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Cleveland Rams Team Formation
The Cleveland Rams were founded by attorney Homer Marshman in 1936. Their name, the Rams, comes from the nickname of Fordham University. “Rams” was selected to honor the hard work of the football players that came out of that university. They were part of the newly formed American Football League and finished the 1936 regular season in second place with a 5–2–2 record, trailing only the 8–3 record of league champion Boston Shamrocks.
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Reeves Looking to Move to Los Angeles
On January 12, 1946, Reeves was denied a request by the other NFL owners to move the Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles and the then-103,000-seat Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. He threatened to end his relationship with the NFL and get out of the professional football business altogether unless the transfer to Los Angeles was permitted. A settlement was reached and, as a result, Reeves was allowed to move his team to Los Angeles. Consequently, the NFL became the first professional coast-to-coast sports entertainment industry.
The franchise began in 1936 as the Cleveland Rams, located in Cleveland, Ohio. The club was owned by Homer Marshman and featured players such as William “Bud” Cooper, Harry “The Horse” Mattos, Stan Pincura, and Mike Sebastian. Damon “Buzz” Wetzel joined as general manager.
Established
1936
City
Cleveland – Los Angeles – St. Louis – Los Angeles
League History
1936 – Present / National Football League
Team History
2016 – Present / Los Angeles Rams
1995 – 2015 / St. Louis Rams
1946 – 1994 / Los Angeles Rams
1936 – 1945 / Cleveland Rams
Nickname
Rams – In 1937 the team joined the NFL. Principal owner Homer Marshman and his general manager, Damon “Buzz” Wetzel picked the Rams name because Wetzel had said his favorite football team had always been the Fordham Rams and Marshman liked the sound of the name.
Championship
Super Bowl 0
1999
NFL Championship 1
1945
Stadium
2020 – Present / SoFi Stadium
2018 – 2019 / Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park (during construction)
2019 / Dignity Health Sports Park
2017 – 2018 / StubHub Center
*St. Louis*
2001 – 2015 / Edward Jones Dome
2001 / Dome at America’s Center
1995 – 2000 / Trans World Dome
*Los Angeles*
1980 – 1994 / Anaheim Stadium
1946 – 1979 / Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
*Cleveland*
1936 – 1937, 1939 – 1941, 1945 / Cleveland Municipal Stadium
1937, 1942, 1944 – 1945 / League Park
1938 / Shaw Stadium
Owner
2010 – Present / Stan Kroenke
2008 – 2010 / Chip Rosenbloom, Lucia Rodriguez, and Stan Kroenke
1995 – 2008 / Georgia Frontiere and Stan Kroenke
1979 – 1995 / Georgia Frontiere
1972 – 1979 / Carroll Rosenbloom
1971 – 1972 / Robert Irsay
1941 – 1971 / Dan Reeves
1936 – 1941 / Homer Marshman
Retired Number
7 Bob Waterfield
28 Marshall Faulk
29 Eric Dickerson
74 Deacon Jones
75 Merlin Olsen
78 Jackie Slater
80 Isaac Bruce
85 Jack Youngblood
*Blue is this team’s history