Curly Lambeau Is Dead

June 1, 1965 - Earl (Curly) Lambeau, founder of the Green Bay Packers and the only coach ever to win three consecutive NFL titles, died today of an apparent heart attack. He was 67.

Lambeau turned Green Bay, then a town of only 37,000, into the crown capital of the NFL by guiding the Packers to the championship in 1929, 1930, and 1931. He won three more titles before ending a 31-year Packer career with the 1949 season.

Lambeau collapsed today while mowing a lawn at the home of a friend at Sturgeon Bay, 40 miles northeast of Green Bay. He was dead when a fire rescue squad arrived.

A pioneer in the NFL, Lambeau was credited with turning the forward pass into a potent pro weapon while coach and quarterback of the Packers in the 1920s.

He was one of 17 charter members of the NFL Hall of Fame.

Lambeau had only three losing seasons in more than three decades with the Packers. But two of them came back to back in 1948 and 1949, and he resigned early the following year in a factional feud with a younger Packer front office.

Lambeau moved to the Chicago Cardinals as coach for two years and bowed out of the NFL at the end of 1954 after three seasons as coach of the Washington Redskins.

Friends and former players showered the football trailblazer with tributes today.

“I doubt if the league would exist today without the likes of Lambeau,” said George Halas, owner-coach of the Chicago Bears.

“His vision and foresight made the Packers and the NFL what they are today,” said Buckets Goldenberg, Milwaukee restaurant owner who played guard for Lambeau from 1933 to 1945.

“Either you wanted to do it or not — it was up to you. There was no whip cracking by Curly,” recalled Arnie Herber, who teamed with end Don Hutson for the Packers to create a standout passing combination in the 1930s.

Cecil Isbell, who succeeded Herber as Packer passer, said Lambeau “was always fair to all the boys. He was a good man to play for.”

The Packers were the children of a 1919 streetcorner conversation between Lambeau, a native of Green Bay who played college football at Notre Dame, and a friend. The team was born as a semipro outfit financed by a packing house. Lambeau recruited high school friends. At the end of the first season, each player received $16.75.

Green Bay joined the American Professional Football Association in 1921. The following year, the association became the NFL with Green Bay as a charter member.

He is survived by one son, Donald; a brother, Oliver; and a sister, Mrs. Frances Beatrice Evrard, all of Green Bay.

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