Pros in the Playground

Once upon a time there lived in New York City a little boy named Danny Reeves whose father was very rich.

When Danny and his friends wanted to play touch football, dad's chauffeur would drive them to the playground in a long, shiny automobile. That was fun, but for Danny the greatest fun of all was the idea of some day having a foot ball team of his very own, Why? As Danny once told a friend: "Isn't it the dream of every American boy to own a football team?" For Danny, at least, it was. So, in 1941, when he was 28 years old, he went out and bought himself a team named the Rams and later he found them a nice home in Los Angeles.

It was wonderful. There were lots of All-America players to buy and trade A big stadium to fill with cheering fans Coaches to advise And, best of all, there was the fun of going to the Bel-Air Hotel bar and staying up late at night talking football with friends. The only trouble was that too often Danny's team lost more games than it won, once for seven seasons in a row. That got to be boring and, in an effort to liven things up, Danny kept switching coaches. When he fired No. 6 just two days before Christmas of 1965, some people said that he had become too difficult to work with. Danny could not understand that. As he often said, football was, after all, just "fun and games."

Exclusive Toy. Then, three years ago, Danny offered the coaching job to George Allen. Danny had to fight a nasty legal battle to free him from the Chicago Bears' coaching staff, but eventually he got his way. The players loved Allen; in the past two seasons they won 21 games, lost four and tied three. The fans loved Allen too, but Danny was unhappy. For one thing, Allen, the son of a factory worker, had a quaint idea that the fun of football was winning. For another thing, people were beginning to refer to Danny's team as George's team. Back at the Bel-Air, Danny told his pals that the way Coach Allen drove the players at practice and worked 18 hours a day "takes all the pleasure out of owning a team." Somehow, he sighed, it was "more fun" losing with the other coaches than winning with George. So, not wanting to appear mean again, he waited until the day after Christmas to tell Allen that "this is the end."

George Allen cried. One group of fans burned Danny in effigy. Others picketed Danny's office and formed a citizens' council to reinstate the coach. The players took a poll of the team and reported that 38 out of 40 loved Allen. Eight of them said that if he left, they would too. The team, said All-Pro Defensive Tackle Merlin Olsen, was not "the exclusive toy of a rich man." Danny was hurt, but lest the revolt further the movement for pro players to have more say in management, he tried to stand up to the big guys. He would not be pressured, he said, and if they did not like it, well, he would take his football team and go home.

Suddenly, it was no longer fun and games. Instead it had become a sad spectacle. It was, in fact, more like a bunch of big kids having a spat on the playground. Little Danny snitched that Georgie was hiring players without consulting him and with no regard for the team's budget. Georgie tattled that Danny was never around to consult. Danny claimed that Georgie demanded to be named general manager and was guilty of such naughty behavior as sending an assistant to spy on another team. Georgie said that he "never asked for anything for myself, only for things that would help the players and give the fans a winning team." Danny said that Georgie encouraged the players to ask for more and more money and that he was turning them against the management. Georgie's wife said that her husband's only intent was treating the players "as if they were his own children."

Last week all the children finally made up and Danny rehired Georgie. Danny said that Georgie was a "big man," and said that he was so "dedicated I thought I should reconsider." Georgie said that "I came back for one reason because my players stood up for me," And so everybody in Los Angeles lived happily ever after--or at least until next season,

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