Career
A high school All-American at Santa Monica High School, Knox played under the tutelage of coach Jim Sutherland. He played his freshman season for Pappy Waldorf"s California Golden Bears before abruptly transferring to University of California, Los Angeles in the fall of 1954. Knox"s stepfather, Harvey Knox, was accused of interfering with the Bears" coaching staff and of making extreme monetary demands on the university.
The elder Knox had also interfered with his son"s high school coaches and Ronnie played for three different high school teams in three years.
Knox played one season at University of California, Los Angeles before being declared ineligible due to accepting "under-the-table" financing. After leaving University of California, Los Angeles, Knox signed a movie contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but he would never appear in any pictures for the studio.
Knox signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but would leave the team after one month to once again pursue a film career. Knox signed with the Calgary Stampeders on October 3, 1956, six days after quitting the Tiger-Cats.
Knox signed with the Chicago Bears for the 1957 season.
Due to a bitter dispute with the Bears, Knox was not allowed by Halas to play for the Bears or play for any other NFL team Instead, he signed with the Toronto Argonauts midway through 1958 Canadian Football League season with a promise by Harvey Knox to the team that he would not interfere. His most notable performance came on October 25, 1958 when, playing the Ottawa Rough Riders, he passed for 522 yards, then a team record and still second most in Argonaut history.
After leaving Toronto, Knox would appear in a few movies and television shows, but not return to football, despite offers from the Oakland Raiders and San Diego Chargers of the newly formed American Football League.
In the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s Knox drifted around California, residing only a short time in various towns, prior to moving again. In July 1988 a reporter located him as he was moving out of a one room apartment in Canoga Park, California.
Knox had lived there for just several weeks, spending the majority of his time writing poetry. Aside from past residences in McKinleyville, California, Malibu, California, and San Francisco, Knox lived for short periods in other states, id est (that is)
Maine and Texas. He also lived for brief stints in Mexico and Europe.
Having been single since a divorce in 1964, his philosophy was to stay free. Knox compared his lifestyle to the noble savage written about by James Fennimore Cooper. He read English literature by the hour, stretched out on a cot or in his worn out twelve-year-old car.
He yearned for a life at sea.