Curly Lambeau
No. 1, 14, 42, 20 | |
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Position: | Halfback |
Personal information | |
Born: | Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. | April 9, 1898
Died: | June 1, 1965 Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. | (aged 67)
Career information | |
High school: |
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College: | Notre Dame |
Career history | |
As a player: | |
As a coach: | |
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Career highlights and awards | |
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Head coaching record | |
Regular season: | 226–132–22 (.624) |
Postseason: | 3–2 (.600) |
Career: | 229–134–22 (.623) |
Player stats at PFR | |
Coaching stats at PFR | |
Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau (April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin, native George Whitney Calhoun, founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919. He served as team captain in the team's first year before becoming player-coach in 1920. As a player, Lambeau lined up as a halfback, which in the early years of the NFL was the premier position. He was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns (eight as a rusher, three as a receiver, and 24 as a passer) in 77 games. He won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929.
From 1920 to 1949, Lambeau was the head coach and general manager of the Packers, with near-total control over the team's day-to-day operations. He led his team to over 200 wins and six NFL championships, including three straight from 1929 to 1931. He is tied with rival
For his accomplishments, Lambeau has been widely recognized and honored. He was named to the
Early life and education
Curly Lambeau was born April 9, 1898, in
He played for the football team all four years of high school and was named captain in 1917 as a senior.
After graduating from high school, he worked for his father in the construction business and participated in different local football teams.[6] In 1918, Lambeau attended the University of Notre Dame and played for legendary college coach Knute Rockne, making the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team's varsity squad. However a severe case of tonsillitis forced him to miss the 1919 spring semester.[7] He never returned to Notre Dame. After a long recovery from tonsillitis, Lambeau went to work as a shipping clerk at the Indian Packing Company for $250 a month.[8]
Career
Founding the Green Bay Packers
Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun founded the Green Bay Packers on August 11, 1919, after the packing company put up $500 for uniforms. That fall, the founders secured Willard "Big Bill" Ryan, former coach of Green Bay West High School, to coach the team. The team's name reportedly was offered to Curly by his girlfriend Agnes Aylward after a pickup game; Curly had wanted to call the team "The Green Bay Indians" to respect Indian Packing's purchase of uniforms for the team; so Agnes simply blurted, "Well, for heaven's sake, Curly, why don't you just call them the Green Bay Packers!" The team's naming rights were sold to the Acme Packing Company, and the team remained Packers.[9]
The Packers initially played teams from Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. However, the success of the team in 1919 and 1920 quickly led to its joining of the American Professional Football Association (now called the National Football League) in 1921.[9] During that season the team was owned by the Acme Packing Company and John and Emmet Clair of Chicago.
Professional career
Lambeau was a player-captain at first., retiring as a player after the season.
Coaching career
Lambeau coached three NFL teams over his 33-year career: the
Green Bay Packers
Ryan left the Packers after only one season, and Lambeau became player-coach. However, during the team's first season, Lambeau, as team captain, handled many of the duties associated with a head coach in modern times. In the early days of pro football, the head coach was not allowed to talk to the players during the game. Thus, Lambeau was the team's on-field leader during games, including play calling.[12] He was also responsible for signing players and running practices. For these reasons, the Packers recognize Lambeau as the team's first head coach.[13]
In 1921, he led the team into the one-year-old American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922.[10] After retiring as a player in 1929, he remained as head coach and general manager until 1949. For the better part of that time, he had near-complete control over the team's day-to-day operations and represented the Packers at owners' meetings.
Before joining the NFL, the Packers achieved an overall 19–2–1 record in 1919 and 1920.). He compiled an NFL regular-season record of 209–104–21 (.657) with a playoff record of 3–2, 212–106–21 (.656) overall. Lambeau is still far and away the winningest coach in Packers history. His 104 losses are also the most by a Packers head coach.
The Packers' most successful period came in the 1930s, thanks to the additions of quarterback Arnie Herber and receiver Don Hutson. Herber and Hutson pioneered the passing game, which allowed the Packers to dominate their competitors throughout the 1930s.[9][1]
In 1946, Lambeau purchased
Lambeau's players also grew to hate the facility, partly because they were severely battered by the brick-hard limestone under the fields. On some days, Lambeau had to move practices to fields near City Stadium due to the severe beating his players took at the Lodge.[14]
At the same time, the Packers began noticeably slipping on the field after Hutson's retirement in 1945. Still, the Packers remained competitive until 1948, when they suffered their first losing season since 1933, and only the second losing season in franchise history.[15] The bottom fell out in 1949, when the Packers won only two games, at the time, their worst season ever.[16] This was at least in part due to Lambeau's refusal to abandon the Notre Dame Box that he had learned during his brief time in South Bend; the Packers continued to run this variation of the single wing long after most teams began running the T formation.[14]
The Packers were also suffering financially, mainly due to the Rockwood Lodge purchase. Early in the 1949 season, Lambeau largely turned over control of the team to his assistants to devote his attention to the team's financial situation, but even reducing the payroll and his own salary were not enough to stanch the bleeding: by the end of the season, the Packers were on what seemed to be an irreversible slide toward bankruptcy. Desperate for cash, Lambeau found investors willing to invest funds into the team on the condition that it abolished its then-unique public ownership structure. This proposal was considered rank heresy in Green Bay, and led to rumors that the NFL was using the pending merger with the All-America Football Conference as leverage to force Lambeau to relocate the Packers to the West Coast or shut down the team.
