History of the Cleveland Rams

The professional American football team now known as the Los Angeles Rams was established in Cleveland, Ohio, and played there from 1936 to 1945. This article chronicles the team's history during their time as the Cleveland Rams. The Rams competed in the American Football League (1936) and the National Football League (1937-1945), and winning the NFL championship in 1945, before moving to Los Angeles in 1946 to become the only NFL champion ever to play the following season in another city. The move of the team to Los Angeles helped to jump-start the reintegration of pro football by African-American players and opened up the West Coast to professional sports.

After being based in Los Angeles, California, for 49 years, the Rams franchise moved again after the 1994 NFL season to St. Louis, Missouri. In 2016, the team moved back to Los Angeles after 21 seasons in St. Louis.

Early Years

1936: Founding in the AFL

The Rams franchise, founded in 1936 by attorney/businessman Homer Marshman and player-coach Damon "Buzz" Wetzel, was named for the then-powerhouse Fordham Rams and because the name was short and would fit easily into a newspaper headline.

Cleveland

Cleveland (/ˈkliːvlənd/ KLEEV-lənd) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location on the lake shore, as well as being connected to numerous canals and railroad lines. Cleveland's economy has diversified sectors that include manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedical. Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Clinic.

As of the 2013 Census Estimate, the city proper had a total population of 390,113, making Cleveland the 48th largest city in the United States, and the second largest city in Ohio after Columbus.Greater Cleveland, the Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, ranked 29th largest in the United States, and second largest in Ohio after Cincinnati with 2,064,725 people in 2013. Cleveland is part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, which in 2013 had a population of 3,501,538, and ranked as the country's 15th largest CSA.

Rams

Rams is the plural of the word ram. In zoology, a ram is an uncastrated adult male sheep.

Other uses of Rams include:

Surname

Acronyms

Sports teams

Chicago Bears

The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Bears have won nine NFL Championships and one Super Bowl and hold the NFL record for the most enshrinees in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the most retired jersey numbers. The Bears have also recorded more regular season and overall victories than any other NFL franchise.

The franchise was founded in Decatur, Illinois, in 1919, and moved to Chicago in 1921. It is one of only two remaining franchises from the NFL's founding (along with the Arizona Cardinals, which was originally also in Chicago). The team played home games at Wrigley Field on Chicago's North Side through the 1970 season; they now play at Soldier Field on the Near South Side, next to Lake Michigan. The Bears have a long-standing rivalry with the Green Bay Packers.

The team headquarters, Halas Hall, is in the Chicago suburb of Lake Forest, Illinois. The Bears practice at adjoining facilities there during the season. They hold their annual training camp from late July to mid-August at Ward Field on the campus of Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais, Illinois.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles (ⁱ/lɒs ˈændʒəlᵻs/ loss AN-jə-ləs or loss AN-jə-liss) (Spanish for "The Angels"), officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the second-largest city in the United States after New York City, the most populous city in the state of California, and the county seat of Los Angeles County.

Situated in Southern California, Los Angeles is known for its mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, sprawling metropolis, and as a major center of the American entertainment industry. Los Angeles lies in a large coastal basin surrounded on three sides by mountains reaching up to and over 10,000 feet (3,000 m).

Historically home to the Chumash and Tongva, Los Angeles was claimed by Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo for Spain in 1542 along with the rest of what would become Alta California. The city was officially founded on September 4, 1781, by Spanish governor Felipe de Neve. It became a part of Mexico in 1821 following the Mexican War of Independence. In 1848, at the end of the Mexican–American War, Los Angeles and the rest of California were purchased as part of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, thereby becoming part of the United States. Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality on April 4, 1850, five months before California achieved statehood. The city experienced rapid growth with the discovery of oil.