1919 Green Bay Packers season

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1919 Green Bay Packers season
Head coach
[note 1]
Home field Hagemeister Park
Results
Record10–1

The 1919 Green Bay Packers season was their first season of competitive football. The team was formed by Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun with help from the Indian Packing Company. Lambeau served as team captain, the position closest related to the modern position of head coach, while Willard Ryan served as the official head coach. [1] The club posted a 10–1 record against other teams in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Contents

Founding

The original Packers The 1919 Green Bay Packers.jpg
The original Packers

According to traditional accounts, Curly Lambeau, a standout high school football player, made Knute Rockne's varsity Notre Dame team in his freshman year, only to resign after a severe case of tonsillitis. Still wanting to play football, a casual conversation with George Calhoun, editor of the Press-Gazette, in the Summer of 1919 convinced him to organize his own team. In the succeeding weeks, Calhoun ran advertisements in the Press-Gazette inviting prospective players to join the team. [2] On August 11, local athletes came together in the editorial room at the Press-Gazette building and formed the team that would become the Green Bay Packers. [3]

While the Packer organization recognizes 1919 as the year this town team was founded, a number of sources show that the 1919 team succeeded teams organized on an annual basis since 1896. Lambeau organized the team in 1919 and brought it to the NFL in 1921 but the tradition of football in Green Bay goes back to 1896, [4] earlier than any other NFL team, including the 1898 Racine St. Cardinals in Chicago. [5]

Sponsorship

Since the team needed funds for uniforms and equipment, Lambeau entered an agreement with his employer, the Indian Packing Company. The company provided $500 and Lambeau agreed to name the team after it. At first the team was denoted the "Green Bay Indians" but by the end of the year the press was referring to the team as the Packers. The company also allowed the team to use an open lot on company property for practices three times a week. [2]

Home field

The Packers played their home games in Hagemeister Park, a vacant lot next to East High. There were no bleachers and fans could watch the game for free, walking along the sideline next to the line of scrimmage. The field was sectioned off by ropes although the fans sometimes entered the field of play during particularly exciting parts of the game. At halftime, the players would gather in the endzone to discuss strategy and the fans would often join the discussion. To pay player salaries, a hat was passed around the crowd for donations. The Packers played 8 games at Hagemeister Park in their first season. [6]

Season results

The Packers finished the season with a record of 10–1, only losing to the Beloit Fairies 6–0 in a questionable loss where the Beloit hometown referee, George Zabel, called back two Packer touchdowns on consecutive plays at the end of the game. [7] Apart from the Beloit loss, they only allowed one other team to score, Racine Iroquois. For the 1919 season, they placed first among all professional teams in Wisconsin. [8] Their first ever road game occurred on Oct 19, 1919, at Ishpeming, MI. [9]

GameDateOpponentResultRecordLocation
1September 14Menominee North End A.C.W 53–01–0 Hagemeister Park
2September 21Marinette NorthernersW 61–02–0Hagemeister Park
3September 28New LondonW 54–03–0Hagemeister Park
4October 5Sheboygan Company CW 87–04–0Hagemeister Park
5October 12Racine IroquoisW 76–65–0Hagemeister Park
6October 19at IshpemingW 33–06–0 Ishpeming, MI
7October 26Oshkosh ProfessionalsW 85–07–0Hagemeister Park
8November 2Milwaukee Maple Leaf A.C.W 53–08–0Hagemeister Park
9November 9Chicago Chilar A.C.W 46–09–0Hagemeister Park
10November 16at Stambaugh MinersW 17–010–0 Stambaugh, MI
11November 23at Beloit FairiesL 0–610–1 Beloit, WI

Roster

Player Name
Nate Abrams
Henry (Tubby) Bero
Bradlee
Jim Coffeen
John Desjardins
Dutch Dwyer
Riggie Dwyer
Jen Gallager
Fritz Gavin
Wally Ladrow
Curly Lambeau
Wes Leaper
Herman Martell
Al Martin
Orlo Wylie McLean
Andy Muldoon
Herbert Nichols
Al Petcka
Sammy Powers
Gus Rosenow
Charlie Sauber
Kyle (Cowboy) Wheeler
Milt Wilson
Martin Zoll
Carl Zoll

[11]

Notes

  1. ↑ Curly Lambeau served as team captain during the 1919 season, while Willard Ryan served as head coach. In the early 1900s, the position of team captain was more closely related to the modern position of head coach, which is why the Packers consider Lambeau to be the first coach. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Curly Lambeau</span> American football player, coach, and executive (1898–1965)

Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin, native George Whitney Calhoun, founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919. He served as team captain in the team's first year before becoming player-coach in 1920. As a player, Lambeau lined up as a halfback, which in the early years of the NFL was the premier position. He was the team's primary runner and passer, accounting for 35 touchdowns in 77 games. He won his only NFL championship as a player in 1929.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Whitney Calhoun</span> American sports editor

George Whitney Calhoun was an American newspaper editor and co-founder of the Green Bay Packers, a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. After establishing the Packers in 1919 with Curly Lambeau, Calhoun served the team in various capacities for 44 years until his death in 1963. Utilizing his editorial job at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, he became the team's first publicity director, helping to establish local support and interest. He also served as the first team manager and was a member of the board of directors of the non-profit corporation that owns the team. Although often overshadowed by the more famous Curly Lambeau, Calhoun was instrumental to the early success of the Packers. In recognition of his contributions, Calhoun was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1978.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1934 Green Bay Packers season</span> NFL team season

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willard Ryan</span> American football head coach

Willard J. Ryan was an American teacher and football coach who served as the first head coach of the Green Bay Packers. Historically, Curly Lambeau has been credited as being the Packers' first head coach, although this is primarily due to the different rules of American football in the early 1900s. In Ryan's era, the head coach was not allowed to communicate with the players while they were playing a game. Lambeau, as team captain, would call the plays during a game and also organized practices, tasks that are now allocated to the head coaching position. Ryan, who also coached the Green Bay West High School football team, only coached the Packers in their inaugural season in 1919, leading the team to a record of 10–1. Before his coaching career, Ryan served in World War I in 1918. In 1920, he moved to Minnesota to work as a school teacher and a superintendent of schools. He retired in 1955 and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, in 1961. He died of unknown causes on February 7, 1962, at the age of 71.

References

  1. 1 2 "Lambeau's status as Packers' first coach debated". The Sheboygan Press (clipping). Associated Press. January 10, 2004. p. B4. Archived from the original on January 10, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 "History of the Green Bay Packers". PackersNews.com. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008.
  3. ↑ "Packers.com » History » Birth of a Team & a Legend". Archived from the original on June 17, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2008.
  4. ↑ "Packers born in 1919, not 1921". Packers.com. Archived from the original on November 23, 2014. Retrieved November 23, 2014.
  5. ↑ Names, Larry (1987). The History of the Green Bay Packers. Wautoma, Wisconsin: Angel Press of Wisconsin. pp. 25–27. ISBN   0-939995-00-X.
  6. ↑ LambeauField.com » Stadium Info » History » Packers Stadium History Archived April 14, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "100 Years Ago Today, the Green Bay Packers' Perfect Inaugural Season was Spoiled by Fairies". November 24, 2019.
  8. ↑ Green Bay Packers
  9. ↑ "TWIN CITY MEETS DEFEAT: Ishpeming-Negaunee Eleven Lost by 33 to 0 Score to Green Bay". ishhistsoc.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011., Iron Ore newspaper, Oct 1919; via Ishpeming Historical Society
  10. ↑ "1919 Green Bay Packers - Pro Football Archives".
  11. ↑ "The 1919 and 1920 Green Bay Packers – Independent Football". Archived from the original on July 15, 2013. Retrieved December 15, 2013.

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