Word: game
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Looking for Winners. As a nonviolent man in the world's most violent sport, Allen may be an anomaly. But he has long been regarded as one of the most brilliant tacticians in the game. After nine years as a small-college coach (Morningside in Iowa, Whittier in California), he served for eight years as an assistant to Head Coach George Halas of the Chicago Bears and was the architect of a stubborn defense that carried the Bears to the N.F.L. title in 1963; after the championship playoff, the Chicago players presented him with the game ball. Halas himself...
...Ability is not all there is to this game," says Allen, "and a good athlete is not always a winning one." What Allen looked for in Los Angeles was winners, and he was perfectly willing to trade away good athletes to get them. One of his first acquisitions was Bill George, a linebacker from the Chicago Bears, who is said to have begun his new career in Los Angeles by flattening a malingering teammate. Other trades brought the Rams such established stars as Flanker Bernie Casey, Halfback Tommy Mason, Linebacker Myron Pottios and Cornerback Irv Cross. Allen also drew heavily...
...ever a man seemed out of place as a professional football coach, it is George Allen. There are a few others like him who never played a game of pro football themselves. But how many of them hold a master's degree in ad ministration from the University of Michigan, or have written four books, or are given to such sublime reflections as: "I am never really happy unless I can get up in the morning and look at an ocean, a lake or a river; I get strength from looking at a moving body of wa ter." None...
Allen's biggest contribution to the Rams' success is probably his nononsense approach to the game. Although he has never been known to criticize a player in front of teammates or to make a scene on the sidelines, Allen can be tough when he wants to. He slapped a $500 fine on one Ram player who showed up five minutes late for practice; any player who exceeds his prescribed weight at the regular Thursday weigh-in is automatically fined $100 per pound...
Allen's own dedication to the game is so complete that he often forgets to eat and has to get vitamin injections from the Rams' doctor. During the season, he practically survives on ice cream, which he eats, says his wife, "because he doesn't have to chew it. Chewing would take his mind off football...