THE RAMS: 10 Years in Anaheim

from: THE RAMS: 10 Years in Anaheim : A Decade of Rams Memories : Pro football: It’s been 10 years since the NFL arrived in Anaheim. There’s been no shortage of entertaining moments.

http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-03/sports/sp-817_1_anaheim-stadium

It has been 10 years since the Rams made their historic land grab and moved south from Los Angeles to Anaheim, roaringdown the Santa Ana Freeway with a football team and the name of its former home. Can you believe it? Ten years and 10 starting quarterbacks. Ten years of chasing Joe Montana around Anaheim Stadium. Ten years of never catching him. Ten years with the same owner, though she began the decade as Georgia Rosenbloom and ended it Georgia Frontiere.

The Rams have won only one division title in Anaheim, in 1985, but never have lacked hype or hope. For the record, they have averaged 8.6 victories per season in Orange County, and one head coach every five years. They began the decade with Ray Malavasi, who was fired in 1983 after two consecutive losing seasons. Malavasi would be remembered for, among other things, leading the Rams to their only Super Bowl appearance in 1980, and falling into a sound, snoring sleep one morning during a radio interview.

The Rams finished the 1980s with John Robinson, who has yet to reach the Super Bowl or doze off during an interview.

Mistakes? They’ve made a few. In Anaheim, the Rams would sign a 34-year-old rookie quarterback from the Canadian Football League who was called Ralph Dieter Brock. Later, he would be called unspeakable things, then released unceremoniously in 1986. There was another Canadian misfit named Mike Schad, who flopped as a first-round pick the same year. At least Donald Evans, their failed top choice of 1987, was an American mistake, the youngest of 16 children from the projects of Raleigh, N.C., an engaging story except for the fact that he couldn’t play football.

Bizarre moments? How about the goal posts collapsing during a game against the Atlanta Falcons one season. Or the Monday night game in 1987 when Dallas Coach Tom Landry walked the sidelines in a bullet-proof vest after receiving a death threat.

This story is about 10 years of nuts and bolts, highs and lows, the best and the brightest.

The Rams have had their share of moments but, respectfully, any story about the Rams in Anaheim Stadium must begin with San Francisco quarterback Joe Montana, who would rule the Orange County turf as no other player has. Montana, who has led his team to four Super Bowl championships and seven NFC West titles at the Rams’ expense, is 8-0 as a starter in Anaheim. He averaged 23 completions in 33 attempts for 321 1/2 yards, two touchdowns and 0.625 interceptions. Bad news: He’s back for Round 2 in the ’90s.

When Montana retires, the 49ers could hold tributes in both stadiums.

The first Ram game at Anaheim Stadium? It was an exhibition against New England on Aug. 11, 1980. Some predicted the Rams would sell out every home game through the life of their 35-year lease, which expires in 2015. Fat chance. The opener drew 62,356 fans, (capacity 69,000), who witnessed a 35-31 defeat. The Rams played without stars Jack and Jim Youngblood, Dennis Harrah and Larry Brooks, who were kicking off their infamous “Gone Fishin’ ” holdout to protest rookie Johnnie Johnson’s contract, which was to pay him the ungodly sum of $1.1 million over six years ($183,000 per season).

The Rams also lost the regular-season opener in Anaheim, Sept. 7, 1980, when Detroit tailback Billy Sims, making his NFL debut, rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns in a 41-10 victory. The Rams would win a few games eventually.

So now, the envelopes please . . .

THREE FRONT OFFICE MOVES THAT SHOOK THE FRANCHISE

1. Valentine’s Day, 1983: The Rams hire John Robinson as head coach. No move changed the course of the franchise more dramatically. The team was in shambles, coming off seasons of 6-10 in 1981 and 2-7 in strike-shortened 1982. Malavasi had become a public relations nightmare, his dark-eyed scowl a permanent stamp on the Rams’ personality. Georgia Frontiere had absorbed one media drubbing after another since taking control from her husband, Carroll Rosenbloom, who died April 2, 1979. “She changes her mind more often then she changes dresses,” one front-office man remarked at the time.

Well, Frontiere pushed the right button with Robinson, the successful USC coach, who would spit-and-shine the Rams’ image in no time. Robinson was a polished orator and motivator, not to mention a fine coach. Frontiere handed over the reins to Robinson and, wisely, disappeared from the public scene. She hired two newspapermen to help insulate her from the press. Frontiere still does not grant interviews, and her image has improved, if only for lack of her whereabouts. In the front office, John Shaw, the vice president of finance, took full control of her business affairs and wasn’t afraid to play “bad cop” when it came to tough decisions with player contracts. Shaw doesn’t speak with the press, either, leaving Robinson to disseminate Ram policy.

The result has been six playoff appearances in seven years, two trips to the NFC title game, and a sharp decline in public embarrassments.

