On July 8, 1963 the New York Giants traded away one of the stalwart members of their defensive line by dealing DT Roosevelt “Rosey” Grier to the Los Angeles Rams for DT John LoVetere and a future draft pick.
The 6’5”, 290-pound Grier had been chosen by the Giants
in the third round of the 1955 NFL draft out of Penn State. Except for the 1957
season, which he missed due to military service, Grier was part of an
outstanding unit that included DT Dick Modzelewski and ends Andy Robustelli and
Jim Katcavage. He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection, received consensus
first-team All-NFL honors in 1956, and gained at least some first- or
second-team recognition after four other seasons. In 1962 Grier was an
All-Eastern Conference choice by The Sporting News. Over the same course of
time, the Giants consistently contended and won a NFL Championship while
topping the Eastern Conference on five occasions. The tough and cohesive
defense played a significant role in the club’s success.
However, there were concerns about age and the need for
retooling. “At 31, Grier is about four years older than LoVetere,” explained New
York’s Head Coach Allie Sherman. Sherman also expressed the desire to use the
draft choice obtained from the Rams in dealing for a veteran running back,
which failed to materialize (it ended up being a fourth-round choice in 1964
that was used to take Ohio State FB Matt Snell, who chose to sign with New
York’s AFL club, the Jets).
In Los Angeles, Grier was reunited with a former Giants
teammate, Harland Svare, who was now commencing his first full season as head
coach of the Rams. He moved directly into the starting lineup alongside second-year
DT Merlin Olsen and flanked by ends Dave “Deacon” Jones, in his third season,
and Lamar Lundy, a 28-year-old veteran, putting Grier as the senior member in
the midst of another formidable unit. But the remainder of the defense, while
containing some good young players, was not so impressive, nor was the offense,
and the team as a whole was coming off of a miserable 1-12-1 record in 1962,
its fourth straight under .500. Svare had been promoted to head coach during
the season.
The club improved to 5-9 in ’63 and the line, now
containing Grier, remained the best part of the defense and led the NFL in
allowing the fewest rushing yards in 1964, although the Rams finished once more
with a losing record. Yet another disappointing year in ’65, in which Grier was
beginning to show his age at 33 but was also still tough against the run, led
to the dismissal of Svare and the hiring of George Allen, who had been an
outstanding defensive coach with the Bears.
Under Allen’s guidance, the Rams improved to 8-6 in 1966
and were poised for further improvement. However, Grier went down with a torn
Achilles tendon in the preseason that cost him the entire year and DT Roger
Brown was obtained from Detroit to fill his place. LA went on to reach the
postseason for the first time since 1955 with a gaudy 11-1-2 mark in ’67, and
the “Fearsome Foursome” of Jones, Olsen, Brown, and Lundy played a key role in
the success.
While it was anticipated that Grier would return to the
Rams in 1968, he announced his retirement in July, moving on to a full-time
entertainment career. Over the course of 11 seasons in the NFL, four with the
Rams, he appeared in 141 regular season games and was a solid contributor to
excellent defensive lines with two clubs. While sacks were not yet an
officially-compiled statistic, Grier has been unofficially credited with 21 during
his four active years with the Rams, with a high of seven in 1966.
As for the player the Giants obtained for Grier, the
27-year-old LoVetere (pictured at left), who was 6’4” and weighed 285 pounds, attended Compton
Junior College but didn’t play football collegiately although he did play with
distinction in the service for two years and was signed by the Rams in 1959. An
early proponent of weight training, he was both strong and fast. LoVetere performed
well, and in 1960 blocked five kicks, but ran afoul of Svare’s predecessor, Bob
Waterfield, and lost his starting job.
LoVetere settled into Grier’s spot in the defensive line
(he even wore the same number 76) and was named to the Pro Bowl as the Giants
won a third consecutive Eastern Conference title in 1963. However, time finally
caught up with the club and the bottom dropped out in ’64. It caught up to
LoVetere as well, who appeared in just 12 games combined in 1964 and ’65 due
to, first, a broken leg and then a knee injury that required surgery and proved
to be career-ending.
