CAL'S CORNER
FEB 11 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Although the football season is a long way off, there is quite a bit of speculation about what is going to be doing here on the professional gridiron next fall. It is a good bet that the Packers won't be in action. The same old gang may be there but they will probably be playing under another name. Dame Rumor has it that one of the big industrial concerns is dickering for the team and that they may put "Cub" Buck, All American star, in charge of the pigskin chasers.
PACKER FOOTBALL SQUAD WILL START PRACTICE MONDAY NIGHT ON OLD COURTHOUSE GROUNDS
AUG 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers will start football practice Monday night at 6:45. Arrangements have been completed to use the vacant lot, Cherry and Jefferson streets, across from the city hall as a practice gridiron and a lighting system will be installed so that the squad will be able to work late in the evening. Work will be started early next week leveling the ground so that it will be in good shape for the practice tilts. A tackling dummy outfit will be erected on one corner of the lot. Captain Lambeau is desirous of having all candidates report promptly so that the practice can get underway without any delay. The Packers are getting an earlier start than usual this year but Lambeau wants his team in shape for games in September.
PACKERS PRACTICE
AUG 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The thud of the pigskin will be heard on the old courthouse lot corner of Jefferson and Cherry streets tonight at 6:45 when candidates for the Packers football squad engage in the their first practice workout of the season. Captain Lambeau was all of last year's regulars out tonight as well as any others who want to try out for the team.
CAL'S CORNER
AUG 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers football squad starts its practice workouts tonight. The players will have about five weeks of steady grill before the opening game and when the whistle blows for the initial fray they should be in midseason form. Unless we miss our guess Green Bay is going to a mighty place this year in the professional football world.
CUB BUCK MAY BE SEEN IN PACKERS LINEUP THIS FALL
AUG 10 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers will stage their second workout of the season on the old courthouse grounds tonight and the practice will be followed by a meeting of the candidates in Mayor Wiesner's office at City Hall. The drill is to start at 6:45 and Captain Lambeau will direct the training stunts. It is expected that at least thirty candidates will report. There is a possibility that "Cub" Buck, former Wisconsin All American star, and a member of Jim Thorpe's Canton Bulldog team for the past two seasons will be seen in a Packer uniform this fall. Buck is in charge of Boy Scout activities at Appleton and the Packers' management is in hopes of signing him up for the season. Negotiations to this effect are now underway. Buck played one game here last fall with the Packers.
JOE HOEFFEL WILL HELP TAKE CHARGE OF PACKERS SQUAD
AUG 11 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Joe Hoeffel, former Wisconsin captain, will assist Captain Lambeau in coaching the Packers. Beginning next week, Hoeffel will work out regularly with the team and he is expected to render valuable assistance in building up a championship machine. The Packers went through another snappy workout on the old courthouse grounds and about 400 spectators were on hand to see the squad go through the limbering up stunts. Captain Lambeau had about twenty men on the job and he made numerous changes in the lineup during the signal practice. Among the players who reported for a workout last night were: Klaus, Martin Zoll, Carl Zoll, MacMillan, Baetz, Wilson, Kliebhahn, Powers, Abrams, Martell, Gavin, Bernhardt, Lande, McLean, Rosenow, Ladrow, Schmael, Bero, Martin and Captain Lambeau....SCHMAEL BACK IN FOLD: Nearly all of these men were members of the team last year. Art Schmael is back in the fold. He was captain of the city team in 1918, the year he coached East High. Bernhardt played with the Beloit Fairies in 1919. MacMillan is a former University of Washington star, while Kliebhahn played a back for the Milwaukee All Stars against the Packers last fall. "Cowboy" Wheeler will be out Friday night. Wagner is expected here from Marinette within ten days and he may bring "Eckey" Erdlitz, crack quarterback, with him. Wes and Guy Leaper will soon be out with the squad. There is also the possibility that Jen Gallagher, crack halfback in 1919, may be back in action...MAY GET DAVEY: An attempt is being made to get Allan Davey, Wisconsin star of '20, here for the football season, and Brumm, a big Badger lineman, is also being considered. As yet no reply has been received from Cub Buck but the management is hopeful that the All-American star can be induced to sign up with the Packers.
