The ultimate fix-it man in his native St. Louis, Bob Blitz was once a key facilitator for the N.F.L.: He helped lure the Rams to St. Louis from Anaheim in 1995 and represented the operators of the stadium where the team played for 21 years. When the lease came up, he was asked to co-chair a task force to keep the Rams from leaving town.
But while Blitz and others amassed the financial commitments to build a new riverfront stadium, Rams owner E. Stanley Kroenke broke St. Louis residents’ hearts by sniffing out a new location in California.