Rams News

Fans need Kroenke to bring the Rams some common sense

Tuesday, August 11, 1998

By Tom Wheatley


Stan Kroenke is the Rams' mystery man. It's time for the low-key mogul to assume his true identity. He is this team's only hope.

Kroenke is the Rams' vice chairman, minority owner and voice of local reason. Absentee owner Georgia Frontiere runs the team through John Shaw, the often absentee president. Both prefer dwelling in Los Angeles, whence the team came in 1995.

Kroenke is reported to be flexing more muscle backstage. That's a start. He needs to do more, as events of last weekend show.

The Rams blacked out their exhibition opener on television here, despite a near sellout. In a sense, the blackout was a public service, since it did upgrade the quality of local programming. The public took it as a slap by gluttons.

Kroenke would not have allowed the blackout snub. The businessman and Wal-Mart in-law lives in Columbia, Mo. That's 125 miles from the dome but light-years closer than the team's Left Coast brain trust.

Kroenke, a reluctant interview, agreed to chat about his role last week on KTRS radio and again Monday for this piece. He was discreet to a fault, the fault being his dry image. He can be entertaining on neutral subjects, such as basketball, but business demands caution. In this case, he was careful to stress that will not try to elbow Frontiere aside.

So what is their takeover timetable?

"How that all evolves, we'll have to see," Kroenke said. "It's been a good relationship so far, and hopefully it will be in the future. One of the things I had to do in order to get that team there was to take a less than 50 percent ownership, which wasn't my modus operandi, so to speak, in the world of investment.

"I thought Baltimore would probably get the team if we didn't do it. To me, it was a lot more important to get that team in St. Louis. And Georgia has a great history with the Rams. They've won a lot of games with Georgia being the owner."

Kroenke is being chivalrous. The Rams have the worst record this decade in the National Football League. Still, he valued the team at $200 million when buying it three years ago. He has spent $80 million for a 40 percent stake.

"We paid the highest price that had ever been paid in pro sports," he said. "Again, we placed a lot of confidence in the St. Louis market and the fans and the situation there. And it's been a good one."

The Minnesota Vikings just sold for $250 million. Cleveland's expansion fee probably will top $300 million, maybe double that. What if inflation drives the Rams' price through the dome roof?

"Certainly you'd have to pay market value," he said. "But I really don't think about that a lot, to be honest with you. I think about things like getting this team better."

Kroenke, a bad loser, is high on second-year coach Dick Vermeil.

"We think that we're on the right track there," Kroenke said. "That's kind of where I focus, mainly. The thing you mentioned is a little out of my control."

The Lawrence Phillips caper offers a peek at Kroenke's mind-set. Phillips had an assault record when drafted sixth overall in '96. A disciplinary debacle, he is out of football. Jerome Bettis, the tailback he replaced, stars in Pittsburgh.

"I love Jerome Bettis," Kroenke said, chuckling, "so I'm a bad guy to ask about that. At the same time, I'm a businessman. And I'm not a football talent scout - although it was clearly evident to everyone that I felt strongly that Jerome was a quality individual. And I was really troubled by the fact that we were going to let him go."

A smart owner does not meddle in the huddle. A classy owner does set rules for conduct, for employees and toward the customers.

Fans here are the most abused in pro football. They deserve every
consideration. They deserve a club grounded in their Midwestern values and work
ethic. Above all, they deserve the full attention of that owner's suite.

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