George Preston Marshall

George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for his ownership of the Washington Redskins, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the franchise as the Boston Braves in 1932 based on the remnants of the Newark Tornadoes, a defunct franchise which was sold back to the league in 1930. Marshall renamed the team "Redskins" in 1933 and relocated them to Washington, D.C. in 1937. He was its controlling owner until his death in 1969. In 1963, he became one of the first 17 inductees into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, along Redskin great Sammy Baugh. Marshall, a supporter of racial segregation, was the last NFL owner to integrate African Americans onto a roster, only doing so in 1962 under pressure from the federal government, which threatened to block the use of D.C. Stadium, which they owned, unless he did. Life and career Marshall was born in Grafton, West Virginia, where his parents, Thomas Hildebrand ("Hill") Marshall and Blanche Preston Marshall, owned the local newspaper. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Washington D.C. after his father bought a laundromat business there. He briefly attended Randolph–Macon College before quitting school at age 18. He pursued acting and was an extra for a local theater but this pursuit was interrupted in 1918 when he was drafted into World War I, although he did not leave the country. He was discharged from the army in December 1918. Upon his father's death in 1919, he took over the 2-store laundromat business. In 1926, he financed the Washington Palace Five basketball team. The team folded in 1928. In 1932, he and three other partners were awarded an NFL franchise for Boston. The team was known as the Boston Braves, as it played on the same field as baseball's Boston Braves. After the team incurred a $46,000 loss in its first season, Marshall's partners sold their interests to him.