Dan Reeves | |
|---|---|
 Reeves,c. 1954 | |
| Born | Daniel Farrell Reeves June 30, 1912 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | April 15, 1971(1971-04-15) (aged 58) New York City, U.S. |
| Resting place | Gate of Heaven Cemetery (Hawthorne, New York) |
| Education | Georgetown University (no degree) |
| Occupation(s) | businessman and sports entrepreneur |
| Known for | Owner of the NFL's Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams franchise, 1941–1971 |
| Spouse | Mary V. Corroon Reeves (m.1935–1971, his death) |
| Children | 6 |
Daniel Farrell Reeves (June 30, 1912 – April 15, 1971) was an American sports entrepreneur, best known as the owner of theLos Angeles Rams of theNational Football League (NFL). He owned the franchise when it was operating inCleveland, Ohio in1941, and he would own the team until his death in1971.[1][2]
Reeves is remembered for his move of the Rams fromCleveland toLos Angeles in1946, where it became the first American major league sports franchise on the Pacific Coast.[3] He was also the first NFL owner to sign a black player in the postWorld War II era, inking deals with halfbackKenny Washington and endWoody Strode in 1946, as well as being the first to employ a full-time scouting staff.
Reeves was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.
He was born inNew York City toIrish immigrants James Reeves and Rose Farrell, who, along with an uncle, Daniel, had risen together from fruit peddlers to owners of a grocery-store chain, bringing wealth to the family.[citation needed]
Reeves was a graduate of the Newman School inLakewood, New Jersey, and attendedGeorgetown University inWashington, D.C., which he left before acquiring his degree. While attending Georgetown, Reeves met his future wife, Mary V. Corroon. The couple were married on October 25, 1935, and would together have six children.[citation needed]
The Reeves family's grocery chain was sold toSafeway Stores in 1941, generating capital and freeing the youthful Dan Reeves, age 29, to pursue his dream of owning a professional football franchise.[4]
Together with his friend and business partner Robert Levy,[5][6] Reeves purchased theCleveland Rams franchise in1941 from a local ownership group for $135,000.[7] The team was a comparatively young one, launched in1936, and finances were tight, with as few as 200 season ticket holders and no television revenue, forcing some players to work for as little as $100 per game.[7] The team did not operate in1943, and Reeves became the sole owner in December, while serving stateside in theU.S. Army Air Forces.[8]
Despite its financial woes, the previously unsuccessful franchise began to turn around in1944; the Rams won the Western division title in1945 and thechampionship game behind rookie quarterback andleague MVPBob Waterfield, a future member of thePro Football Hall of Fame.[9]
Immediately following the conclusion of the1945 season, with thechampionship game having been played in icy Cleveland before 32,000 fans on December 15, Reeves announced his intention to move his team to sunnySouthernCalifornia: the League approved the move on January 12, 1946.[10] He had actually considered moving to Los Angeles not long after buying the team; it appeared that he only stayed in Cleveland because wartime travel restrictions made major-league sports on the West Coast unviable.[11]
Reeves cited five years of losses, including $64,000 in 1945. His bottom line wasn't helped by poor attendance; despite winning the league title, the Rams had the second-lowest attendance in the league, behind only theirrivalChicago Cardinals. Even without that to consider, Reeves knew he would have faced an uphill battle against theCleveland Browns of the upstartAll-America Football Conference. The Browns' owner, taxicab and real estate magnateMickey McBride, had more resources than Reeves could even begin to match. Additionally, the Browns were coached by formerOhio State head coachPaul Brown, a long-respected figure in Ohio coaching circles, and had a roster laden with Ohio collegiate stars. It appeared that the Browns were the only AAFC team that even potentially had a chance of chasing their NFL rivals out of town.
On January 15, Rams team representatives went before the Los Angeles Coliseum Commission with a plan to lease use of the facility for home games, as it was already the home venue forcollege football for bothUCLA andUSC of thePacific Coast Conference.[12] On January 23, the Coliseum Commission approved use of the 103,000-seat stadium for Rams' Sunday home games during the1946 season.[13] The move did not immediately cure the team's financial woes, however: in 1947, Reeves found himself in need of co-owners to share the mounting losses while attempting a turnaround. Reeves brought Levy back in for a one-third stake in the team, while another third went toEdwin Pauley and Hal Saley.
Eventually, the team proved to be extremely successful on the field, with quarterback Bob Waterfield helping the team to three straight League Championship games from 1949 to 1951, culminating in the 1951 Championship trophy.[9] Boasting some of football's most glamorous stars, the Rams drew extremely well at the ticket office. Topped by a crowd of 102,368 for game against theSan Francisco 49ers in1957, attendance for Rams games in theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum topped 80,000 on 22 occasions during the teams' first two decades in California.
The previous closeness between Reeves and Levy fell away, though, and soon Levy was siding with Pauley against Reeves on most significant ownership decisions. Pauley eventually assumed Levy's stake, giving Pauley two-thirds ownership of the team but that did nothing to resolve the constant battles between Pauley and Reeves. Finally in 1962, the NFL stepped in to resolve the situation by holding a closed auction to result in one partner buying out the other. Reeves outbid Pauley for the team, valuing the Rams at $7.1 million against Pauley's bid of $6.1 million. Reeves once again assumed sole ownership.
He then raised the funds to support his bid by immediately selling 49% of the team to a group of minority owners that includedGene Autry.[14] By the time of Reeves' death in 1971, the team's value was estimated at $20 million.
Reeves also owned one of Los Angeles' firstice hockey teams, theWestern Hockey League'sLos Angeles Blades, which lasted from 1961 to 1967 and played nearby the Coliseum at theLos Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. Given the Blades' success, Reeves was an early favorite to get aNational Hockey League franchise during the1967 NHL expansion, but the league awarded the team toLos Angeles Lakers ownerJack Kent Cooke.[15]
The innovative Reeves made several other significant contributions to pro football. He instituted the famed "Free Football for Kids" program that enabled youngsters to enjoy the game in their formative years and then, hopefully, become ardent fans as adults. His signing of the ex-UCLA great,Kenny Washington, in the spring of 1946 marked the first time a black player had been hired in the NFL since 1933.
Reeves' experimentation in the early days of television provided the groundwork for pro football's current successful TV policies. He was also the first to employ a full-time scouting staff.
In1965, Reeves lured away defensive coordinator and head of player personnelGeorge Allen from theChicago Bears. Allen made key trades and draft choices, which returned the team back to prominence within the next three seasons of his tenure. Allen allegedly had agreed on the deal with Reeves with two years remaining on his contract with the Bears, and a protracted legal battle followed.[16]
By1968, Reeves had sought to go in a new direction as far as to find a new head coach for the team. On Christmas Day, Reeves attempted to fire Allen, but due to the wide public outcry of the Rams' fans over the dismissal, he finally relented and retained Allen as the head coach for the next two years, then fired him again after the1970 season.[17]
Reeves was enshrined in thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1967. For his contribution to sports in Los Angeles, he was honored with aLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum"Court of Honor" plaque by the Coliseum commissioners. A longtimesmoker, Reeves's health began to deteriorate by 1969. Reeves, who was also diagnosed withHodgkin's disease, succumbed tocancer in his New York City apartment on April 15, 1971.
After Reeves' death,Baltimore Colts ownerCarroll Rosenbloom assumed control of the Rams on July 13,1972,[18] spinning off the Colts toRobert Irsay in a swap of franchises between the owners and their investors.[19]