Green Bay Packers in the Hall of Fame: Curly Lambeau

A true homie, Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau was born in, grew up in, spent most of his life living in, and finally died in Wisconsin.

More specifically, Lambeau was born in Green Bay in 1898 and died in Sturgeon Bay in 1965, at the age of 67.

After graduating from Green Bay East High School in 1918, Lambeau attended one year of college at Notre Dame, playing on the varsity team in 1919 (although a Freshman) under coach Knute Rockne.

After returning to Green Bay following his year at Notre Dame, Lambeau went to work for the Indian Packing Company. Despite the name, the company packed meat, not Indians.

More from Lombardi Ave

Lambeau, along with another employee named Calhoun, convinced management to sponsor a local football team.

As a show of appreciation for his employer’s sponsorship, Lambeau named the team the Green Bay Packers (after considering and rejecting the Green Bay Indians), a name it has retained throughout the century of its existence.

So it was that Lambeau became one of the founders of the Green Bay Packers, and also played halfback and kicker on the team. Additionally, more of than not he functioned as their head coach.

Lambeau’s playing days lasted 11 seasons, from 1919 (the final year of The Great War, later renamed World War 1) to 1929 (the first year of the Great Depression).

Lambeau was simultaneously the head coach starting in 1920, and continued on in that capacity for 20 years after he “hung up his cleats” as a player, through the 1949 season.

More Articles About Hall of Famers:

manual

Still not through with coaching, Lambeau then coached the Chicago Cardinals for two seasons and finally wrapped up his head coaching career by spending two years with the Washington Redskins (the same team Vince Lombardi ended his coaching and GM career with, and the team current Packers president Mark Murphy played for).

As for his professional accomplishments while with the Packers, Lambeau was a six-time NFL champion – once as a player (in his final season as such, 1929), and five times as a coach.
He was a three-time All-Pro, and was selected to the all-decade team representing the roaring 20s.

Inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class in 1963, Lambeau is also (naturally) in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. In fact the stadium in which the Packers play their home games is named Lambeau Field. But you knew that, right?

And his historical milestones will continue, as nothing will ever change the fact that Lambeau was the first Green Bay Packer to throw a pass, throw a touchdown pass, and kick a field goal.

It may confuse some that Lambeau did all that as a halfback, but it becomes less eyebrow-raising when one realizes that a halfback in those days was more of an “option” quarterback than anything else. In other words, don’t let the position designation “Halfback” fool you. Think of the early halfback as being half running back and half quarterback. In other words, the Halfback was the primary runner AND the primary passer.

An innovator, Lambeau was the first to implement daily practices, and to utilize air travel rather than buses to get to “away” games. The forward pass is also considered his brainchild.

Next: Top 30 moments in Green Bay Packers history

As a final note, a fascinating story from the Curly Lambeau era concerns a Packers training camp called Rockwood Lodge, located 17 miles north of Green Bay, which mysteriously burned down in early 1950. It may just be that an arsonist (perhaps somebody connected with the team in some capacity) saved the Green Bay Packers from dissolution or relocation by intentionally setting the fire. Research it yourself to form an opinion on what may have happened.

Home/Green Bay Packers History