Daniel Farrell Reeves (June 30, 1912 – April 15, 1971) was an American sports entrepreneur, best known as the owner of the National Football League (NFL) franchise Los Angeles Rams. He owned the franchise when it was operating in Cleveland, Ohio in 1941, and he would own the team until his death in 1971. 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. 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. Reeves was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967. Early years Born in New York City to Irish immigrants James Reeves and Rose Farrell, Reeves' father and an uncle, Daniel, had risen together from fruit peddlers to owners of a grocery-store chain, bringing wealth to the family. 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. While attending Georgetown, Reeves met his future wife, Mary V. Corroon. The couple were married on October 25, 1935, and would together have six children. The Reeves family's grocery chain was sold to Safeway Stores in 1941, generating capital and freeing the youthful Dan Reeves, age 29, to pursue his dream of owning a professional football franchise. Purchase of Cleveland Rams Together with his friend and business partner Robert Levy, Reeves purchased the Cleveland Rams franchise in 1941 from a local ownership group for $135,000. 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. The team did not operate in , and Reeves became the sole owner in December, while serving stateside in the U.S. Army Air Forces. 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. Move to Los Angeles Immediately