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Founder, Head Coach, Vice President, Player (1919-49)
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The history of the Green Bay Packers starts with Earl L. Lambeau -- better known as Curly -- who was the team's founder, first head coach and a standout player from 1919*-1929, during which time he pioneered the forward pass in professional football.
Lambeau led the Packers to six world championships as head coach and is one of just five coaches in NFL history to record 200 wins (others are Don Shula, George Halas, Tom Landry and Chuck Noll).
Lambeau's career coaching record with the Packers was 212-106-21 (.656), including postseason (1921-49). He also coached the Chicago Cardinals (1950-51) and Washington Redskins (1952-53).
Earl Louis Lambeau, born April 9, 1898, in Green Bay, died June 1, 1965, at the age of 67.
The Packers' hallowed stadium, originally dubbed City Stadium upon opening in 1957, was renamed Lambeau Field in honor of the team's founder Sept. 11, 1965. In 2003, a renovated Lambeau Field opened Curly's Pub and a statue of Lambeau was unveiled next to that of Vince Lombardi in what is now called the Robert E. Harlan Plaza, in front of the Lambeau Field Atrium.
* The Packers joined what is now the NFL in 1921, marking the starting point for their official statistical history.
Lambeau - The Founder:
As legend has it, it was somewhat by chance that Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun joined together to form what is now the Green Bay Packers.
Lambeau had been an outstanding athlete at Green Bay East High School and after enrolling at the University of Notre Dame and making varsity as a freshman under Knute Rockne, Lambeau was back in Green Bay by in 1919 after severe tonsillitis forced him to miss the spring semester.
It was then that Lambeau ran into Calhoun, the sports editor of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, who had covered Lambeau as a prep star.
The two got to talking and decided to try and start up a football team. And that's how it came to be that on August 11, 1919, Lambeau, Calhoun and a group of young athletes gathered together in the editorial room of the old Press-Gazette building on Cherry Street and organized what was in essence the beginning of the Green Bay Packers.
At the time, Lambeau was working as a shipping clerk for the Indian Packing Company, a war-time meat-packing industry in Green Bay. Lambeau was making just $250 a week, but persuaded his boss, Frank Peck, to donate $500 of company money for team uniforms (blue and gold).
Meanwhile, the team practiced on company property, so the nickname "Packers" became a natural handle.
Lambeau was a player and the team's first captain. And in their first season together, the Packers went 10-1 playing foes from Wisconsin and Upper Michigan.
In the meantime, the Indian Packing Company fell on hard times and was bought out by the Acme Packing Company. But in 1921, based on the success of the team, Lambeau persuaded Acme owners John and Emmitt Clair to back the Packers and apply for membership in the new American Professional Football Association (which would be renamed the NFL in 1922).
The Clairs agreed and on August 27, 1921, the Packers became an official professional football franchise.
Not long after, poor finances and the illegal use of college players in a non-league game forced the team to be forfeited, but Lambeau bought it back at a league meeting in Canton, Ohio, for a franchise fee of $250, including $50 of his own money, in 1922.
Financial problems continued however, and with the team teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, Lambeau received aid from Andrew B. Turnbull, the general manager of the Press-Gazette, who forwarded money to Lambeau to help keep the team afloat in 1922, before rallying local businessmen to purchase stock and turn the Packers into the nonprofit organization in August 1923.
The first stock sale generated $5,000 by offering 1,000 shares for $5 apiece, including a stipulation that the purchaser buy at least six season tickets.
Additional stock sales followed in 1935, 1950 and 1997, but it was from those rather modest beginnings that the Packers came to be not only the sole community-owned franchise in major professional sports, but one of the most successful franchises in sports history.
Lambeau - The Coach:
The winningest coach in team history, Curly Lambeau's impressive 212-106-21 (.656) overall record doesn't even include the 1919 or 1920 seasons in which the Packers went a combined 19-2-1, outscoring their opponents 792-36, prior to joining what is now the NFL in 1921.
In addition to those pre-NFL years, Lambeau coached the Packers for 29 seasons from 1921-49. In that span, the Packers compiled a regular-season record of 209-104-21 (.657) and went 3-2 in postseason play.
In 1929, Lambeau's Packers won the first NFL Championship in team history, going 12-0-1. The Packers won five straight home games to start the season but went on the road after that and ran up their winning streak to 10 before finishing in a 0-0 tie with the Frankford Yellowjackets.
The Packers won two more games after that including a 25-0 victory over the Chicago Bears in the season finale. All told, in that first championship season the Packers outscored their opponents 198-22.
The following two seasons saw the Packers go 10-3-1 and 12-2, respectively, en route to NFL Championships in 1930 and 1931.