In response to these events, team officials offered him a revised contract that stripped him of nearly all control over non-football matters. Lambeau rejected this offer almost out of hand, effectively ending his 31-year tenure at the helm of the team he founded;[14] however, he did not formally resign until February 1, 1950,[17][18] seven days after his beloved Rockwood Lodge burned down in a fire that was presumed to be intentional, but had been caused by faulty electrical wiring. The insurance money relieved the Packers' financial woes at one stroke, and ensured they would stay in Green Bay.[14]
Chicago Cardinals
After resigning from the Packers, Lambeau filled the open head coach position of the Chicago Cardinals. In addition to the position of head coach, Lambeau also was named vice president and was given complete control of personnel choices–effectively giving him the same control over football matters that he'd had in Green Bay.[19] He traded Paul Christman, part of the "Million Dollar Backfield" that had won the 1947 title to the Green Bay Packers in favor of trying to push Jim Hardy for a greater passing attack. He proceeded to throw eight interceptions in his first game versus Philadelphia, a record. In 1950 season, the Cardinals ended the season 5–7, failing to improve upon its record in the previous season and missing out on the postseason. The 1951 season went even worse for Lambeau and the Cardinals; the team ended the season 3–9 and again failed to reach the postseason. He resigned after the tenth game while stating that “No man can do a satisfactory job if he constantly is harassed by front office second-guessing", while the Cardinals management publicly accused Lambeau of losing the trust of his coaches and players.[20]
Washington Redskins
Lambeau coached the
.In August
Personal life
Lambeau was married three times: first to Marguerite Van Kessel from 1919 to 1934, ending in divorce with one son. His second wife, Susan Johnson, was a former Miss California, and they were married from 1935 to 1940. He married Grace Garland in 1945 and was divorced in 1955.
While a player-coach for the Packers, Lambeau also coached his alma mater Green Bay East High School's football team from 1919 to 1921, compiling a 14–4–3 record.[3]
Death
Lambeau died on June 1, 1965, at age 67, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, from a sudden heart attack.[24] While waiting for his girlfriend, Mary Jane Van Duyse, to get ready for a date, he stepped out of his new red Cadillac convertible and helped her father cut the grass and then collapsed. Mary Jane was the Green Bay Packers champion majorette, and was a Packer Golden Girl.[25][26]
Legacy
Curly Lambeau was pivotal in establishing professional football in Green Bay. With help from co-founder George Whitney Calhoun and The Hungry Five, Lambeau helped keep the NFL in Green Bay and prevented the Packers from going bankrupt on multiple occasions. Lambeau's impact on the Packers led to the team naming their current home stadium after him, Lambeau Field. The venue opened in 1957 as the second City Stadium and was informally called "New" City Stadium for its first eight years.[27] Just two months after his death, the stadium was renamed Lambeau Field prior to the 1965 Green Bay Packers season to honor his contributions as founder, player, and coach.[28][29]
Lambeau Field has become such an iconic facility that the Green Bay Packers and surrounding community have continued to remodel the stadium, instead of building a new one. This has made Lambeau Field the oldest continually operating NFL stadium.[30] The name Lambeau is so strongly tied to the stadium, that the Packers have not sold naming rights to the stadium, instead choosing to sell naming rights to the various entrance gates. During the 2003 renovation, the Packers erected a 14-foot (4.3 m) statue of Lambeau in front of the new Atrium entrance. Lambeau Street, in Green Bay's Packerland Industrial Park, is also named in his honor.
As a player and coach, Lambeau is credited with pioneering daily practices, the
Head coaching record
Team | Year | Regular season | Postseason | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Won | Lost | Ties | Win % | Finish | Won | Lost | Win % | Result | ||
GB | 1921
|
3 | 2 | 1 | .600 | 6th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1922 | 4 | 3 | 3 | .571 | 7th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1923 | 7 | 2 | 1 | .778 | 3rd in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1924 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 6th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1925 | 8 | 5 | 0 | .615 | 9th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1926 | 7 | 3 | 3 | .700 | 5th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1927 | 7 | 2 | 1 | .778 | 2nd in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1928 | 6 | 4 | 3 | .600 | 4th in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1929 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1.000 | 1st in NFL | – | – | – | NFL Champions |
GB | 1930 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 1st in NFL | – | – | – | NFL Champions |
GB | 1931 | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 1st in NFL | – | – | – | NFL Champions |
GB | 1932 | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 2nd in NFL | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1933 | 5 | 7 | 1 | .417 | 3rd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1934 | 7 | 6 | 0 | .538 | 3rd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1935 | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 2nd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1936 | 10 | 1 | 1 | .909 | 1st in Western Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Defeated the Boston Redskins in 1936 NFL Championship .
