Philadelphia Daily News from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 74

to (feed-Elite coeffl etf to Si when he finally cracked finished second to the Giants, but the team slumped in 1928 down. Green Bay was the victim. The franchise fee of $50 was returned to John Clair of the Acme Packing Company, successors to the Indians Packing Company. That didn't daunt Cur'y. He saved up $50 to buy bark Eighth of nine articles in a series excerpted from "Pro Football's Hall of Fame." profiles of professional football's great figure.

lly ARTHUR DALEY Curly Lambeau was born In Own Bay -where else? on April 9. 1893. the son of Marcel Lambeau. the town's leading building contractor. In other words, he grew up on the correct side of the railroad tracks.

He was the kid who owned the football. It was homemade in the beginning, fashioned from a salt sack stuffed with leaves from the Wisconsin woods. Then it was a real football. In every neighborhood game he was the leader, not because he owned the ball but because authority came the franchise, but then hid Blood from Pottsville. no money to go to Canton CURLY KNEW his quest for the league meeting In was over.

But he also knew June of 1922. He was wan- that his own Job had Jusi dering sadly around town begun. He was an insatiable when he encountered Don taskmaster. He lashed and Murphy, the carefree son of drove his players in a ferocl-a wealthy Green Bay lumber-ous striving for perfection. man.

i He worked and nagged them "What are you so glum until he had them on the naturally to him. He hap UJ a. A OAlir BOOK SERIAL he led his team to a 7-0 victory In his senior year of 1916 But then he decided to stay out of college for a year. By the fall of 1918 the pressures began to grow on him. Local alumni from Notre Dame pleaded with him to matriculate at South Bend where a remarkable young coach had Just taken over a IA imu Jw vtaha to, In the Student Army Training Corps and was eligible for pened to be one of those rare characters who was meant to be a boss, not an underling.

When he entered East High in Green Bay. that school had not beaten its hated rival. West High. In the better part of a decade. Curly took care of that when fellow named Knute Rockne mw rrz uave a proiuna wiuuriicc on Curly strategic thinking for the rest of his football life.

"isnpeming was tough, he nrst three Plavs we three men wlth broken honea So nev'r called for another running play. We tfm artrl won j3.0 xhat was the day I realized how valuable the forward pass was." Curly's thinking was to varsity play although only a freshman. He was to become the regular fullback, performing In the same back-field with the immortal George Gipp. one of the hallowed heroes of American athletics. But the finger of fate touched him on the throat.

Curly underwent a tonsillectomy that spring, and it was so serious that It laid him low for six weeks. He went home to recuperate and mull over his future. He had lost a semester of school. Should he return? about?" asked the cheerful Murphy. "That football team of yours?" "Yes." said Curly.

"I've got the fifty bucks to buy back the franchise, but I have ro to get to Canton to buy I TLL TIHNK of some- i thing." said Murphy. "If come up with the dough, son?" It's a deal. said Curly. Murphy thought of something. He sold his Marmon roadster for $1,500 and went to Canton with Curly.

Thy reclaimed the franchise and Lambeau made good his promise. Murphy got in for rI 7. wi 4., up or icpiiea mm up. men he happily retired, It was a tremendous gie in the formative years. hope and his own enthuslas-r eventually was communlca'- ed to the wealthy men who would assure the Packers' AnanKlol Th.n began to reach outside the state of Wisconsin for talent, There was a flash of prom- lse tn 1927 when Green Bay i CIKLY LAMBEAU tough but successful rAv1nt tAni-TA nPnfa I ft tl tt 1 ftKn m- ih.

nt ir pss -minded "caches. and it was his own success with the aerial weapon which influenced other coaches to 2 7ibrtvn of talent. Curly made sure he had the men to exploit the pass. He always had excellent passers, starting with himself and then Red Dunn. After that he went In for such super-passes as Amie Herber and Cecil Isbell.

But i wi price cAumpirs utriug wumiiijr Blood and Don Hutson. The Packers still were a town team in ivzu. dui a year National Football League, flnishtng fourth. In those free and easy pioneer days, it was a common practice for all nrn tam tn hlr rl. leglans under assumed names as reinforcements.

Joe Carr. president of the league, fought against It and end then Curly made his coup. He nailed the three men who would supply the spark of greatness. They were Cal Hubbard from the Giants. Mike Mlchalske from jthe Yankees and Johnny verge of "If that buzzard ever died," said the usually good-humored Hubbard one day, "they'd have trouble finding six guys to volunteer as pall- But if they grumbled they d.ldn i Willi Si III HHPS.

KC UdU Bill anyone who missed practice. One day four of his better players failed to make appearance. "That will cost you $500 each." said Curly evenly. "Write out the checks." Hopeful that Lambeau would relent and not cash them, the angry foursome re- I luctantly wrote out the even checks. Curly could read their minds.

"And I'm cashing them, too." he said, pocketing the checks, "and I'm doing It before you can stop payment." A mastodonic lineman shook a finger at Curly. "IF YOU CASH my check." he snarled. "Ill kill you." "It won't do you any good, said Curly. "It would merely cost you another $500." But Curly Simon Legree tactics achieved their objective. The Packers won their first championship In 1929.

Then they won In 1930 and again in 1931. It was In that middle year that Curly played his last game. His passing attack had gone awry one day and he raged and stormed. "I'll show you fellows how to throw passes." he scream- ed. He put himself in the game as a substitute, leaving resentful players behind him on the bench as well as on the field.

Cal Hubbard watched him trot out. He of-, fered a happy solution. "Let's open the gates on Curly, fellows." he said. The gates were duly opened. The ball snapped back to Lambeau from center.

The Packer blockers ail stepped aside and admitted a swarm of enemy tacklers. They virtually hammered Lambeau underground. Curly struggled to his feet, cast a reproachful glance at his grinning hired hands and limped to the sidelines. He never played again. WEDNESDAY: George Halas.

Frank Peck made up his official or the Indian Packing Company of Green Bay. He met Curly on the street one day and offered the black curls a iob with firm at the overt eenerous uiarv for that era of $250 mnintti monin. Curly grabbed It and toiled contentedly through the spring and summer. But when autumn approached, so did the old urge. When he was unable to resist It.

Curly sought an audience with his benefactor. -MR. PECK." he said eagerly. "I've been talking to some of the other young fellows and we think well be able to get together a football team. It will be a great thing for Green Bay and the company.

We even could call ourselves the Packers. Will you back us?" "Certainly. Curly." said the, boss. "Ill let you have $500 for uniforms. From there on It's all yours." ii if ii I II I II Thus were born the Green Bay Packers.

The twenty-one-year-old Lambeau was coach, captain and star. Every night after work his team assembled for practice In the yard of the packing company, and Lambeau did his job well. His Packers won ten straight games and the towns people suddenly became aware and began to give them considerable support. But when the Packers split the total gate receipts for the season, the division of spoils came to $16.75 per man. It was-a game against MASTERMINDS CIO INTO HUDDLE: Four area coaches get together at Maxwell Club luncheon at Warwick Hotel for discussion.

Subject: football, naturally. Left to right: Alex Bell of Villanova, George Makris of Temple and Tom Grebis of Drexel pay close attention to John Steigman of Penn. who maps play on table cloth. When a guy wins as big as Steigman did Saturday (47-0 over Lafayette), I mnm. mt wmi uM.

Myr 2nJ yr t-.