In 1944, Walsh became the team's general manager and named Aldo Donelli as head coach. However, by 1945 Donelli had joined the military, and Walsh replaced him with his older brother, Adam, as the team's new head coach. The Rams won the NFL Championship in 1945. Just before the 1945 NFL Championship Game against the Washington Redskins, Walsh paid $7,200 for 9,000 bales of hay to prevent the field at Cleveland Stadium from freezing over. A year later the team relocated to Los Angeles, California. Walsh signed Kenny Washington, one of the first African-Americans to play in the National Football League after World War II.