School of Hard Knox: Sixkiller Went to Camp With the Los Angeles Rams

The former University of Washington quarterback bid for a roster spot as a free agent on the campus of then-Fullerton State College. See how it turned out.

Sonny Sixkiller headed for Southern California to see if he could surprise everyone once more and win another quarterback job, just as he had as a University of Washington sophomore.

He always thought he could pull off the unthinkable.

That was the sheer magic of Sixkiller.

Anything was possible.

He'd signed with the Los Angeles Rams as an undrafted free agent and he reported to the campus of Fullerton State College — now Cal State-Fullerton — for training camp in July 1973, just north of Disneyland. 

"If I get a chance to play, I think I could make it," Sixkiller told reporters.

Hard-boiled Chuck Knox was the Rams coach and much later would become leader of the Seattle Seahawks, who wouldn't exist for another three seasons.

Knox brought 80 players to camp, looking to fill 47 roster slots. Two-a-day practices were at 9:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m.

The eager job candidates were housed in the University Village Apartments, in 35 rooms leased from the university and appropriately dubbed "Fort Knox."

Sixkiller showed up with UW defensive end Kurt Matter, who was drafted in the 15th round and going to try to be a back-up the Fearsome Foursome. For the first few days of camp, Sonny was followed around by Seattle Times sports writer Dick Rockne.

It was difficult not having a hardened edge. Unlike the UW, this was totally business, cold and impersonal.

"Mentally, it messes with you because you never know where you stand for sure," Sixkiller said. "You know that any day you might get cut."

The Rams had two seasoned veterans in camp in John Hadl and James Harris, plus their top draft pick, Ron Jaworski, a highly regarded player from a small school, taken in the second round from Youngstown State.

The ex-Husky quarterback was running sprints one day when Knox walked over and said something that startled him.

"Sixkiller, you don't have to run," the coach said. "I know you had knee issues in college."

Sonny thought that was odd that Knox would say that, and even know that, but he quickly realized that news travels fast throughout the NFL. But he had come with a definitive plan when he pulled on a Rams uniform. 

"This is my shot," he said. "If I don't make it here, that's it. I don't want to be a football bum that just bounces around."

Sixkiller lasted three weeks. The Rams played one exhibition against the Dallas Cowboys without using him and cut him prior to their next outing against the Cleveland Browns. 

He was supposed to split time with fellow rookie Jaworski but it never happened. He was offered around the league for the $100 waiver price but there were no takers. 

Sixkiller's release was front-page news in Seattle, but barely moved the needle in Los Angeles.

Seattle Times columnist Georg N. Meyers was outwardly miffed when he wrote, "Sixkiller never got a chance."

The Rams apparently knew what they were doing because they went 12-2, losing those pair of games by three points, before getting eliminated in the playoffs by Dallas. The 33-year-old Hadl was named NFC Player of the Year.

"Sonny is a heck of a guy with great character," Knox told the beat writers. "He has ability but we have three better quarterbacks in camp and four are too many to work with. We were happy to give him an opportunity. We wish him well."

Sixkiller headed to nearby Glendale to meet with a cousin, who was friends with Stu Nahan, a well-known Los Angeles sports broadcaster. They went to see Nahan, who was the ring announcer for the first six Rocky movies. The other man tried hard to use his considerable connections to come up with some football options for Sonny to no avail.

With that, a disappointed Sixkiller headed home, without a football team that fall.

"I really have no interest in going to Canada," he said. "I wouldn't be well suited to that style of play up there."

A year later, Sonny turned up in camp with the Toronto Argonauts. But first, he went to prison.

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