History of The St. Louis Rams - AFL Cleveland Rams (1936)

AFL Cleveland Rams (1936)

For more details on this topic, see 1936 Cleveland Rams season.

When the second ever American Football League was founded in 1936, Cleveland attorney Homer Marshman was awarded a charter franchise. Marshman's team was named the Cleveland Rams and it finished with a 5–2–2 record during its inaugural season, second best in the league.

After the completion of the Rams first season, Marshman learned that the National Football League wished to expand. He placed a bid along with representatives from Houston and Los Angeles. The NFL decided to go with the Cleveland Rams in order to keep the teams in the East and Midwest. Marshman paid a $10,000 entrance fee and the Rams were part of the NFL. Ironically, the Rams' replacement in the AFL, the Los Angeles Bulldogs, won the 1937 AFL championship while being the first professional football team to play its home games on the West Coast.

Only four of the Rams players who were on the team's roster in 1936 (William "Bud" Cooper, Harry "The Horse" Mattos, Stan Pincura, Mike Sebastian) were on the roster in 1937 for their inaugural season in the NFL.