| George Preston Marshall | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth | October 11, 1896 |
| Place of birth | Grafton, West Virginia |
| Date of death | August 9, 1969 (age 72) |
| Position(s) | Owner Founder Administrator |
| College | No College |
| Career Highlights | |
| Championships Won |
1937 NFL Championship 1942 NFL Championship |
| Team(s) as a coach/administrator | |
| 1932-1969 | Boston/Washington Redskins |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame, 1963 | |
George Preston Marshall (1896 – 1969) was the long-time owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Grafton is a city in and County seat of Taylor County, West Virginia, USA Events 48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time This is a List of Athletic Conferences of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA and National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA Throughout its history the National Football League and other leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champion including a period of interleague Throughout its history the National Football League and other leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champion including a period of interleague The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington D Athletics Marathon May 4 &mdash Pan American Games Marathon, Sao Paulo Brazil Men's Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team based in the Washington D The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league.
Contents |
Biography
Contributions
Marshall was born in Grafton, West Virginia on October 11, 1896 to Thomas Hildebrand Marshall and Blanche Preston Marshall. Grafton is a city in and County seat of Taylor County, West Virginia, USA Events 1138 - A massive earthquake struck Aleppo, Syria. 1531 - Huldrych Zwingli is killed Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year In 1932, while he was the owner of a chain of laundries in Washington, DC, founded by his father, he and three other partners were awarded an NFL franchise for Boston. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D Professional Sports leagues are organized in numerous This team became known as the Boston Braves, as they played on the same field as baseball's Boston Braves. Marshall's partners left the team after one season, leaving him in control. In 1936 he moved the team from Braves Field to Fenway Park, changing the team nickname to the Redskins. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. In 1937 he moved the team to Washington. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He was romantically tied to silent screen actress Louise Brooks throughout the 20's and 30's, and she gave him the nickname "Wet Wash" due to his owning of the laundry chain. Louise Brooks ( November 14, 1906 &ndash August 8, 1985) was an American Dancer, model, Showgirl He was married to film actress-author Corinne Griffith from 1936 to 1958. Corinne Griffith (1895 &ndash 1979 was a Hollywood actress who is believed to have been born in Texarkana, Texas, on November 24, 1895
Although his team enjoyed great success, Marshall is known more for many of the frills which now mark the modern football game. During the early days of the NFL, college football was more popular. Marshall decided to incorporate elements of the college atmosphere into the pros. Innovations which he introduced include gala halftime shows, a marching band, and a fight song. The Redskins marching band is currently the only one officially sanctioned by any NFL team. The fight song, "Hail to the Redskins" is one of the most famous in the NFL. Hail to the Redskins is the fight song for the Washington Redskins. Marshall also suggested two major rules changes designed to open up the game and increase scoring which were subsequently adopted. One was to allow a forward pass to be thrown from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, rather than at a minimum of five yards behind the line which was previously the rule. In several forms of Football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction of the opponent's end line In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond Another was the move of the goal posts from the end line to the goal line, where they were (and are) located in Canadian football, to encourage the kicking of field goals. In accordance with the Manual of Style (see) Canadian English is used throughout this article (see Canadian_English#Spelling) A field goal (formerly "goal from the field" in US football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play ("from 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, many of whom were by that point foreign-born soccer players frequently derided by self-styled purists. This article is about the Decade 1970-1979 For the Year 1970 see 1970. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered
Marshall did many things to try and endear the team to the people of Washington. During the 1937 season, Marshall rented a train and brought 10,000 fans to New York to watch the team play the New York Giants. Year 1937 ( MCMXXXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The City of New York The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford New Jersey. These actions paid off, and even today, Redskins fans are considered among the league's most loyal, and some of the most likely to travel in large numbers to away games. The Redskins also hold the NFL record of most consecutively sold out seasons.
In the 1950s, Marshall was the first NFL owner to embrace the new medium of television. The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic He initiated the first network appearances for any NFL team, and built a huge television network to broadcast Redskins games across the South.
