Los Angeles Rams | History, Notable Players, & Facts - Britannica

Early years

The Rams began play in 1936 as a member of the short-lived American Football League—they joined the NFL the following year—and were originally located in Cleveland. The new team lost all but one game in its first season in the NFL and failed to post a winning season in any of the following five seasons. The Rams had to suspend operations in 1943 due to a player shortage caused by World War II. In 1945 rookie quarterback Bob Waterfield led the Rams to their first winning season (9–1) and a victory over the Washington Redskins in the NFL championship game. The 1945 championship game would prove to be the Rams’ final game in Cleveland, as team owner Dan Reeves moved the franchise to Los Angeles in 1946 rather than compete with the new Cleveland Browns franchise of the All-America Football Conference.

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In 1948 the Rams became the first professional football team to add an insignia (a pair of golden ram’s horns) to their helmets, an innovation that would pay great dividends for the sport as it entered into the television era, when iconic helmets helped teams create salient identities among football fans.

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In the early 1950s the Rams featured a high-powered offense starring quarterback Norm Van Brocklin and ends Elroy Hirsch and Tom Fears, all future Hall of Famers. The team posted no losing seasons between 1950 and 1955, and they defeated the Browns to win the 1951 NFL championship. The Rams’ success helped the team set attendance records through the end of the 1950s and into the ’60s.

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