Meet the Rams T eams in the National Football League NFL do a lot of other cities and sometimes have to fly thousands of miles between games The St Louis Rams may be the most well-traveled team of all During their history they have moved twice traveling during a season They play half their schedule in No matter which city they’ve called home the Rams have always put points on the scoreboard Some of football’s great passers runners and receivers have worn the team’s blue and gold uniform When it comes to stopping opponents from scoring the Rams are pretty good too This book tells the story of the Rams In the rough and sweaty world of professional football it isn’t easy to be glamorous Yet somehow the Rams always find a way to look like champions They are spectacular in victory and courageous in defeat Every player on the team gives his all to measure up to a long tradition of excellence Sam Bradford flicks a short pass to Lance Kendricks The Rams have been famous for their passing game since the 1940s 5
Glory Days T he state of Ohio has a proud football history In fact many people consider it to be the birthplace of the professional game When the NFL announced plans to expand in 1937 the league turned to Cleveland Ohio The city already had a team called the Rams and owner Homer Marshman was eager to be part of the NFL Cleveland’s early stars included Johnny Drake Chet Adams Jim Benton and Ted Livingston They helped form a competitive team but the Rams did not have a winning season until 1945 That year a rookie named Bob Waterfield joined the club He was a talented quarterback who also kicked field goals The Rams found a perfect coach in Adam Walsh He believed that strong-armed passers such as 6
Waterfield were the future of football The Rams went 9 1 in 1945 and won their first NFL championship A few months later fans were shocked to learn that the Rams were moving to Los Angeles California Dan Reeves was now the team owner He believed that the Rams would draw more fans out West where the population was skyrocketing Other sports teams had thought of doing the same thing The Rams were the first to actually take the chance It turned out to be a great move The Rams had a star-studded team Waterfield and Norm Van Brocklin shared time at quarterback Waterfield usually played the first and third quarters and Van Brocklin would come in for the second and fourth quarters They had two excellent receivers in Tom Fears and Elroy Crazy Legs Hirsch Three big running backs Dan Towler Tank Younger and Dick Hoerner made up the Bull Elephant backfield Towler and Younger were two of the NFL’s top African-American stars In an era when there weren’t many black players in the league the Rams were pioneers Other African-American stars who took the field for Los Angeles included Kenny Washington Woody Strode LEFT Bob Waterfield was picked to be on the cover of the NFL Guide in 1946 ABOVE Tank Younger was an early African-American star 7