|
GB | 1937 | 7 | 4 | 0 | .636 | 2nd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1938 | 8 | 3 | 0 | .727 | 1st in Western Division | 0 | 1 | .000 | Lost to the 1938 NFL Championship .
|
GB | 1939 | 9 | 2 | 0 | .818 | 1st in Western Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Defeated the New York Giants in 1939 NFL Championship .
|
GB | 1940 | 6 | 4 | 1 | .600 | 2nd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1941 | 10 | 1 | 0 | .919 | T-1st in Western Division | 0 | 1 | – | Lost to the Chicago Bears in Western Conference playoff game .
|
GB | 1942 | 8 | 2 | 1 | .800 | 2nd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1943 | 7 | 2 | 1 | .778 | 2nd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1944 | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 | 1st in Western Division | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | Defeated the New York Giants in 1944 NFL Championship .
|
GB | 1945 | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | 3rd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1946 | 6 | 5 | 0 | .545 | 3rd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1947 | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 3rd in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1948 | 3 | 9 | 0 | .250 | 4th in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB | 1949 | 2 | 10 | 0 | .167 | 5th in Western Division | – | – | – | – |
GB Total | 209 | 104 | 21 | .631 | 3 | 2 | .600 | |||
CHI | 1950 | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 5th in American Conference | – | – | – | – |
CHI | 1951 | 2 | 8 | 0 | .200 | 5th in American Conference | – | – | – | – |
CHI Total | 7 | 15 | 0 | .318 | – | – | – | |||
WAS | 1952 | 4 | 8 | 0 | .333 | 5th in American Conference | – | – | – | – |
WAS | 1953 | 6 | 5 | 1 | .545 | 3rd in American Conference | – | – | – | – |
WAS Total | 10 | 13 | 1 | .435 | – | – | – | |||
Total | 226 | 132 | 22 | .631 | 3 | 2 | .600 |
His record against non-NFL teams between 1919 and 1925 was 26–2–2.
See also
- List of National Football League head coaches with 50 wins
- List of National Football League head coaches with 200 wins
References
Citations
- ^ a b "Curly Lambeau". Encyclopædia Britannica. May 29, 2019. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c Mink, Michael (September 3, 2014). "Curly Lambeau Passed The Test On The Way To NFL's Top". Investor's Business Daily. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Christl, Cliff. "Earl "Curly" Lambeau". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on November 15, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Christl, Cliff. "The story that was wrong on every count: Curly Lambeau's flirtation with the University of Wisconsin". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on May 8, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ a b c d "Hall of Famers: Earl L. (Curly) Lambeau — Class of 1963". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on May 24, 2017. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
- ^ Povletich 2012, p. 4.
- ^ a b c The Legend of Lambeau Field DVD
- ^ a b "The 1919 Green Bay Packers - Independent Football (10-1)". www.packershistory.net. Archived from the original on January 18, 2017. Retrieved January 17, 2017.
- ^ "Curly Lambeau Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on August 4, 2018. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
- ^ Christl, Cliff (August 9, 2018). "Packers Fan from Ukraine asks about team's first coach". Green Bay Packers, Inc. Archived from the original on August 9, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d Fleming, David (September 19, 2013). "Blaze of Glory". ESPN The Magazine. Archived from the original on February 7, 2014. Retrieved March 21, 2014.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Curly Lambeau quits to coach the Cardinals". Milwaukee Journal. February 1, 1950. p. 1, part 1. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Lambeau quits for Card job; Isbell seeks Packer post". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. February 2, 1950. p. 5, part 2. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Curly Lambeau Quits to Coach the Cardinals". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. January 31, 1950. Archived from the original on November 17, 2019. Retrieved November 17, 2019.
- ^ "Curly Lambeau's Last (Almost) Hurrah! Coaching the Chicago Cardinals". July 18, 2022.
- ^ "Lambeau fired as Skins coach". Daytona Beach Morning Journal. Associated Press. August 1954. p. 6. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Lambeau dismissed as Redskins coach". Milwaukee Journal. Associated Press. August 23, 1954. p. 9, part 2. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- Sacramento Bee. p. C1.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Curly Lambeau is Stricken and Dies of a Heart Attack". Lawrence (Kansas) Daily Journal World. Associated Press. June 2, 1965. p. 18. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2013.
- ^ "Lambeau, Packer founder, dies; led club to 6 pro league titles". Milwaukee Journal. June 2, 1965. p. 19. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Crowd of 32,132 fills Green Bay's new City Stadium, sees Packers upset Bears". Milwaukee Journal. September 30, 1957. p. 7-part 2. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Packer board backs Lambeau Field idea". Milwaukee Journal. UPI. August 3, 1965. p. 18-part 2. Archived from the original on November 20, 2015. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "'Lambeau Field' voted by council". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. August 5, 1965. p. 3-part 2. Archived from the original on May 10, 2016. Retrieved November 19, 2015.
- ^ "Expansion Planned for Lambeau". The New York Times. Associated Press. August 26, 2011. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved June 28, 2013.
Bibliography
- Povletich, William (2012). Green Bay Packers: Trials, Triumphs, and Tradition. Wisconsin Historical Society. .