By: Joey Bittick

Stan Kroenke is widely regarded as an enigma. His quiet nature and reluctance toward the spotlight has earned him the nickname ‘Silent Stan’. The man who was largely responsible for bringing the NFL back to St. Louis in 1995 has been a minority owner and (fittingly) silent partner of the franchise throughout its existence in the STL, but since his proposal to buy the Rams was approved a few weeks ago, he will now be the man solely responsible for keeping the team in St. Louis past 2014. Little is known of Kroenke’s intentions for the team, and whether or not he will play an integral role in shaping the product on the field remains to be seen. Since his takeover of majority control of the franchise, Silent Stan has remained true to his name, not speaking much publicly or through the media; however, a lack of media contact does not mean Kroenke hasn’t already made his presence known at Rams Park.

According to a report by John Clayton of ESPN, the Rams and GM Billy Devaney were in hot pursuit of a coveted Number 1 wide receiver and sorely needed a playmaker when Silent Stan decided to speak up. He reportedly told Billy Devaney to cease inquiring about controversial star San Diego wide receiver Vincent Jackson. His reason? Apparently Stan felt that no matter how big the need for a go-to target for the $80 million wunderkind QB, it was not worth compromising the core values the team had sought to build their roster around. Yes the much-maligned (at least in the eyes of certain media members and message boarders) ‘Four Pillars’ are the reason Sam Bradford will have to wait a little longer for a top-flight wideout to help ease the burden of carrying an entire fan base on his dynamic right shoulder. And for those of you looking for someone else to blame for this hard-line stance against the complicated but coveted Jackson… well, you may be able to blame Braylon Edwards.

Yes, Clayton alleges that the Tuesday arrest of the Jets’ own mercurial receiver on suspicion of DWI moved Kroenke to nix the idea of adding Vincent to the Rams roster due to his prior DUI convictions. Jackson is already serving an NFL mandated three-game suspension for violating the League’s substance abuse policy and will face a year-long suspension if he happens to run afoul of the policy for a third time.

He certainly posed a huge risk to any team who would be willing to pay the reportedly sky-high asking price the Chargers were seeking in trade. Any trade for the star WR had further risk attached to it, as Jackson was reportedly seeking a bank-busting contract. However, the Rams’ need for a bona fide top-echelon playmaker was apparently so dire that they were willing to accept that risk and were pursuing the receiver. It was even reported that the Rams had worked out a contract with Vincent and just could not hammer out the compensation that would be sent San Diego’s way. When no trade was finalized, it was posited that the Chargers’ price was too steep, and the deal fell apart. But these new details discount that theory.

GM Billy Devaney also disputes the claim that a deal was all but done. Devaney had this to say to the San Diego Union-Tribune:

“We never got really deep into it. But I thought, if you’re willing to pay the money for the guy, the draft picks the Chargers were talking about were not unreasonable.”

I have no inside knowledge of what really happened, so I can only speculate. It sounds to me like Devaney was certainly interested in Jackson. I mean, why else would he defend their asking price? Devaney rarely elaborates when pressed about Rams interest in players, so this statement is a bit out of character for the tight-lipped GM. If the reports of Kroenke repudiating the efforts to obtain Jackson are true, I think that says a lot about his desire for how the Rams organization should function.

I believe that, despite speculation to the contrary, Billy Devaney and Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo have the support of the Rams’ new owner. Many pundits have postulated that, given the cost involved in Kroenke’s purchase of the team, he may want to put his stamp on the Rams by hiring ‘his guys’ to run the team. Because of this, many fans have surmised that, barring a large improvement in the win category, both Spagnuolo and Devaney are playing for their jobs this season (so to speak). Had the Rams made a trade for a guy like Vincent Jackson, it may have given credence to such theories. Acquiring Jackson could have been seen as a desperation move to add a few wins to the front office’s record in order to save jobs they perceived to be in jeopardy. These fans and experts feel that, barring a substantial upswing in the teams place in the standings, Kroenke will look to clean house following the 2010 season.

Much to the dismay of many message boarders, it seems Stan could be saying Billy Devaney and Steve Spagnuolo are actually ‘his guys’. If Kroenke truly did tell the GM to pass on the Chargers wideout, that tells me he is not concerned solely with racking up the Ws in the short term if it means deviating from the current Four Pillars philosophy of  evaluating a player’s character before adding him to the roster. And if his guys don’t feel that a player—no matter how outstanding his performance on the field may be—is the right person for ‘their’ team… well, then, the said player will not be donning the horns on the helmet—even if that means sacrificing a win or two in the short term to assure sustained success in the future.