He was a supporter of racial segregation and was the last NFL owner to integrate African Americans onto a roster, only doing so in 1962 amid pressure from the federal government who threatened to block the use of D.C.

[citation needed] Marshall initially pursued acting, and was an extra for a local theater but this pursuit was interrupted in 1918 when he was drafted into World War I, although he was not deployed abroad.

He hired coach "Lone Star" William Henry Dietz, who claimed[7][8] to be part Sioux and changed the team name from the Braves to the Redskins.

[9] In 1936, the team won the Eastern division and hosted the 1936 NFL Championship Game, which Marshall moved from Boston to the Polo Grounds in New York City.

Marshall saw the NFL as not just a sport but as a form of entertainment and incorporated elements of college football, including gala halftime shows, a marching band, and a fight song, "Hail to the Redskins".

This change remained in place for about four decades until NFL goal posts were returned to the end line in the mid-1970s as part of an effort to lessen the influence on the game of kicking specialists.

He only agreed to the addition after a rival acquired the rights to the fight song from the writer of the music and threatened to prohibit the team from playing it at games.

He once berated Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney for driving up salaries by signing then University of Colorado's Byron White for $15,800, then the highest contract in football in the late 1930s.

"[5] His refusal to integrate was routinely mocked by Shirley Povich, a columnist for The Washington Post, who called him "one of pro football’s greatest innovators, and its leading bigot.

Udall and Kennedy were well within their rights to take this action, since D. C. Stadium had been funded by government money and was located on federal land.

[17][5] On a television show, Oscar Levant asked Marshall if he was anti-Semitic, to which he responded: "Oh no, I love Jews, especially when they're customers.

Marshall added a caveat that no money from the foundation would ever go toward "any purpose which supports the principle of racial integration in any form"; however, this requirement was thrown out by the courts.

[3] In 1963, soon after his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Marshall suffered a debilitating stroke that left him legally incompetent to manage his affairs.

[22] In August 1969, Marshall died in his sleep at his home in Georgetown from hemiphlagia and a heart condition, compounded by diabetes and arteriosclerosis.