Homer Marshman

Homer Marshman (1898-1989) was the first owner of the Cleveland Rams. A prominent Cleveland, Ohio attorney and businessman, he founded the team along with player-coach Damon "Buzz" Wetzel in 1936, when it played one successful year in the American Football League, then acquired a National Football League franchise for the team on February 13, 1937. Marshman and the other Rams stockholders paid $10,000 for the NFL franchise, then put up $55,000 to capitalize the new club.

The new league was much tougher, however, and the Rams fared poorly on the field. Between 1937 and 1942, the Rams' best finish was third place in the Western Division, with 5 wins and 6 losses in 1942. In June 1941, Marshman and his partners sold the Rams to grocery magnate Daniel Reeves and Frederick Levy, Jr. for about $100,000.

In January 1946, after the team finally was successful on the field and just had won the 1945 NFL Championship, Reeves, a New York City native, moved the Rams to Los Angeles. Marshman then became co-owner and secretary of the Cleveland Browns from 1954 to 1962, when he sold his shares in the team to New Yorker Art Modell, who later moved the Browns to Baltimore. This marked the second time Marshman helped to facilitate out-of-town ownership of a Cleveland NFL team that ultimately left the region. ^[2][3][4][5]

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