PLAYED IN NON-LEAGUE GAMES ONLY
PLAYER POS COLLEGE G YR HT WT
George Douglas C Marquette 6- 2 200
Bill Oakes T Haskell 6- 3 220
Burton Elliott B Marquette 6- 0 185
Gus Rosenow B Wisconsin 6- 0 185
Buck Gavin B Marquette 6- 0 195
Walter Sullivan G Beloit 6- 0 195
Eddie Glick B Marquette 5-11 165
Dick Williams B Wisconsin 6- 1 180
Cliff Lande E Carroll 5-11 180
Carl Zoll G No College 5-11 240
Wes Leaper E Wisconsin 6- 1 190
PLAYER POS COLLEGE G YR HT WT
Nate Abrams E None 1 1 5- 7 160
Norm Barry B Notre Dame 5 1 5- 9 170
Cub Buck T Wisconsin 6 1 6- 3 250
Joe Carey G Illinois Tech 6 1 6- 0 185
James Cook G Notre Dame 2 1 6- 2 245
Frank Coughlin T Notre Dame 5 1 6- 2 215
Bill DuMoe E No College 6 1 5-11 165
Dave Hayes E Notre Dame 6 1 5-11 165
Lynn Howard B Indiana 4 1 5-11 210
Emmett Keefe T No College 1 1 6- 1 210
Feryl Klaus C No College 4 1 6- 1 180
Roger Kliebhan B Milwaukee 1 1 6- 0 210
Wally Ladrow HB No College 1 1 6- 0 185
PLAYER POS COLLEGE G YR HT WT
Curly Lambeau B Notre Dame 6 1 6- 0 190
Grover Malone B Notre Dame 6 1 5-10 195
Herman Martell E No College 1 1 6- 0 160
Orlo McLean B No College 3 1 5- 9 165
Jab Murray T Marquette 5 1 6- 3 250
Sammy Powers G N. Michigan 4 1 6- 0 150
Art Schmaehl FB No College 6 1 5-10 165
Warren Smith G W.Michigan 2 1 6- 1 215
Buff Wagner B Carroll-WI 4 1 5- 9 165
Lyle Wheeler E Ripon 3 1 6- 0 190
Milt Wilson G Oshkosh 6 1 6- 1 200
Martin Zoll G No College 1 1 5-11 190
1921 PRE-SEASON RESULTS (4-0)
September (1-0)
25 CHICAGO BOOSTERS W 13- 0 1- 0-0 3,500
October (3-0)
2 ROCKFORD MAROONS W 49- 0 2- 0-0 N/A
9 CHICAGO CORNELL-HAMBURGS W 40- 0 3- 0-0 N/A
16 BELOIT FAIRIES W 7- 0 4- 0-0 5,000
1921 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS (3-2-1)
October (1-1)
23 MINNEAPOLIS MARINES (0-1-0) W 7- 6 1- 0-0 6,000
30 ROCK ISL. INDEPENDENTS (2-1-1) L 3-13 1- 1-0 6,000
November (2-1-1)
6 EVANSVILLE CRIMSON GIANTS (2-1-0) W 43- 6 2- 1-0 N/A
13 HAMMOND PROS (1-2-1) W 14- 7 3- 1-0 N/A
20 at Chicago Cardinals (3-2-1) T 3- 3 3- 1-1 2,000
27 at Chicago Staleys (6-1-0) L 0-20 3- 2-1 7,000
December (0-0-1)
4 X-Racine Legion T 3- 3 6,200
X-Non-League Game at Milwaukee
1921 IN REVIEW
After going 19-2-1 as an independent team, the Green Bay Packers joined the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922). J.E. Clair of Acme Packing Company was granted the franchise for Green Bay on August 27. Their first win in the APFA came on Sunday, October 23 when they defeated the Minneapolis Marines, 7-6, at Hagemeister Park in Green Bay. In that game, Curly Lambeau threw the first forward pass in Packer history (an incompletion intended for Lyle "Cowboy" Wheeler). Buff Wagner would record the first reception, an 18-yard pass from Curly Lambeau. FB Art Schmaehl would run four yards for the first Green Bay touchdown. Lambeau would drop kick the first extra point in Packer history. The following week, October 30, Green Bay would lose its first league game ever, dropping a 13-3 decision to the Rock Island Independents at Hagemeister Park. In that game, Lambeau would attempt and make the first field goal in team history, connecting from 25 yards on a drop kick. The first touchdown pass in Green Bay history would come on November 13 in a 14-7 win over the visiting Hammond Pros. Lambeau tossed a 35-yard score off a fake kick to Bill DuMoe. Two weeks later, the famous Packer-Bear series would be launched at Chicago, with the Packers losing a 20-0 decision to Chicago Staleys, who changed name to Bears in 1922. After the season, Green Bay nearly lost its franchise, as it was found to have used two active Notre Dame players in the game with the Staleys and a non-league game against Chicago Supremes after 1921 season. Upset at teams using illegal players, the APFA made an example of the Packers and stripped Green Bay of the team on January 28, 1922. John Clair surrendered the franchise at the meeting. The NFL owners would reinstate the Packers at a June 24 meeting in Canton, after Lambeau apologized and paid the $250 franchise fee, making him team's new owner.
THE STALEY SWINDLE
