Lambeau, Earl Louis

Lambeau, Earl Louis, 1898–1965, American football coach and player, b. Green Bay, Wis. “Curly” Lambeau briefly attended Notre Dame, where he played for Knute Rockne, but illness forced his return to Green Bay. In 1919, with local sports editor George Calhoun, he founded the Green Bay Packers football team; Lambeau served as head coach until 1949. In 1921 the team joined the American Professional Football Association, since 1922 the National Football League. A player-coach until 1929, Lambeau was primarily a halfback as a player. He led the team to six championships (1929–31, 1936, 1939, 1944), a distinction shared with George Halas. He later coached the Washington Redskins (1950–51) and the Chicago Cardinals (1952–53). A pioneer of the professional game, Lambeau helped establish the use of the forward pass and pass patterns.

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