Where: Cleveland Plain Dealer newsroom
Why: Working from here as a sportswriter for the Cleveland Plain Dealer, John Dietrich was instrumental in the naming of the Rams
Now: Louis Stokes Wing of the Cleveland Public Library, 525 Superior Avenue, Cleveland
What: Cater-corner from the Hollenden Hotel were the offices of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, where sportswriter John Dietrich covered, encouraged, and excoriated the Rams during their 10-year stay in Cleveland. He was present at the christening of the franchise, suggesting that the four-letter brevity of “Rams” would fit nicely into a newspaper headline. With the team still in town, Dietrich accepted the company one evening of new All-America Football Conference owner Arthur “Mickey” McBride, who asked Dietrich to recommend a candidate to coach his new team. Easy, Dietrich said—Ohio State coach Paul Brown. The franchise became the Cleveland Browns, and hastened the Rams’ departure to L.A.
THE CLEVELAND RAMS 