NFL -- Rams Fire Knox -- Return-To-Glory Attempt Fizzles

ANAHEIM - Chuck Knox, who failed to revitalize the Los Angeles Rams in his second tour of duty as head coach of that team, was fired today with one year remaining on his contract, the Rams announced.

The Rams, expected to announce a move to St. Louis in the near future, lost their final seven games this season to finish with a 4-12 record.

Knox, 62, signed a four-year contract with the Rams on Jan. 8, 1992, as successor to John Robinson, but failed to change their fortunes as he had done with them in the 1970s. The Rams went 6-10 in 1992 and 5-11 in 1993.

In the final two years under Robinson, in 1990 and 1991, the Rams went 5-11 and 3-13. In 1989, they went 11-5 and advanced to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers 30-3.

Knox's first head-coaching job in the NFL was with the Rams in 1973. He took over a team that had gone 6-7-1 a year earlier and guided it to a 12-2 record and the NFC West championship.

Knox coached the Rams for five years before being fired after the 1977 season despite winning NFC West championships in each of those five seasons. His regular-season record in his first stint with the Rams was 54-15-1.

He then coached the Buffalo Bills for five years and the Seattle Seahawks for nine before returning to the Rams.

Offer tops $200 million

BALTIMORE - An investment group led by Baltimore Oriole owner Peter Angelos has offered more than $200 million for the Tampa Bay

Buccaneers with the intention of moving them to Baltimore, according to a published report.

Angelos last year offered $200 million for the team if it could be moved to Baltimore. The offer made yesterday to a group of trustees overseeing the sale of the team is more substantial than that one, the Baltimore Sun reported.

Angelos refused to comment on yesterday's bid.

The St. Petersburg Times reported that the trustees already have decided to sell the team to a group led by Tom Shannon, a Tampa developer. The trustees were discounting Angelos' bid out of concerns the NFL would not approve the team's relocation, the newspaper reported.

Throughout negotiations, Angelos has claimed he could offer more for the team because it would be more profitable in a new stadium in Baltimore than in aging Tampa Stadium.

The bid by Shannon's group reportedly is for between $145 million and $165 million.