Daniel Farrell Reeves was born on June 30, 1912 in New York City, the son of James Reeves and Rose M. Farrell. The elder Reeves and his brother Daniel, Irish immigrants, worked their way from fruit peddlers to ownership of a major grocery store chain.
Reeves was captain of the football team at the Newman School in Lakewood, New Jersey, but his outstanding skill and driving desire were executive. He once said to a friend, "Isn't it the dream of every American boy to own a football team?" Newman awarded Reeves its General Excellence Medal at his graduation in June 1930. Reeves entered Georgetown University in 1930 but did not complete his degree.
After leaving Georgetown, Reeves worked in the family business until the firm merged with Safeway Stores in 1941. That same year he sought to fulfill his life's ambition by casting about for a major league football team to purchase.
After unsuccessful negotiations with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles, he joined the National Football League's (NFL) hierarchy at age twenty-eight, when he obtained two-thirds of the four-year-old Cleveland Rams franchise.
Later in 1941, he added to his sports holdings with the purchase of the Jersey City Giants of the American Professional Football Association. During World War II, Reeves was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Army Air Corps in 1942. Accompanied by his family, he served at upstate New York bases for the duration.
In 1943, he became a member of the New York Stock Exchange through the firm of Adler, Coleman and Co. Ultimately promoted to captain, he returned to civilian life in 1945, just in time to see the Rams capture the NFL championship.
Reeves earned his reputation as a sports innovator in 1946, when he shifted the Rams franchise from Cleveland to Los Angeles, the first major league team of any sport to move to the West Coast. It was a financial risk with no guarantees. The fact that a decade passed before any other owners followed Reeves's lead underscores his unusual combination of a gambler's instinct with foresight and sound business acumen. The NFL had a handful of black players before the war, but it was Reeves's 1946 hiring of the great UCLA halfback, Kenny Washington, that truly lowered the color bar for all professional sports.
This step toward sports integration took place a year before baseball's Brooklyn Dodgers brought another great UCLA black player, Jackie Robinson, up from the International League. One of Reeves's early California moves illustrates his innate marketing sense. With an eye to future turnstile counts, he introduced the "Free Football for Kids" program, which enabled two generations of youngsters to enjoy the team's home games.
Also, using his capability for spotting talent, Reeves hired Pete Rozelle as the publicity director for the Rams. Rozelle became his protégé and took over as NFL commissioner at the age of thirty-three.
Reeves did not ignore the financial world. On November 1, 1946, the board of governors of the New York Stock Exchange approved a new member firm, Daniel Reeves & Co. , with offices in Beverly Hills and New York City. The firm's partners were Reeves, Charles T. Jawetz, and Thomas Cerny. When the pressure of directing his football franchise became too demanding, Reeves transferred his seat to L. Morton Stern, a New York member of Reeves & Co. , on August 21, 1947.
Within professional football's technical framework, Reeves's most important contribution was the organization of a scouting network for the evaluation of college players. Every other NFL team copied the idea, and it became an integral part of the game. The Rams ran up enormous deficits in their first three years. The $250, 000 loss for 1948 prompted Reeves to take in partners. The new investors included Edwin Pauley, Fred Levy, Hal Seley, and Bob Hope.
With fresh capital underwriting increased operating and promotional progress, the Rams began playing before crowds of eighty thousand in the Los Angeles Coliseum. They had the NFL's first 100, 000-spectator game, and set an attendance record by drawing 102, 368 fans for a game with the San Francisco 49ers. The Rams' western rebirth culminated with the 1951 NFL championship, their first since leaving Cleveland. Reeves and Pauley each owned one-third of the team. By 1956 their relationship had developed such an animus, however, that it was clear one or the other would have to go. The feud became so intense that Bert Bell, the NFL commissioner, appointed Rozelle general manager to run the team in place of the embattled owners.
Peace came in December 1962, when Reeves bought out the others for $4. 8 million. He put up $1 million himself, brought in seven new partners, and borrowed additional funds to raise the balance. Following the 1951 championship, the team's fortunes steadily declined, largely owing to the owners' strife. Despite his much-publicized partnership problems, Reeves's most famous altercation during his thirty years in football took place with the irrepressible George Allen. Seven consecutive losing seasons led Reeves to hire the flamboyant former assistant for the Rams as head coach in 1966 (one of ten he employed during his ownership).
Although Allen made the Rams winners for the first time in years, Reeves disapproved of his methods, which included hiring players without consulting Reeves, spying on other teams, and criticizing opponents on the playing field after a defeat. As a result, Reeves fired Allen on the day after Christmas 1968, then rehired him when Rams fans vehemently protested and the players threatened to strike. Reeves again fired Allen two years later when his contract expired. Another source of strife in the 1960's was the bitter warfare between the NFL and AFL before they merged during the period 1966-1967.
Reeves died in New York City of Hodgkin's disease at age 58.
Quotations: "There are only two things necessary. First you get the best players. Then you get the coach who can get the best out of them. "
Through a college classmate he met Mary V. Corroon, whom he married on October 25, 1935; they had six children.