The Staley Swindle is a term used, primarily by sports fans from Buffalo, New York, to describe the loss of the Buffalo All-Americans 1921 APFA Championship title to the Chicago Staleys (later renamed the Chicago Bears). The controversy began at the conclusion of the 1921 season, when the All-Americans finished the season with the best record in the American Professional Football Association (renamed the National Football League in 1922). However after losing an "exhibition" game to the Staleys on December 4, 1921, the All-Americans lost their title to Chicago. The Buffalo All-Americans finished 1921 with a 9-0-2 record, meanwhile Chicago captured second-place with their only loss coming against Buffalo on Thanksgiving. The Staleys refused to play any road games that season except for their Thanksgiving game against the then-undefeated All-Americans who also had played all of their games at home. Chicago owner, George Halas, then challenged the All-Americans to a rematch. Buffalo owner, Frank McNeil, having already scheduled the team's last game for December 3 against the Akron Pros, agreed on the condition that it be considered only a "post-season exhibition match" and not be counted in the standings. McNeil also made a point of telling the Buffalo media that the two games were exhibitions and would have no bearing on the team's claim to the AFPA title. He then scheduled the game against the Staleys the day after the team's final game against Akron. Therefore after a game, scheduled for December 3 against the tough Akron Pros, McNeil's team would take an all-night train to Chicago to play the Staleys the next day. The All-Americans defeated the Pros. They then boarded a train for Chicago, worn out and in no real condition to play the Staleys. The All-Americans then lost to the Staleys, 10-7. Meanwhile McNeil still believed his team was the AFPA's 1921 champion, and even invested in tiny gold footballs for his players to commemorate the achievement. After all, at the time, Buffalo was still 9-1-2, and Chicago was still 8-1 -- a half-game behind Buffalo in the standings (Buffalo played more games earlier in the season). If the season ended that day, Buffalo would still have won the league title. Chicago, however, saw their opportunity, and swiftly scheduled two games in December: one against the Canton Bulldogs, and the other against their crosstown rivals, the Chicago Cardinals. Winning both would have propelled Chicago to 10-1, a half-game ahead of Buffalo and assuring the team of the championship. The Staleys defeated Canton, 10-0, on December 11, but managed only to reach a scoreless tie with the Cardinals on December 18. Thus, the two teams were now tied at 9-1 (ties did not count in the APFA standings at the time). Halas decided to declare that the title belonged to Chicago and began to persuade the other owners in the league to give his Staleys the title. Halas based his claim for the championship on his belief that the second game of the Buffalo-Chicago series mattered more than the first. He also pointed out that the aggregate score of the two games was 16-14 in favor of the Staleys. McNeil insisted that the Buffalo was the champions and maintained that the last two games his team played were merely exhibitions. (Notably, both the All-Americans and the Staleys disputed the previous year's title, but were both overruled and the Brunswick-Balke Collender Cup went to the Akron Pros.) The league then instituted the first-ever tiebreaker for the championship. The new rule stated that a rematch counts more than a first matchup, which handed the championship to Chicago. The rule has since been discontinued by the NFL, largely due to the playoff system that was developed in the early 1930s. However the league was also forced to place a finite end to the season after the incident. In 1924, when Chicago attempted to do the same thing with a post-season match against the Cleveland Bulldogs, the league disallowed it, allowed the Bulldogs to keep their title, and banned the use of postseason championship games.[2] In their decision, based on a generally accepted (but now obsolete) rule that if two teams play each other more than once in a season, the second game counts more than the first, the executive committee followed established tradition. Had Buffalo not played the last game (or if it had not been counted as per Buffalo's wishes), they would have had an undefeated season and won the title. Meanwhile McNeil eventually went to his grave trying to get the league's decision overturned. Buffalo never again reached the level of success they did in the 1918-1921 period; the franchise barely stayed over .500 for the next three seasons, after which the team fell to the bottom of the league in the standings for most of the rest of the decade, suspending operations in 1927 and folding in 1929. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)
1921 Green Bay Packers - Martell, R. Lambeau, Cook, Abrams, DuMoe, Wheeler, Wagner, Coughlin, Barry, Carey, Murray, Lambeau, Hayes, Buck, Schmael, Wilson, Ladrow, (?), Howard, Klaus, McLean, Powers, LeClair
Fan buys 1921 Packers photo for $4,674, but it’s really of a random 1917 high school game
Someone woke up to read a newspaper article telling them the expensive vintage 1921 Green Bay Packers photo they bought is actually of a high school football game two years before the Packers were founded. Cliff Christl, who knows as much about Packers history as anyone walking the planet, wrote a fascinating piece for PackersNews.com on a photograph that was sold for $4,674 in a Mears Online Auctions sale in 2011. It was billed as the "most historic Green Bay Packer image ever offered," and it looks remarkable for such an old photo. It was billed as famed Packers founder Curly Lambeau taking a pitch around right end. The auction claimed it was the earliest known Packers action photo, and the earliest action photo of Curly Lambeau. What a great piece for some Packers fan to have in their home. Except what they have, as PackersNews.com (the site for the Green Bay Press-Gazette's Packers coverage) reported after some exhaustive research, is a very nice photo of a high school game between Marinette and Watertown in 1917 – two years before the Packers were founded. Christl's research includes the fact that the advertising sign in the photo is from Hagemeister Park, a minor-league baseball stadium that was torn down in 1918. Also, he points out that in 1921 the Packers wore "Acme Packers" jerseys in 1921, and no lettering is on the jerseys in the picture. Oh, and Christl wrote that he found the auctioned photo in Green Bay West High School's 1918 Yearbook, which also was before the Packers were founded. "Too bad for the proud owner, but here’s the bad news: You were fleeced," Christl wrote. "You bought a picture of a high school football game and Lambeau is nowhere to be found in it." So just remember, always make sure to check the details when you buy expensive NFL memorabilia. UPDATE: Troy Kinunen, president of Mears Auctions, said that he will give the winning bidder a full refund. Here is what he said in an email: "I was privy to the original sale from the Wagner family and was confident in the origin and authenticity of the actual photo. Previously, I had never seen such a high quality cabinet mount photo issued to a high school player, it was quite unusual, is was more closely associated with something issued to a professional player. Also, at the original time of sale, I had shared the image with several Packer collectors (for whom I have great respect at their experience), and they were in agreement that it did appear to resemble a young Lambeau. Very few action shots exist, and an exact comparison is difficult. "I do take issue with the word "fleeced". Based on the new information, I have immediately made arrangements to offer the winning bidder a full refund. At Mears Auctions, it is never our intentions to offer items that are not as represented. If a mistake happens, we will fix it." SOURCE: Yahoo Sports (July 24th 2013)
