Carroll Rosenbloom

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Carroll Rosenbloom (March 5, 1907 - April 2, 1979) was a colorful football owner of two teams, the Baltimore Colts and the Los Angeles Rams, now the St. Louis Rams.

[edit] Background

He attended the University of Pennsylvania and played halfback for the Quakers for two years beginning in 1927. One of the assistant coaches on that team was future NFL commissioner Bert Bell, the start of a relationship that would prove beneficial a quarter century later.

After a successful career in business primarily selling khaki uniforms to the U.S. Army during World War II, Rosenbloom became the majority owner of the Baltimore Colts on January 11, 1953. Rosenbloom was the lead man of a five-man ownership group that was awarded what remained of the defunct Dallas Texans, who had left a string of debts upon their demise the previous year. Adopting the nickname of the city's earlier professional incarnation, the Colts, Rosenbloom hired Keith Molesworth as the team's head coach one day after taking control.

Predictably, the Colts struggled in that first season, winning only three of 12 games, but Rosenbloom endeared himself to his players by awarding them a $500 bonus after the season. Molesworth was replaced after the season, but remained as the team's chief talent scout, laying the groundwork for future success.

After first considering one Cleveland Browns' assistant, Blanton Collier, he hired another, Weeb Ewbank on January 14, 1954. Over the next few seasons, the team began to add draft key players, such as future Hall of Famers Raymond Berry, Lenny Moore and, perhaps most importantly, free agent quarterback Johnny Unitas in 1956. After first considering getting rid of Ewbank, Rosenbloom relented with the end result being that the Colts enjoyed their first winning season in 1957, beginning a streak that would last throughout Rosenbloom's ownership with the team.

In 1958, the Colts won the NFL Championship, winning a classic overtime battle with the New York Giants, 23-17. This game is often referred to as "The Greatest Game Ever Played". Unitas had led a furious drive for a game-tying field goal in the final minutes that sent the game into the extra session. In that period, running back Alan Ameche entered into Baltimore sports lore by plunging into the end zone for the winning score. The touchdown would became of a part of Rosenbloom's own lore, with some questioning the wisdom behind the Colts disdaining a field goal. The basis of this mini-controversy was that Rosenbloom had reportedly bet heavily on the Colts to beat the 3 1/2-point spread, and thus, covered the spread with Ameche's score.

Baltimore repeated as champions in 1959, but by the end of the 1962 NFL season, had slipped enough that Ewbank was fired. In his place came the then-youngest head coach in NFL history, Don Shula, who finished with a winning record in his first season, then went 12-2 in 1964. The latter season would end in bitter disappointment for the Colts as they were upset by the Cleveland Browns, 27-0, in the NFL Championship game.

In 1965, injuries to both Colt quarterbacks resulted in running back Tom Matte moving behind center, but a controversial loss to eventual champion Green Bay in a playoff game ended the season. After the team slipped somewhat in 1966, they bounced back the next year with an 11-1-2 season. Unfortunately, their one defeat came in the regular season finale against the Los Angeles Rams, keeping them out of the playoffs.

The 1968 team appeared to be one of the greatest of all time, winning all but one of the regular season clashes, then gaining revenge on Cleveland with a 34-0 win in the NFL Championship game. Two weeks later, however, the Colts lost Super Bowl III to Joe Namath and the New York Jets, with Rosenbloom reportedly complaining that Shula "couldn't win the big one."

Shula would leave the Colts for the Miami Dolphins after the 1969 NFL season, but Rosenbloom successfully argued that Miami had tampered with Shula, and the Colts were awarded a first-round draft choice. During Don McCafferty's (known as "Easy Rider") first season, the Colts advanced to Super Bowl V by beating the Dallas Cowboys 16-13. Jim O'Brien's game-winning 32-yard field goal with five seconds remaining decided the game, with Dallas quarterback Craig Morton's late interception helping set up the three-pointer

In 1971, Rosenbloom, tired of the lack of support for preseason games, moved the team's training camp to Tampa, Florida, angering the local population. Although the team reached the AFC Championship game, Rosenbloom spent the next offseason completing a historic swapping of teams with new Los Angeles Rams owner Robert Irsay, with Hugh Culverhouse, future owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, helped broker the deal.

After missing out on the postseason in 1972 under head coach Tommy Prothro, Rosenbloom hired Chuck Knox in January 1973 to lead the team. Over the next six years, the Rams won the NFC Western Division every year and played in four NFC Championship games. In 1978, he replaced the departed Knox with former Rams coach George Allen, then replaced him with Ray Malavasi after just two exhibition games.

Rosenbloom remained an outspoken figure during this era, accusing NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle of scheduling the Rams for a late afternoon game against the Dolphins on the eve of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.

[edit] Cause of Death

In 1979, Rosenbloom drowned while swimming in the ocean behind his Golden Beach, Florida home. Since Rosenbloom was a strong and talented swimmer, some people felt his death may have been foul play due to the fact that Rosenbloom's reputation as a high stakes gambler. An investigation into his death did not find evidence of foul play and was determined to be an accidental drowning.

Four years after his death, in the premiere episode of the PBS series "Frontline", Rosenbloom's death was cited as an example of the seamy side of the National Football League. Using interviews with reported mobsters who claimed Rosenbloom's legs had been held to cause his drowning, the report also used gruesome autopsy photos of Rosenbloom's body.

[edit] Changes after Death

His death did lead to strange developments with the Rams as his widow, Georgia Frontiere, inherited 70% of the team upon Rosenbloom's death. It is speculated that the inheritance was designed as a tax dodge so that Georgia would not have to pay high taxes on Rosenbloom's estate, and it appears that he never intended for her to have a role with the team. But that was not Georgia's intention, as she immediately took over control as owner and through her lawyers and tax attorneys began to make major changes to the team's organization.

She quickly fired her stepson Steve Rosenbloom as the head-office executive and began hiring people loyal to her. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Georgia moved the Rams to St. Louis in 1995. The shift was seen as a financially risky proposition initially, but soon proved to be a goldmine as the city of St. Louis provided a publicly funded stadium for $260 million, and more than $22 million guaranteed in annual luxury suite and ticket revenues.

During the first few years after the team's move, the Rams continued to stumble, but when head coach Dick Vermeil came out of retirement, things changed. Using a high-powered offense during the 1999 NFL season under MVP quarterback Kurt Warner, the Rams defeated the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV.