Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau ( LAM-boh; 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 settler, 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 (8 as a rusher, 3 as a receiver, and 24 as a passer) in 77 games. He won an NFL championship in 1929 and subsequently retired from playing.
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 George Halas of the Chicago Bears and Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots for the most NFL championships by a coach. Lambeau also coached eight players who went on to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. With players such as quarterback Arnie Herber and split end Don Hutson, his teams revolutionized the use of the passing game in football. After a falling-out with the Packers' board of directors, Lambeau left the Packers to coach the Chicago Cardinals and Washington Redskins, each for two seasons, before retiring in 1953.
For his accomplishments, Lambeau has been widely recognized and honored. He was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team as one of the top halfbacks in the league's first decade of existence. He was an inaugural inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1970 in recognition for his role as founder, player, and coach of the Packers. Two months after his death in 1965, the Packers home stadium, which is still in use today, was renamed Lambeau Field in his honor.
Curly Lambeau was born April 9, 1898, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Marcelin Lambeau and Mary LaTour, both of Belgian descent. Lambeau attended Green Bay East High School, where he was identified as a standout athlete. He played for the football team all four years of high school and was named captain in 1917 as a senior. Green Bay Press-Gazette sportswriter George Whitney Calhoun noted in September 1917 that Lambeau was trying out for the University of Wisconsin freshmen football team as "one of the best gridiron prospects that has ever been turned out of a high school". However, Lambeau never ended up enrolling at Wisconsin.
After graduating from high school, he worked for his father in the construction business and participated in different local football teams. In 1918, Lambeau attended the University of Notre Dame and played for 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. 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.
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.
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. During that season the team was owned by the Acme Packing Company and John and Emmet Clair of Chicago.
Lambeau was a player-captain at first. He played for the Packers for ten seasons, including the first eight seasons after the team joined the National Football League NFL in 1921. Playing halfback in the then-popular single wing offensive formation, he was both the primary runner and passer. Lambeau threw 24 touchdown passes, rushed for eight touchdowns, and caught three touchdowns in 77 games. Lambeau was the first Packer to throw a pass, throw a touchdown pass, and make a field goal in Green Bay Packer franchise history. He was also occasionally the team's kicker, kicking six field goals and 20 extra points. He won his only NFL championship as a player-coach in 1929, retiring as a player after the season.
Lambeau coached three NFL teams over his 33-year career: the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins. He completed his coaching career with an official overall record of 229–134–22 (.624).
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. He was also responsible for signing players and running practices. For these reasons, the Packers recognize Lambeau as the team's first head coach.
In 1921, he led the team into the one-year-old American Professional Football Association, which became the NFL in 1922. After retiring as a player in 1929, he remained as head coach and general manager until 1949, later adding the title of vice president as well. 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. Under Lambeau in the NFL, the Packers won six championships (1929, 1930, 1931, 1936, 1939, 1944). 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 has both the most wins and losses for 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.
In 1946, Lambeau purchased Rockwood Lodge, a former Norbertine retreat, creating the first self-contained training facility in professional football. The purchase was controversial among the Packers' board of directors, many of whom balked at the $32,000 purchase price and $8,000 Lambeau spent on renovations, and some members of the financial committee almost resigned in protest.
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.
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. The bottom fell out in 1949, when the Packers won only two games, at the time, their worst season ever. 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.