The Cleveland Rams: The NFL Champs Who Left Too Soon, 1936-1945

by James C. Sulecki

Overview

In 2016 the Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles—having departed L.A. for St. Louis in 1995—and caused much heartbreak among fans. NFL teams are notorious for decamping to more profitable markets and the Rams' history of opportunistic moves goes back to 1946, when they left Cleveland, their original hometown, where fans had cheered them to a championship a month earlier.

The move to L.A. from Cleveland shocked the NFL and shook up its power structure. It also jolted the all-white league into reintegration, prepared the way for the Browns, and made the Rams the only NFL champs ever to have spent the following season in a different city.

This is the story of how the Rams went from a home-grown Ohio team funded by local businessmen to the first major-league franchise on the West Coast, and how their departure jumpstarted a chain of events in Cleveland that continues to this day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786499434
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Publication date:	10/26/2016
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

James C. Sulecki is the corporate content director of a northeastern Ohio business media company. He lives in Cleveland, Ohio.

Table of Contents

Preface 1

Introduction: "A Champion scram team" 6

Part I Start Up

1 "We became the Rams" 15

2 Razzle-Dazzled and Bedraggled 26

3 This Time Pro Football Was Going to Work in Cleveland 39

4 Rams to the Slaughter 51

Part II Upstarts

5 Race-Wrecking Rams 60

6 The Rams' Lewis and Clark Expedition 76

7 "The public be pleased" 89

8 The War Year, the Lost Year 106

Part III On the Up and Up

9 Twenty Months to a Title 117

10 The Hero's Journey to Cleveland 131

11 A New Power Rises in the West 142

12 "An even zero": The Title Game 162

Part IV Up and Gone

13 "The public be damned" 177

14 "The Cleveland Rams ceased to exist" 196

Appendix: What Became of Selected Individuals 217

Chapter Notes 225

Bibliography 245

Index 268

Editorial Reviews

Sulecki has written a readable account of the Cleveland Rams that flow nicely, and is often hard to put down. It is an interesting story, and is filled with fascinating details...a well researched and well written account of the Rams years in Cleveland and beyond”—Sport in American History; “the first book to examine the history of the Cleveland Rams and the context surrounding the team’s move to Los Angeles. The research is thorough...recommended”—Mind’s Eye Press.

From the Publisher