37 Facts About Curly Lambeau

Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League.

Curly Lambeau was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns in 77 games.

Curly Lambeau won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929.

From 1920 to 1949, Curly Lambeau was the head coach and general manager of the Packers, with near-total control over the team's day-to-day operations.

Curly Lambeau led his team to over 200 wins and six NFL championships, including three straight from 1929 to 1931.

Curly Lambeau coached eight players who went on to be elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Curly Lambeau was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team as one of the top halfbacks in the league's first decade of existence.

Curly Lambeau 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.

Curly Lambeau was born April 9,1898, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, to Marcelin Lambeau and Mary LaTour, both of Belgian descent.

Curly Lambeau attended Green Bay East High School, where he was identified as a standout athlete.

Curly Lambeau 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 Curly 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".

In 1918, Curly 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.

Curly Lambeau played for the Packers for ten seasons, including the first eight seasons after the team joined the NFL in 1921.

Curly Lambeau threw 24 touchdown passes, rushed for eight touchdowns, and caught three touchdowns in 77 games.

Curly Lambeau was the first Packer to throw a pass, throw a touchdown pass, and make a field goal in Green Bay Packer franchise history.

Curly Lambeau was occasionally the team's kicker, kicking six field goals and 20 extra points.

Curly Lambeau won his only NFL championship as a player-coach in 1929, retiring as a player after the season.

Curly Lambeau coached three NFL teams over his 33-year career: the Green Bay Packers, the Chicago Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins.

Curly Lambeau was responsible for signing players and running practices.

Curly Lambeau is still far and away the winningest coach in Packers history.

In 1946, Curly 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 Curly Lambeau spent on renovations, and some members of the financial committee almost resigned in protest.

Curly Lambeau's players grew to hate the facility as well, partly because they were severely battered by the brick-hard limestone under the fields.

On some days, Curly Lambeau had to move practices to fields near City Stadium due to the severe beating his players took at the Lodge.

Early in the 1949 season, Curly 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, Curly Lambeau found investors willing to invest funds into the team on the condition that it abolished its then-unique public ownership structure.

Curly Lambeau rejected this offer almost out of hand, effectively ending his 31-year tenure at the helm of the team he founded; however, he did not formally resign until February 1,1950, 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.

Curly Lambeau was married three times: first to Marguerite Van Kessel from 1919 to 1934, ending in divorce with one son.

Curly Lambeau's second wife, Susan Johnson, was a former Miss California, and they were married from 1935 to 1940.

Curly Lambeau married Grace Garland in 1945 and was divorced in 1955.

Curly Lambeau died on June 1,1965, at age 67, in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin from a sudden heart attack.

Curly 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.

The name Curly 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.

Curly Lambeau was a second-team All-Pro for three seasons and was named to the NFL 1920s All-Decade Team.

Curly Lambeau became the first coach to lead an NFL team to three consecutive NFL Championships, a feat that has only been matched once by Packers coach Vince Lombardi.

Curly Lambeau was part of the inaugural class of Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963, and the inaugural class of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1970.