Cliff Christl Research - With thousands of Green Bay Packers shareholders descending upon our city for their annual meeting Wednesday and swarms of other fans preparing to make their annual pilgrimage to training camp, now might be a good time to remind them that when buying Packers memorabilia, buyer beware. That may be especially true when purchasing early Packers pictures, many of which are unmarked in the Neville Public Museum collection but have been tagged with incorrect captions in a number of books and publications about Packers history, including the team’s own 75th anniversary book. The picture that appears along with this column was sold on Mears Online Auctions site in 2011 for $4,674, including a buyer’s premium. Mears claimed the picture was an original from 1921 and that Curly Lambeau was the one about to take the pitchout and run with the ball; in turn, “making it the earliest action image of Lambeau known” and also “the earliest known action photo of the Green Bay Packers franchise.” Too bad for the proud owner, but here’s the bad news: You were fleeced. You bought a picture of a high school football game and Lambeau is nowhere to be found in it. Mears also stated in its online description that the picture was commissioned by Buff Wagner of Marinette and remained in his family until about 2000. Wagner played for the Packers in 1920 and ’21. The picture alone should have raised at least three red flags. One was the Allouez Water and Beverages sign. It appears to match the sign that stood in the old minor-league baseball stadium in Hagemeister Park, which also doubled as a football field. What doesn’t add up is that Green Bay lost its minor-league team following the 1914 season and that ballpark was torn down in the spring of 1918, the year before the Packers were born. Two was the snow. The Packers played 18 games, including exhibitions, at Hagemeister Park in 1920 and ’21, but only six after Nov. 1. Those were the only two seasons that Lambeau and Wagner played together with the Packers, although they also participated along with a number of their teammates in a local benefit game at Hagemeister on Dec. 5, 1920. The problem is that of those 19 games, including the benefit, the only one in which there was snow on the ground was played Nov. 13, 1921, based on National Weather Service records reviewed by local meteorologist Roy Eckberg. Three was the jerseys. If the game was played in 1921, that was the year the Acme Packing Co. sponsored the Packers. Here’s the flag-raiser: The Packers’ 1921 team picture shows that at least a handful of players, including Lambeau and Wagner, wore jerseys with Acme Packers written in large bold letters across the front. Only two of the jerseys worn by players on the team with the ball are clearly visible in the picture in question, but there’s no sign of any lettering. What’s more, the Packers’ jerseys were darker than their pants in their team photo and it’s just the opposite in the action photo; and the players’ socks differ in the two photos. Mears’ online description also suggested an ignorance of Packers history. It noted that Wagner played for the Packers in 1920 and ’21 and that Lambeau joined the team in ’21. As most every Packers fan knows, Lambeau helped found the team in 1919. The description also stated that it was the Packers’ second professional season when, in fact, it was their third season and first league season, and whether they were a professional or semipro team in their first two years is a debatable point. So who was playing and where’s the proof that it wasn’t an actual shot of Lambeau and the Packers? The $4,600 picture was of a high school football game played at Hagemeister Park between Marinette and Watertown on Dec. 8, 1917. That was long before high school football playoffs — back when any successful high school team in the state could challenge any other to play for the state championship. Marinette claimed to be champions of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and invited any of four other undefeated teams in the state to try to prove otherwise. Watertown accepted and Green Bay made a strong pitch to serve as host. The local promoters — Brown County Red Cross chapter, Green Bay Association of Commerce and Green Bay Press-Gazette — then went all out to hype the game. Wagner was Marinette’s captain and fullback, and the game was played in zero-degree weather with about an inch of snow on the ground. As for Lambeau, he went to Green Bay East High School and graduated the previous spring. Proof that it wasn’t a Packers game can be found in Snapshots, Green Bay West’s 1918 Yearbook. The picture appeared there on page 100 more than a year before the Packers were born.
