{"id":2215,"date":"2025-06-08T06:06:13","date_gmt":"2025-06-08T13:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/?p=2215"},"modified":"2025-06-08T06:19:09","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T13:19:09","slug":"the-man-who-invented-the-packers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/uncategorized\/2215\/the-man-who-invented-the-packers","title":{"rendered":"The Man Who Invented the Packers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Lambeau<\/a> \"Lambeau<\/a>When\u00a0my wife and I retired in Door County, Wisconsin\u2014Packer Country!\u2014I was surprised to learn how little was known about Curly Lambeau, who spent his retirement years here. Looking into his life, I found it a fascinating tale that would interest even diehard Bears fans. “The guy did it all,” Upton Bell, who accompanied his father, NFL commissioner Bert Bell, to Lambeau’s Packer training camp in the 1940s, told me.<\/p>\n

Four years of research and writing resulted in a deep-dive biography. . . Lambeau: The Epic Life of Earl Louis “Curly” Lambeau, The Man Who Invented the Green Bay Packers.<\/em><\/p>\n

It’s a tale of\u00a0 how the NFL became the NFL.<\/p>\n

Lambeau\u00a0was\u00a0brilliant, flawed and\u00a0complex–a\u00a0fascinating\u00a0sportsman who created\u00a0a beloved\u00a0team for\u00a0the\u00a0ages.\u00a0His\u00a0name\u00a0is\u00a0on\u00a0the most\u00a0hallowed stadium\u00a0in the\u00a0NFL.\u00a0He\u00a0won six of\u00a0the\u00a0league’s\u00a0first\u00a025\u00a0championships and\u00a0is\u00a0still sixth\u00a0on the\u00a0all-time\u00a0wins\u00a0list\u00a0for NFL coaches.\u00a0Most\u00a0remarkably,\u00a0he\u00a0kept a\u00a0franchise\u00a0alive in\u00a0what\u00a0is\u00a0still\u00a0the\u00a0smallest city\u00a0in\u00a0all\u00a0of\u00a0American\u00a0professional\u00a0sports.\u00a0And\u00a0yet,\u00a0many\u00a0Packer\u00a0fans–even\u00a0people\u00a0who\u00a0name\u00a0their\u00a0dogs\u00a0“Lambeau”–don’t\u00a0know\u00a0a\u00a0lot\u00a0about\u00a0Earl\u00a0Louis\u00a0“Curly”\u00a0Lambeau. My Lambeau biography\u00a0explores\u00a0the accomplishments, the\u00a0glory,\u00a0the\u00a0troubles\u00a0and the\u00a0mystery of\u00a0this key\u00a0NFL pioneer.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0his\u00a0one\u00a0season\u00a0at\u00a0Notre Dame,\u00a0he scored\u00a0the first touchdown\u00a0of\u00a0Knute\u00a0Rockne’s\u00a0coaching career\u00a0and\u00a0fell under\u00a0the\u00a0influence\u00a0of the\u00a0Irish\u00a0legend.\u00a0Returning\u00a0to Green\u00a0Bay,\u00a0he created\u00a0the Notre\u00a0Dame\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0NFL, a\u00a0David\u00a0that\u00a0slayed\u00a0pro-football\u00a0Goliaths.\u00a0Along\u00a0with George\u00a0Halas,\u00a0his\u00a0fierce\u00a0rival and\u00a0great business partner,\u00a0he\u00a0helped steer\u00a0the fledgling\u00a0NFL from\u00a0obscurity\u00a0to\u00a0unbridled\u00a0popularity.\u00a0Lambeau\u00a0was\u00a0the\u00a0NFL’s\u00a0first\u00a01,000-yard\u00a0passer\u00a0and\u00a0pioneered\u00a0scouting\u00a0college stars\u00a0at\u00a0West\u00a0Coast\u00a0post-season\u00a0games. He\u00a0was\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0to\u00a0fly\u00a0his\u00a0team\u00a0to\u00a0road games,\u00a0and\u00a0the\u00a0first\u00a0to\u00a0have\u00a0a\u00a0dedicated\u00a0practice\u00a0facility.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0yet,\u00a0he\u00a0frustrated\u00a0his\u00a0most\u00a0loyal\u00a0supporters,\u00a0spending\u00a0too\u00a0much\u00a0money\u00a0in\u00a0Green\u00a0Bay,\u00a0too\u00a0much time\u00a0in\u00a0California\u00a0and\u00a0going\u00a0through\u00a0too\u00a0many divorces.\u00a0When he\u00a0started\u00a0losing\u00a0too\u00a0many\u00a0games, his\u00a0reign\u00a0ended abruptly.\u00a0Leaving Green\u00a0Bay,\u00a0he\u00a0briefly\u00a0coached\u00a0the\u00a0Chicago\u00a0Cardinals and\u00a0Washington\u00a0Redskins.\u00a0Although\u00a0loyal\u00a0supporters tried\u00a0to restore him\u00a0to\u00a0power\u00a0in Green\u00a0Bay,\u00a0that\u00a0was\u00a0never\u00a0in\u00a0the cards.\u00a0The new\u00a0age\u00a0belonged to\u00a0Vince Lombardi.\u00a0Lambeau had\u00a0set\u00a0the\u00a0table\u00a0for\u00a0NFL\u00a0glory.\u00a0But unlike\u00a0Halas,\u00a0he had\u00a0not been\u00a0an owner.\u00a0At\u00a0the\u00a0end,\u00a0there\u00a0was\u00a0no\u00a0seat at\u00a0the\u00a0table\u00a0for\u00a0Curly Lambeau.\u00a0But\u00a0Lambeau\u00a0Field, an\u00a0honor\u00a0that would\u00a0come\u00a0posthumously, would\u00a0assure\u00a0that his name\u00a0would\u00a0live\u00a0on.<\/p>\n

It’s available here. . .<\/p>\n

http:\/\/bit.ly\/GouldLambeauBook<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When\u00a0my wife and I retired in Door County, Wisconsin\u2014Packer Country!\u2014I was surprised to learn how little was known about Curly… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":2216,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4652,4048,153661,1011341],"class_list":["post-2215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-nfl","tag-lambeau-field","tag-biography"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2025\/06\/Lambeau-cover-5-15-25-front.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2220,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215\/revisions\/2220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/herbgould\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}