Dan Reeves ( Rams owner ) Daniel Farrell " Dan " Reeves ( June 30 , 1912 – April 15 , 1971 ) was the owner of the Cleveland / Los Angeles Rams from 1941 to his death in 1971 . Reeves was founder of Dan Reeves Co . Inc . , an investment firm , from which he began to build his financial fortune , which would include the Rams ' franchise . In addition to the controversial move of the Rams from Cleveland to Los Angeles , Reeves is remembered for being the first NFL owner to sign an African - American player in the post World War II era ( halfback Kenny Washington , Woody Strode also signed the same year ) and the first to employ a full - time scouting staff . Biography . Reeves was born of Irish American parents , the son of Irish immigrants James Reeves and Rose Farrell . His father and an uncle , Daniel , had risen from fruit peddlers to owners of a grocery - store chain , bringing wealth to the family . A graduate the Newman School in Lakewood , New Jersey , Reeves attended Georgetown University , but left before acquiring his degree . While attending Georgetown , Reeves met , courted and then married the former Mary V . Corroon on October 25 , 1935 . Boasting some of football ' s most glamorous stars , the Rams won four divisional titles in seven years and the NFL championship in 1951 . The effect at the gate was astounding . Topped by a crowd of 102 , 368 for a San Francisco 49ers game in 1957 , turnouts in the Los Angeles Coliseum surpassed 80 , 000 on 22 occasions during the Rams ' first two decades in California . Reeves , with friend and business partner Robert Levy , purchased the Rams for US $ 100 , 000 in 1941 in Cleveland , Ohio , eventually relocating the franchise to Los Angeles in 1946 , fresh off of an NFL Championship season the year before , in 1945 . Key contributions to pro football . 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 . Dan ' s 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 . Ever the enigma , Reeves ' s tenure as principal owner was never seemingly without controversy , for example , during the 1962 season , a public auction was conducted to try to find a new buyer for the financially strapped Rams franchise , which estimated that it had been losing an average of US $ 300 , 000 a season for the past few years up to that date ; with an unchallenged bid of about US $ 7 . 1 million , Reeves was able to secure 51 % majority ownership of the team for the price of $ 4 . 2 million . An ecstatic Reeves immediately phoned his wife Mary , exclaiming , " We ' ve bought the Rams ! Can we afford it ? " By the time of his passing in 1971 , the team ' s worth was estimated at $ 20 , 000 , 000 . Relationship with George Allen . Another example was the hiring and the tenure of coach George Allen , whom Reeves had lured away from the Chicago Bears in 1965 . Allen would proceed to make key trades and draft choices , which returned the team back to prominence within the next three seasons of his tenure . By 1968 though , Reeves had sought to go in a new direction as far as to find a new head coach for the team ; at season ' s end , on Christmas Day 1968 , he had fired Allen , but due to the wide public outcry of the Rams ' fans over Allen ' s dismissal , Reeves finally relented and retained Allen as the head coach , at least for the next two years afterwards . After Reeves ' s death in 1971 , Allen , who had already inked a deal to assume the head coaching job with the Washington Redskins in January 1971 , just after the end of the 1970 season , would move on to coach the Redskins to their first postseason appearance since 1945 , eventually leading them to the NFC title the next season , and a trip to Super Bowl VII , where they lost to the undefeated Miami Dolphins at the end of the 1972 season . Upon accepting the Rams job back in 1965 , he had allegedly agreed on the deal with Reeves while still under contract with the Bears , with two years remaining on that contract ; litigation in the courts ensued ( that went as high as the Supreme Court ) , with Bears owner Halas threatening to sue on charges of breach of contract . NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle had informed Halas in a written statement that the league " found no reason to interfere " with the Rams ' attempt to sign Allen and that the league " hoped that the matter could be amicably resolved " between the two clubs . Halas then , not wanting to have to go through the lengthy process and costs of court litigation , and not wanting the situation with Allen , who served as the Bears ' defensive coordinator at the time , to keep the Bears organization in bad standing with the NFL and commissioner Pete Rozelle , finally relented and gave his blessing to Allen to talk with Reeves for the Rams ' job . Pro Football HOF enshrinement and death . Reeves was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967 . For his contribution to sports in Los Angeles , he was honored with a Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum " Court of Honor " plaque by the Coliseum commissioners . A longtime smoker , Reeves ' s health began to deteriorate by 1969 , as Reeves , who was also diagnosed with Hodgkin ' s disease , would succumb to cancer , possibly due to the effects of smoking , in his New York City apartment on April 15 , 1971 . After Reeves ' death , Baltimore Colts owner Carroll Rosenbloom assumed control of the Rams , spinning off the Colts to Robert Irsay in a swap of franchises between the owners and their investors . Reeves was survived by his wife Mary , and six children .