Daniel Farrell Reeves (June 30, 1912 – April 15, 1971) was an American sports entrepreneur, best known as the owner of the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL).
[1][2] Reeves is remembered for his move of the Rams from Cleveland to Los Angeles in 1946, 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 post World War II era, inking deals with halfback Kenny Washington and end Woody Strode in 1946, as well as being the first to employ a full-time scouting staff.
He was born in New York City to Irish 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 in Lakewood, New Jersey, and attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., which he left before acquiring his degree.
[7] The team was a comparatively young one, launched in 1936, 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.
[8] Despite its financial woes, the previously unsuccessful franchise began to turn around in 1944; the Rams won the Western division title in 1945 and the championship game behind rookie quarterback and league MVP Bob Waterfield, a future member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
[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.
[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.
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.