The Packers didn't play an official postseason game until 1936 -- championships were decided on overall record until the playoff system was added in 1933 -- when they defeated the Boston Redskins 21-6 for their fourth NFL title after a 10-1-1 regular season.
The Packers were back in the title game in 1938, but fell to the New York Giants by the score of 23-17.
In 1939, the Packers got their revenge, blanking the Giants 27-0 to win their fifth crown after a 9-2 campaign.
In 1944, the Packers won their sixth and final championship under Lambeau, defeating the Giants 14-7 following an 8-2 regular season.
After that championship, the Packers' record took a turn for the worse. All but the first of Lambeau's championships had been aided by Don Hutson, considered by many experts to be the greatest Packers player in team history. But Hutson retired following the 1945 season.
That left active only halfback Tony Canadeo among the seven Packers who played under Lambeau en route to a spot in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Others were tackle Cal Hubbard (1929-33, 1935), halfback Johnny 'Blood' McNally (1929-33, 1935-36), fullback Clarke Hinkle (1932-41), guard Mike Michalske (1929-35, 1937) and quarterback Arnie Herber (1930-40).
Through the 1944 championship, Lambeau's record with the Packers was 186-71-20 (.707), but over the next five seasons the Packers went only 23-33-1 (.412).
Lambeau's tenure as head coach included some pioneering developments: implementing daily practice (late 1920s), bringing Knute Rockne's "secret weapon" of the forward pass to the pro game (1919), implementing pass patterns and flying to road games (1938).
However, Lambeau's decision to purchase the Rockwood Lodge north of Green Bay at a price of $25,000 to make it the Packers' training camp facility didn't go over well with members of the executive committee and contributed to an internal power struggle that helped end his 31-year tenure with the team.
January 31,1950, Lambeau resigned and was replaced by Gene Ronzani, who would coach the Packers for four seasons.
Lambeau - The Player:
A former standout at Green Bay East High School and a varsity player at Notre Dame under Knute Rockne, Curly Lambeau was 21-years-old when he became player-captain of the Green Bay Packers in 1919, the year of the team's birth.
The Packers didn't join what is now the NFL until two years later, so Lambeau's official Packers playing career ran from 1921-29.
Standing 5-foot-10, 187-pounds, Lambeau was listed at halfback. But in those days -- when the passing game was in its infancy -- it was the halfback that received the snap from center, so in reality Lambeau was the Packers' first field general.
In the Packers' first official NFL game, Oct. 23, 1921 (the NFL was the American Professional Football Association until 1922), Lambeau threw both of the Packers' two forward passes in a 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Minneapolis Marines at Green Bay's Hagemeister Park.
Lambeau's first pass that day fell incomplete for Lyle "Cowboy" Wheeler, but with the Packers trailing 6-0 in the fourth quarter, his 18-yard pass to Buff Wagner set up Art Schmael's game-tying touchdown run.
Lambeau then booted the game-wining extra-point and the Packers celebrated in front of a crowd of 6,000.
The forward pass was a novelty in the early 1920s and Lambeau is credited for developing it in the pro game.
Lambeau threw the first official touchdown in team history in a 14-7 win over the Hammond Pros, Nov. 13, 1921, when a fake kick led to a 35-yard completion to Bill DuMoe.
Lambeau was also the Packers' kicker that season and scored the first field goal in team history -- a drop-kick from approximately 25 yards -- in a 13-3 loss to the Rock Island Independents, Oct. 30, 1921.
For his career, Lambeau played 77 games, throwing 24 touchdown passes and rushing for eight scores. In addition, had three touchdown receptions, six field goals and 19 extra-point kicks.
Lambeau wore several different jersey numbers throughout his career, but from 1925-26 he wore the number 1. Although not officially retired by the team, Lambeau is the only player in Packers history to wear that number.
Other known Lambeau numbers: 14 (1927), 20 (1929), 42 (1928). Packers jerseys had no recorded uniform numbers until 1925.
