Go west, young Rams

Sporting News, The, Jan 23, 1995 by Steve Gietschier

It is 1945. The Cleveland Rams of the NFL open their season with four consecutive victories, drop a game, 28-14, to the Philadelphia Eagles, and then win five straight to finish at 9-1. They are the NFL's Western Division champs for the first time.

The Rams are coached by Adam Walsh, one of Notre Dame's Seven Mules, the line that blocked for the Four Horsemen, and quarterbacked by Bob Waterfield, a rookie. A third-round draft choice from UCLA, Waterfield throws 14 touchdown passes, rushes for five more, kicks field goals and extra points, punts and plays defense. He is the unanimous winner of the league's Most Valuable Player award, and in his spare time is married to actress Jane Russell, whom THE SPORTING NEWS describes in December as "frendly, gracious without any of the airs of a movie queen. Jane did her own housekeeping, marketing and cooking."

On December 16, the Rams meet the Eastern champion Washington Redskins in Cleveland's Municipal Stadium for the NFL title and win, 15-14. The game grosses $164,542.40 at the gate, an NFL record, and sets additional marks for net gate, radio and motion picture rights, winning player's share ($1,469.74), losing player's share ($902.47) and second-place pool. The Rams are the toast of a very cold Cleveland.

Three weeks later, Rams Owner Dan Reeves (not the present New York Giants head coach) shocks the sports world by announcing his intention to move his team all the way to Los Angeles. Despite winning the title, he says in THE SPORTING NEWS of January 17, 1946, his team lost $40,000 in 1945. He is willing, he says, to become the first major league team in any sport to try its luck in the vast and untried territory west of St. Louis.

Sympathetic owners grasp Reeves' point but balk at the high costs of traveling to the West Coast for road games. Reeves answers their objections by offering $5,000 over the league's guarantee to each team coming west to play. The move is approved, and the Cleveland Rams are revolutionized into the Los Angeles Rams. They will, in time, become one of pro sport's most glittering franchises.

The Rams had begun their life in the NFL as an expansion team, so to speak, in 1937. The league's owners were committed to adding one team that year, and they selected Cleveland over Houston and Los Angeles. Owner Homer Marshman picked Rams as his team's nickname at the suggestion of General Manager Buzz Wetzel, who borrowed his choice from his favorite college team, Fordham University.

Cleveland fared none too well in its debut season, winning only one of 11 games, and creeping up to the .500 level just once in the next three years. Marshman periodicially added new partners at $1,000 a pop to keep the franchise afloat, but he was more than willing to accept an offer to sell the team for $100,000 in 1941.

That proposition came from the duo of Fred Levy Jr. and Reeves, the 29-year-old son of a New York City grocery-chain owner. A graduate of Georgetown University, Reeves had previously tried to buy the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Eagles, but to no avail. When the Rams opened the 1941 season in Akron's Rubber Bowl against the Steelers, Levy and Reeves were present. Cleveland halfback Dante Magnani grabbed the opening kickoff and ran it back 95 yards for a touchdown. Levy exulted, "Is it this easy?" Hardly. The Rams beat the Steelers and the Chicago Cardinals the next week, but then lost nine in succession to finish last.

When America entered World War II, many NFL players entered the service or took defense-related jobs. The NFL considered canceling the 1942 season but decided to struggle on. The Rams advanced to a 5-6 record, but after the season Reeves petitioned the league for permission to suspend his team's operations. After a one-year hiatus, the Rams came back to finish 4-6 in 1994 with a still-depleted roster.

Enter Adam Walsh. He expected to field an ordinary team in 1945 but was pleasantly surprised by Waterfield, who had spent two years in the Army before reporting for pro football duty.

The Rams opened with victories over the Cardinals, the Chicago Bears, the Green Bay Packers and the Bears again. THE SPORTING NEWS of October 25 called Cleveland "sport's first spectacular postwar team. Not only are they ushering in a new and dynamic era for the National Football League, but a bright one for their own town. No Cleveland team has enjoyed a winning season in the National League and this is the Rams' eight campaign."

After losing to the Eagles, Cleveland swept through the New York Giants, the Packers again, the Cardinals again, the Detroit Lions and the Boston Yanks. THE SPORTING NEWS of November 29 reported on the Rams' victory over the Lions at Briggs Stadium: "Bob Waterfield and Jim Benton were the main men in the Rams' clincher at Detroit. Benton caught ten passes for 303 yards, a new league record. Cleveland had a 28 to 7 lead when the final quarter started and was not too perturbed when the Lions scored twice."

The NFL calculated that selling all 77,600 tickets in Municipal Stadium for the championship game would gross over $300,000. But a blizzard hit Cleveland, and on game day the temperature stood at a mere 2 degrees. Only 32,178 braved the cold to see the matchup between Waterfield and Sammy Baugh, two quarterbacks expert at running the still-new T formation.