2. Sept. 18, 1986: The Rams send All-Pro guard Kent Hill, defensive end William Fuller and three draft choices (two firsts and a fifth) to the Houston Oilers for the rights to quarterback Jim Everett. The Rams had long been accused of trigger shyness when it came to making a big trade, but they squeezed off a few rounds with this deal. Everett, the third-player selected in the 1986 college draft, has in four years become the most prolific passer in franchise history. Everett gave the Rams a backbone after decades of comedy and chaos at the quarterback position. Not just a great passer, Everett has become the consummate role model in the community.

3. Halloween, 1987: Rams trade disgruntled All-Pro tailback Eric Dickerson for three first-round choices, three seconds, and running backs Greg Bell and Owen Gill in a three-way deal with Indianapolis and Buffalo.

With his calculated tongue-lashings of management, Dickerson forced this trade upon himself, but it took Shaw to pull off the three-team deal of the decade. Three years later, The Trade has proven an unqualified success for the Rams, who have re-stocked their roster with young talent and have seemingly become Super Bowl contenders for years to come. Bell, for instance, a throw-in to the deal, gave the Rams two 1,000-yard seasons before his recent trade to the Raiders for a fourth-round draft choice. So the Rams aren’t through cashing in on Dickerson.

NINE MAGIC MOMENTS

1. Dickerson breaks O.J. Simpson’s single-season rushing record: Before Dickerson poisoned the well, there were memorable days like this. On Dec. 9, 1984, he gained 215 yards against the Houston Oilers to break Simpson’s record of 2,003. Purists note that Simpson did it on a 14-game schedule, while Dickerson needed 15 games. Still, the record fell at 3:53 p.m. on Dickerson’s signature play, 47 Gap. (Pop quiz: Can you name the quarterback who handed him the ball on his famous run? Answer: Jeff Kemp.) Dickerson finished the season with 2,105 yards.

2. Everett’s first game: He stepped on the field Nov. 16, 1986, with 14:35 left in the second quarter and his team trailing New England, 13-0. His second professional pass went for 34 yards and a touchdown to receiver Henry Ellard. He finished having completed 12 of 19 passes for 193 yards and three touchdowns. He rallied his team to a 28-23 lead in the final minute. So much for storybook beginnings. New England won the game as time expired on a 25-yard pass from Tony Eason to Irving Fryar.

3. Flipper Anderson and all that jazz: In training camp before the 1989 season, Willie Anderson was a second-string receiver who needed to grow up. On Nov. 26, 1989, Anderson grew up, setting the NFL single-game receiving record with 336 yards in 15 catches against the New Orleans Saints in the Superdome. In a tale that evokes memories of Wally Pipp, Anderson had cracked the starting lineup only after a hamstring injury to teammate and friend Aaron Cox.

4. Mike Lansford beats Saints: His dramatic, game-winning, 42-yard field goal against New Orleans in 1983 set the tone for Lansford’s career and the Robinson era. Lansford’s swift boot put the Rams in the playoffs and knocked the Saints out. Lansford, who was cut more times in his career than Jerry Quarry, has gone on to become the Rams’ all-time leading scorer.

5. Jack be nimble: Going out in a blaze of glory, defensive end Jack Youngblood coaxed one last great game out of his 34-year-old body on Nov. 4, 1984, against the St. Louis Cardinals in Busch Stadium. Youngblood recorded three sacks, forced a fumble that led to a game-tying field goal and then blocked kicker Neil O’Donoghue’s 48-yard field goal attempt as time expired to preserve a 16-13 victory. Youngblood retired the following August, his legacy preserved.

6. Charles White wins rushing title: With his career and life in peril after an August, 1987, drug arrest, White made one of the great comebacks in football history, filling the void left by the Dickerson trade and finishing the season with 1,374 yards to lead the league.

7. The 500 Club: At times, Vince Ferragamo made up his own plays in the huddle, scratched pass-patterns in the dirt with his finger, and confounded his coaching staff and teammates with his occasional vacuousness. But no one could deny his place in team history in December, 1982, when he passed for 509 yards against the Chicago Bears. Of course, the Rams lost the game, 34-26, but no one told Vinnie.

8. See Dick run: In one of the greatest playoff performances, Dickerson almost single-leggedly led the Rams to a 20-0, first-round victory over the Dallas Cowboys on Jan. 4, 1986. He gained a playoff-record 248 yards and scored both Ram touchdowns, on runs of 55 and 40 yards. No one said he couldn’t play.

9. The Homecoming: On Sept. 17, 1989, Dickerson returned to Anaheim Stadium for the first time since his trade. Shockingly, the game wasn’t even a sellout, but most of the 63,995 in attendance let Dickerson know how they felt about his return. The game was a lopsided Ram victory, 31-17, which gave the fans plenty to jeer about. When the game ended, however, several Rams hugged Dickerson in a touching tribute to a former teammate.