‘The Hooker’ wasn’t well-known, but those around him were (Fifth in a series of reviews of sports books)
“Jim Hock: Father on the Line”
By Jim Hock
Rare Bird Books
Unless you’re an old-time Los Angeles Rams fan — and I’m talking old-time — you won’t recognize the Hock name. He was an NFL offensive lineman in the 1950s, playing in the league’s championship game with the Rams in 1955.
Hock and wife Micki had seven children, and their youngest, Jim, chose to write this book long after his father passed away in 2000 at age 72.
The book is about Hock, who played on a Santa Clara team — coached by Len Casanova, later the coach at Oregon — that upset Bear Bryant’s touted Kentucky Wildcats in the 1950 Orange Bowl. But it’s also a nostalgic look at Los Angeles’ first professional sports franchise and the changing landscape of the area in the ‘50s, with the heyday of Hollywood and the emerging attractions of such as Disneyland and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hock’s nickname among teammates was “the Hooker.” Quarterback Norm Van Brocklin called him “Lantern Jaw.” Knee problems cut short his career at age 29.
“His greatest gift (was) a willingness to take up any load, to tolerate any pain,” his son writes.
Hock comes across as a humble, unassuming man, a person willing to represent the Rams by speaking at such low-key affairs as a local parent-teacher association meeting.
A guard who played in one Pro Bowl in his five NFL seasons, Hock was surrounded by greatness in LA. The man for whom he was providing pass protection, former Oregon great Van Brocklin, still holds the NFL single-game passing record at 554 yards, a mark set in 1951. Among their teammates were such as Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Andy Robustelli, Les Richter and Tom Fears. Dan Reeves was team owner, Tex Schramm and Pete Rozelle general managers and Sid Gillman coach during Hock’s tenure with the Rams. All are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Rams arrived from Cleveland in 1946 to a thriving, growing community ripe for pro sports. Previously, UCLA and USC sports had a corner on the market. By the 1950s, the Rams were drawing as many as 100,000 fans for games in L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
It was an era where celebrities such as Danny Kaye, Fred Astaire, Ann Miller, Bob Hope, Harry James, Betty Grable and Jerry Lewis might be at games or entertaining at team banquets.
The author fleshed out the book to 335 pages with some long, overly descriptive paragraphs and even pages that, frankly, lost my attention after awhile. But he also included some interesting anecdotes, providing the background behind influential African-American sportswriters’ part in the Rams signing their first black players, Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, in 1946.
I didn’t know the Hula Bowl featured NFL players against college all-stars in the ‘50s. The promoter of the game during those years was Paul Schissler, who had been Oregon State’s coach from 1924-32 and later was a head coach in the NFL for four seasons.
This book isn’t for everyone, but it’s a good read for sports fans — like me — who also enjoy some history.
Readers: do you follow the Rams now that they are back in Los Angeles? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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