive Vice President Shaw, who represents Georgia in affairs of commerce, doesn’t approve of Robinson.

This surprises one who reads in the Ram media guide, over which Shaw has authority: “It is rare that a head coach in professional sports today can relate so well to all groups he encounters: the players, the staff, the media, the fans. John Robinson, indeed, is a rare man.”

It doesn’t say that Shaw is rare, although Robinson, in his stroll through life, would like to find that he is. If Shaw’s type is extinct, in fact, Robinson isn’t going to register a complaint.

The coach doubtless sits down at times and tries to figure how Shaw, who used to be an accountant, acquired such all-encompassing knowledge of football.

Shaw went on to become a lawyer, one of three on the Ram executive staff. The Rams Advisory Board offers two more lawyers.

And the foregoing are in addition to the lawyers Georgia Frontiere retains privately.

Where else in sports could one find an organization, making as little sense as the Rams, so legally enriched?

For a coach winning six years of eight, it is a little flabbergasting that any explanations by Robinson would be required.

Yet, up until Friday’s decision to keep him, he was being asked by management to explain his performance so that management could decide whether he was worthy. He was also asked to explain whether his staff was worthy.

As pointed out above, Robinson’s grief is traced to Knox. Chuck could have taken the job, but he walks away and sticks John.