Packers born in 1919, not 1921
The team's early history has become increasingly muddled over time, and part of the confusion has centered on when the Packers started
Many of you have asked questions about how the Packers got started and the role of the packing plants in their early history. I’ll field questions on those two subjects this week in a two-part Cliff’s Notes. Here’s part one. J.J. from Los Angeles via Milwaukee, WI
Now that you have an official position with the team, any chance you can influence others to print and sell at least some merchandise with the correct date of when the franchise was established? I know civilization didn't exist before the NFL, but it irritates me to see any history rewritten when it falsifies a fact. I’m aware most people won't care, but it's a general slippery slope and erosion of standards. If the NFL insisted when you were a reporter that the Packers didn't exist before 1921 and you were told to write that, you never would have stood for it. J.J., you’ll be happy to learn if you haven’t been to Lambeau this season that there’s now a graphic overlay that reads, “Established 1919,” and appearing on the video shown on the scoreboard just before player introductions. I’ve also been writing text for the new Packers Hall of Fame and there will be a sign as part of a larger display, not to mention other references, emphasizing the Packers were formed in 1919. I get your point. Not long ago I saw what looked like an officially licensed T-shirt that read: “Green Bay Packers … Established 1921,” the year the Packers joined what is now the NFL. I’m new here, but I don’t believe the league ordered the Packers to change their birth date. It was simply a case of the team’s early history becoming increasingly muddled over time, and part of the confusion has centered on when the Packers started. (See next question.) What’s important moving forward is that I think as an organization we’re committed to getting things right in the future. For example, I think we made a good start this year with changes to the Media Guide. But I also want to emphasize that I’m uncomfortable about rewriting history unless it can be proven something is incorrect or the evidence overwhelmingly suggests it. In a nutshell, the Packers’ story is a rare case where the truth is better than the myth. Some have tried, but you can’t make up a better story than the real one.
Nik from Milwaukee, WI: You, of all people, should know that Nate Abrams captained the same team in 1918 that Curly Lambeau did. And Tommy Skenandore won us our first informal title back in 1897. Why can't the Packers accept the pre-Packer sponsored history of Green Bay football?
First of all, Nate Abrams might have been captain of the 1918 city team, but even that can be disputed. Based on what I’ve read in the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Art Schmaehl was the coach and person in charge. But on to your bigger question and when the Packers got their start. I haven’t researched the history of the Canton Bulldogs, Rock Island Independents, Columbus Panhandles and Chicago Cardinals, all charter members of what is now the NFL, but just from reading about those teams I was able to grasp how their roots could be traced back years before the start of the league. It was different in Green Bay. Green Bay fielded its first city team in 1895, but it had no real connection to the 1919 Packers, much less Green Bay’s first NFL team. Green Bay’s city teams were hit and miss. The Packers’ roots were more directly tied to local high school football. Most of the original Packers played for Green Bay East or West High, not previous city teams. East and West would draw up to 5,000 fans to their games and truly turned Green Bay into a football-crazed town. Some of Green Bay’s early city teams were playing nothing more than pickup games in a park. Just about every city and town in the East and Midwest had an amateur or semipro football team at some point. The Minnesota Vikings entered the NFL in 1961, but probably could come up with some line of descent that dates to a late 19th or early 20th century city football team. In the 24 seasons from 1895 to 1918, there were at least five where Green Bay had no team and another four where a so-called city team played no more than one or two games. There was no constancy of names, managers, coaches, players or anything else. To consider those teams part of Packers history would only cheapen it. What’s more, there has been plenty of shoddy research done on Abrams and others. Yes, evidence suggests Thomas Skenandore was the first player in Green Bay to get paid for his services. Yes, Harold Shannon, Green Bay’s first football historian, wrote more than a decade after the Packers were formed that Thomas Silverwood was the “Father of Football” in Green Bay – and understandably so, even though Silverwood was