Lambeau's Career Scoring Stats courtesy of Elias Sports Bureau:
| Year | G | Rush TD | Pass TD | Rec. TD | PAT | FG | Points |
| 1921 (GB) | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 28 |
| 1922 (GB) | 8 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 30* |
| 1923 (GB) | 10 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| 1924 (GB) | 11 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10** |
| 1925 (GB) | 11 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 8 |
| 1926 (GB) | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 1927 (GB) | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| 1928 (GB) | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1929 (GB) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 77 | 8 | 24 | 3 | 19 | 6 | 110 |
* 1 return touchdown
** 1 extra-point score
Lambeau's Packers Coaching Career:
| Year | Overall | Home | Away | Post. | Finish |
| 1919 | 10-1-0 (.909) | 8-0 | 2-1 | - | (unofficial until 1921) |
| 1920 | 9-1-1 (.900) | 9-0-1 | 0-1 | - | (unofficial until 1921) |
| 1921 | 3-2-1 (.600) | 3-1 | 0-1-1 | - | 6th-t APFA* |
| 1922 | 4-3-3 (.571) | 3-1-1 | 0-2-2 | - | 7th-t NFL |
| 1923 | 7-2-1 (.778) | 4-2-1 | 3-0 | - | 3rd-t NFL |
| 1924 | 7-4-0 (.636) | 5-0 | 2-4 | - | 6th NFL |
| 1925 | 8-5-0 (.615) | 6-0 | 2-5 | - | 9th NFL |
| 1926 | 7-3-3 (.700) | 4-1-2 | 3-2-1 | - | 5th NFL |
| 1927 | 7-2-1 (.778) | 6-1 | 1-1-1 | - | 2nd NFL |
| 1928 | 6-4-3 (.600) | 3-2-2 | 3-2-1 | - | 4th NFL |
| 1929 | 12-0-1 (1.000) | 5-0 | 7-0-1 | - | 1st NFL - NFL Champions |
| 1930 | 10-3-1 (.769) | 6-0 | 4-3-1 | - | 1st NFL - NFL Champions |
| 1931 | 12-2-0 (.857) | 8-0 | 4-2 | - | 1st NFL - NFL Champions |
| 1932 | 10-3-1 (.769) | 5-0-1 | 5-3 | - | 2nd NFL |
| 1933 | 5-7-1 (.417) | 3-2-1 | 2-5 | - | 3rd Western Division |
| 1934 | 7-6-0 (.538) | 4-3 | 3-3 | - | 3rd Western Division |
| 1935 | 8-4-0 (.667) | 5-2 | 3-2 | - | 2nd Western Division |
| 1936 | 10-1-1 (.909) | 5-1 | 5-0-1 | 1-0 | 1st Western Division - NFL Champions |
| 1937 | 7-4-0 (.636) | 4-2 | 3-2 | - | 2nd-t Western Division |
| 1938 | 8-3-0 (.727)** | 4-2 | 3-1 | 0-1 | 1st Western Division |
| 1939 | 9-2-0 (.818) | 5-1 | 4-1 | 1-0 | 1st Western Division - NFL Champions |
| 1940 | 6-4-1 (.600) | 4-2 | 2-2-1 | - | 2nd Western Division |
| 1941 | 10-1-0 (.909) | 5-1 | 5-0 | 0-1 | 1st-t Western Division |
| 1942 | 8-2-1 (.800) | 4-1 | 4-1-1 | - | 2nd Western Division |
| 1943 | 7-2-1 (.778) | 2-1-1 | 5-1 | - | 2nd Western Division |
| 1944 | 8-2-0 (.800) | 5-0 | 3-2 | 1-0 | 1st Western Division - NFL Champions |
| 1945 | 6-4-0 (.600) | 4-1 | 2-3 | - | 3rd Western Division |
| 1946 | 6-5-0 (.545) | 2-3 | 4-2 | - | 3rd-t Western Division |
| 1947 | 6-5-1 (.545) | 4-2 | 2-3-1 | - | 3rd Western Division |
| 1948 | 3-9-0 (.250) | 2-4 | 1-5 | - | 4th Western Division |
| 1949 | 2-10-0 (.167) | 1-5 | 1-5 | - | 5th Western Division |
| Total | 209-104-21 (.657) | 3-2-0 | |||
| Overall | 212-106-21 (.656)*** | ||||
* American Professional Football Association; became NFL in 1922
** 1-0 at neutral venue in 1938
*** Doesn't reflect 1919-20 seasons when Packers played independent football and other non-NFL games.
**** Additional note: From 1921-71, the NFL did not recognize ties in figuring winning percentage (since 1972, ties have been recognized as half of a win). The rule actually cost the Packers a fourth championship in 1932. That season the Chicago Bears (6-1-6) and Portsmouth Spartans (6-1-4) finished "tied" for first due to winning percentages that ignored tie games from the regular season. The Bears won the title by defeating Portsmouth after the season in a tie-breaking game that counted toward the regular-season standings. Under the 1932 rules, the 7-1-6 Bears had a .875 winning percentage, compared to Green Bay's .739 on a 10-3-1 record. Under current rules (with ties counted as half - 0.5 - of a win), the Bears would have finished the season behind Portsmouth, with no need for a tie-breaking game. As a result, the Packers would have been first at .750 (10-3-1), compared to Portsmouth's .727 percentage (6-1-4) and Chicago's .692 (6-1-6).