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Want a crazy L.A. relocation story? Meet the 1946 Cleveland Rams
<img src='http://a1.fssta.com/content/dam/fsd...Bob-Waterfield-MM-PI.vadapt.320.medium.61.jpg' alt=''>
Future Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Waterfield had to pick up and move to Los Angeles in 1946. Why? Maybe because his owner didn't like Cleveland's weather.
Vic Stein / Getty Images
By Nick Toney Jan 12, 2016 at 11:46p ET
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Imagine this: The New England Patriots, fresh off their stunning victory in Super Bowl XLIX, pack up and leave Gillette Stadium after a month.
It's tough to picture -- until you understand that's exactly what the Cleveland Rams did in 1946. With no owner support and odd motives, the then-reigning NFL champions left 30 days into their reign for the bright lights of Los Angeles. Their move would change the league for the 70 years to come.
Owner Dan Reeves cited waning attendance and financial losses for the quick relocation. Others could speculate the move was weather-based one for Reeves; the 1945 Championship game was played at a balmy -8 degrees. Ice and wind made that game the coldest in league history at that point.
But when Reeves announced his intention to relocate his team, other owners refused to back him. Their reasoning? The NFL was an East coast league that spanned as far west as Green Bay. Cross- country travel was a luxury that some owners simply couldn't afford.
Owners relented, due in part to fears a rival league would conquer L.A. and make it their western headquarters. Reeves immediately contacted the Coliseum commission in hopes he could rent their 103,000-seat stadium
He could on one condition -- integration. A reporter from the Los Angeles Tribune, a black weekly, approached general manager Charles "Chili" Walsh and argued his team should be compelled to try out black players if it used public land. That stipulation made its way to the Ram's new stadium lease.
The Rams obliged. The team signed UCLA stars Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. Historians speculate Dodgers owner Branch Rickey cited their success when he added his own ex-Bruin a year later: Jackie Robinson.
The Dodgers wouldn't join the Rams in L.A. for over a decade. Reeves owned the first West-Coast-based major sports team by over a decade. He also owned the first team that would operate a team of scouts.
Lastly, and more consequentially, he owned the first freely-integrated team after World War II -- all thanks to some bad weather, stingy owners, and one inquisitive reporter.
<img src='http://a1.fssta.com/content/dam/fsd...Bob-Waterfield-MM-PI.vadapt.320.medium.61.jpg' alt=''>
Future Hall of Fame quarterback Bob Waterfield had to pick up and move to Los Angeles in 1946. Why? Maybe because his owner didn't like Cleveland's weather.
Vic Stein / Getty Images
By Nick Toney Jan 12, 2016 at 11:46p ET
0shares
Imagine this: The New England Patriots, fresh off their stunning victory in Super Bowl XLIX, pack up and leave Gillette Stadium after a month.
It's tough to picture -- until you understand that's exactly what the Cleveland Rams did in 1946. With no owner support and odd motives, the then-reigning NFL champions left 30 days into their reign for the bright lights of Los Angeles. Their move would change the league for the 70 years to come.
Owner Dan Reeves cited waning attendance and financial losses for the quick relocation. Others could speculate the move was weather-based one for Reeves; the 1945 Championship game was played at a balmy -8 degrees. Ice and wind made that game the coldest in league history at that point.
But when Reeves announced his intention to relocate his team, other owners refused to back him. Their reasoning? The NFL was an East coast league that spanned as far west as Green Bay. Cross- country travel was a luxury that some owners simply couldn't afford.
Owners relented, due in part to fears a rival league would conquer L.A. and make it their western headquarters. Reeves immediately contacted the Coliseum commission in hopes he could rent their 103,000-seat stadium
He could on one condition -- integration. A reporter from the Los Angeles Tribune, a black weekly, approached general manager Charles "Chili" Walsh and argued his team should be compelled to try out black players if it used public land. That stipulation made its way to the Ram's new stadium lease.
The Rams obliged. The team signed UCLA stars Kenny Washington and Woody Strode. Historians speculate Dodgers owner Branch Rickey cited their success when he added his own ex-Bruin a year later: Jackie Robinson.
The Dodgers wouldn't join the Rams in L.A. for over a decade. Reeves owned the first West-Coast-based major sports team by over a decade. He also owned the first team that would operate a team of scouts.
Lastly, and more consequentially, he owned the first freely-integrated team after World War II -- all thanks to some bad weather, stingy owners, and one inquisitive reporter.
