George Preston Marshall
Marshall (right) with President Truman and NFL Commissioner Bert Bell (center) in the White House (1949)
|
|
| Date of birth | October 11, 1896 |
|---|---|
| Place of birth | Grafton, West Virginia, U.S. |
| Date of death | August 9, 1969 (aged 72) |
| Place of death | Washington, D.C. |
| Career information | |
| Position(s) | Owner, Founder, Administrator |
| College | Randolph-Macon |
| Career history | |
| As coach | |
| 1925–1928 | Washington Palace Five |
| As owner | |
| 1932–1969 | Boston/Washington Redskins |
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman and the owner and president of the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL), from their inception in 1932 in Boston until his death in 1969.
Born in Grafton, West Virginia, Marshall's parents were Thomas Hildebrand ("Hill") Marshall and Blanche Preston Marshall. In 1925, while he was the owner of a chain of laundries in Washington, D.C., founded by his father, he owned the Washington Palace Five basketball team, also known as the Palace Five Laundrymen from his laundry chain. The team folded in 1928.
In 1932, he and three other partners were awarded an NFL franchise for Boston. 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 1933 he moved the team from Braves Field to Fenway Park, which the team would share with the Red Sox, hiring coach "Lone Star" William Henry Dietz, who may have been part Sioux, and changing the team nickname to the Redskins. There were four Native Americans on the original Redskins team in 1933. However, he claimed in an interview at the time that the name had no connection to the heritage of any player or coach.
The 1936 team won the Eastern division and hosted the NFL championship game, which Marshall moved from Boston to the Polo Grounds in New York City. Days later, he announced he was moving the team to Washington, D.C., for the 1937 season. He was romantically tied to silent screen actress Louise Brooks throughout the 1920s and 1930s, and she gave him the nickname "Wet Wash" due to his owning of the laundry chain. He was married to film actress-author Corinne Griffith from 1936 to 1958. (Griffith referred to him in print as "The Marshall without a plan")
...
Wikipedia