Founding the Green Bay Packers in 1923|alt=A black and white image of a man preparing to throw a football 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.
Playing career Lambeau was a player-captain at first. He won his only NFL championship as a player-coach in
1929, retiring as a player after the season.
Green Bay Packers in 1940|alt=A black and white image of a man standing with his hands on his hips 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. 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. In response to these events, team officials offered him a revised contract that stripped him of nearly all control over non-football matters. Lambeau rejected this offer almost out of hand, effectively ending his 31-year tenure at the helm of the team he founded; 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. The insurance money relieved the Packers' financial woes at one stroke, and ensured they would stay in Green Bay. He traded
Paul Christman, part of the "
Million Dollar Backfield" that had won the 1947 title, to the Packers in favor of trying to push
Jim Hardy for a greater passing attack. He proceeded to throw eight interceptions in his first game versus Philadelphia, a record. In
1950 season, the Cardinals ended the season 5–7, failing to improve upon its record in the previous season and missing out on the postseason. The
1951 season went even worse for Lambeau and the Cardinals; the team ended the season 3–9 and again failed to reach the postseason. He resigned after the tenth game while stating that "No man can do a satisfactory job if he constantly is harassed by front office second-guessing", while the Cardinals management publicly accused Lambeau of losing the trust of his coaches and players.
Washington Redskins Lambeau coached the
Washington Redskins in
1952 and
1953. In August
1954, Lambeau got into a heated argument with Redskins owner
George Preston Marshall in the lobby of
Sacramento's
Senator Hotel, after which Marshall abruptly fired Lambeau. == Personal life ==