Controversies
According to professor Charles Ross, "For 24 years Marshall was identified as the leading racist in the NFL". [1] Though the league had previously had a sprinkling of black players, just one year after Marshall entered the NFL, blacks were excluded from all its teams. African Americans or Black Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have origins in any of the black populations of Africa While the rest of the league began signing individual blacks in 1946 and actually drafting blacks in 1949, Marshall held out until 1962 before signing a black player. Year 1946 ( MCMXLVI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full 1946 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. That only came when Interior Secretary Stewart Udall issued an ultimatum--unless Marshall signed a black player, the government would revoke the Redskins' 30-year lease on the year-old D. The United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior. Stewart Lee Udall (born January 31, 1920) is a former American politician See also Leasing, Renting A lease is a Legal document, but can be an oral arrangement which confers a right on one person (called C. Stadium (now RFK Stadium), which had been paid for by government money. Robert F Kennedy Memorial Stadium, better known as RFK Stadium or RFK, is a professional sports Stadium in Washington D Marshall's chief response was to make Ernie Davis, Syracuse's all-American running back, his number one draft choice for 1962. Ernie Davis (December 14 1939 &ndash May 18 1963 was an American football Running back and the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Syracuse University (SU is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York. A draft is a process used in the United States, Canada, and Australia to allocate certain players to Sports teams Ernie Davis's response was: "I won't play for that S. O. B. " He demanded a trade and got one, to Cleveland for All-Pro Bobby Mitchell. The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. Robert Cornelius Mitchell (born June 6, 1935 in Hot Springs, Arkansas) is a former American football halfback and Mitchell was the first African American football player to play a game for the Redskins, and he played with the team for several years, initially at running back, but he made his biggest impact at wide receiver.
Ross asserts that Marshall propelled the NFL to institute a "color barrier" akin to that of its baseball brethren. As a result of Marshall's prodding, owners like the Pittsburgh Steelers' beloved Art Rooney, who had hired a black player on his first team, and who strongly professed his belief that black and white were equal to him, and the fabled Chicago Bears owner, George Halas, who also believed that blacks should be able to play, fell into line. Arthur Joseph Rooney Sr ( January 27, 1901 - August 25, 1988) was the founding owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers franchise in The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. George Stanley Halas Sr ( February 2 1895 &ndash October 31 1983) nicknamed "Papa Bear" and "Mr Of course, no one openly admitted that a racial line existed, but it was apparent that it did. Indeed, years later, Halas remained defensive of the thinly veiled policy. "The game," claimed the legendary league founder and coach, "didn't have the appeal to black players at the time. Details of the history of black players in American professional football depend on the professional football league considered the National Football League " Hence, from 1934 through the 1945 season, blacks, excluded from the NFL, were forced to settle for less than financially-rewarding exhibitions or semi-pro leagues.
Marshall suffered a debilitating stroke in 1963, soon after his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the Hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL
He died in October, 1969, and his funeral was held at the National Cathedral in Washington with a huge crowd in attendance. Marshall is buried in Indian Mound Cemetery, Romney, West Virginia. Indian Mound Cemetery is a Cemetery located along the Northwestern Turnpike ( U Romney is a city in Hampshire County, West Virginia, United States of America.
His legacy includes the George Preston Marshall Foundation which serves the interests of children in the Washington, DC area. His will reportedly stipulated that no funds could be given to any people of color. Some dispute this claim.
Quotes
"The Bears are front-runners. Quitters. They are not a second-half team, just a bunch of cry-babies. "
"We'll start signing Negroes when the Harlem Globetrotters start signing whites. The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism and Comedy. "
"Mr. Marshall was an outspoken foe of the status quo when most were content with it. His fertile imagination and vision brought vital improvements to the structure and presentation of the game. Pro football today does in many ways reflect his personality. It has his imagination, style, zest, dedication, openness, brashness, strength and courage. We all are beneficiaries of what his dynamic personality helped shape over more than three decades. " - NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle
"Marshall was totally involved in all aspects of his team’s operation and endured his share of criticism for not integrating his team until being forced to do so in 1962. Alvin Ray "Pete" Rozelle ( March 1 1926 – December 6 1996) was the commissioner of the National Football League (NFL Racial integration, or simply integration includes Desegregation (the process of ending systematic Racial segregation) " - Pro Football Hall of Fame, as part of Marshall's qualifications for induction. The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the Hall of fame of the National Football League (NFL
References
- ^ Outside the Lines: African Americans and the Integration of the National Football League, by Charles K. Ross, New York: New York University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-8147-7495-4.
External links
| Preceded by First class ever |
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1963 |
Succeeded by Class of 1964 |