Cleveland Rams Team History
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.
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
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.
Team History
2016 – Present Los Angeles Rams
1995 – 2015 St. Louis Rams
1946 – 1994 Los Angeles Rams
1936 – 1945 Cleveland Rams
Championship
Super Bowl 0
1999
NFL Championship 1
1945
Stadium
2019 Los Angeles Stadium at Hollywood Park
2016 – Present Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
*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
Mascot
2010 – Present Rampage
*Blue is this team’s history