actively involved for no more than two years in the late 1890s. And, yes, I’m well aware that into the 1930s, the Packers Press Book included a short item each year about the team being organized in 1918. But then again, the Press Book never mentioned the team’s record or listed its scores in the record section. The records always started with 1919. George Whitney Calhoun, along with being co-founder of the Packers, was the team’s publicist and, by all accounts, wrote those early press books. Yet, in his real job with the Press-Gazette, he’d write that 1919 was the team’s first season. What to make of all that? The earliest story about the history of the Packers that I’ve found appeared in the Press-Gazette in 1922 and Calhoun might well have written it, although there was no byline on the story. In that piece, it was written that a 1917 Red Cross Benefit Game against Marinette “got the ball rolling,” as far as professional football in Green Bay. It then referred to the 1918 team as a semipro outfit and the 1919 Packers as Green Bay’s first professional team. Incidentally, the story also noted Schmaehl was both coach and captain in 1918, a team that started out the season as the South Side Skidoos (a neighborhood team), changed its name to the Green Bay Whales and then was simply called the Bays. So why did Calhoun write in the Press Book as late as 1933 that 1918 was the Packers’ first season? Maybe it was because he was the manager of the team, as well as in 1919. Surely, he remembered – even if others didn’t – that he was much more involved in 1918 than 1920 and maybe was looking out for his own legacy. Maybe it was because the Press-Gazette claimed the 1918 team won the state championship, a big deal back then, and Calhoun wanted to continue to stake that claim. We’ll never know the answer. But other than Calhoun managing the team and Lambeau playing in one game before he headed off to Notre Dame there was little connection between the 1918 Skidoos-Whales-Bays and the 1919 Packers. After all, fewer than 10 out of 40-some total players played both years. 1919 was the first year a team in Green Bay was named the Packers. It was the first year Lambeau played in more than one game for the city team, and the first year he had at least partial charge of it. And, most importantly, it was the first team that clearly evolved into today’s Packers.
SOURCE: Cliff Christl - Packers.com
PACKERS ARE GOING AFTER "BIG GAME" THIS FALL
AUG 16 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers are going after "big game" this fall. The management will open negotiations this week with the fastest professional aggregations in the middle west and every effort will be made to give the gridiron fans of this city the greatest season of pigskin chasing in the history of the sport. Efforts will be made to book the Racine Cardinals of Chicago for a game here in October. This is the team headed by Paddy Driscoll and the squad is rated on par with the Decatur Staleys and Canton Bulldogs. The Minneapolis Marines will also be tendered a contract to play here as well as the Beloit Fairies, Moline Independents, Detroit Heralds and other crack professional teams...TWELVE GAME SCHEDULE: A twelve game schedule is planned and at least nine of the contests will be played at home. The Chicago Boosters have been signed up for the opening date. This is the team that played the Packers to a 3 to 3 tie in the first contest here last fall. Stambaugh and the Marinette-Menominee elevens will also be booked for early season contests. An effort will be made to secure the champions of the heavyweight division of the Milwaukee Football association for a game here in November. The Packers have filed an application for membership in the Professional Football association and a representative of the team will attend the meeting of the managers which will be held in Chicago August 28 to press the claim for admittance...STAGE GOOD WORKOUT: Two complete teams indulged in a practice workout Monday night on the court house grounds and Captain Lambeau hopes to have three squads in action before the end of the week. Wes Leaper and Buff Wagner will probably join the fold Wednesday evening and some other new candidates have promised to put in an appearance.
CAL'S CORNER
AUG 17 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The announcement that the Green Bay Packers would go after "Big Game" in professional football circles has created much interest among the gridiron fans in this part of the state. For the past two years, the Packers have ruled supreme on the chalkmarked field and they have yet to taste defeat on their own gridiron. The big games which will be played in Green Bay against the best teams in the middle west will put this part of Wisconsin on the football map much more prominently than ever before and every indication points to the greatest season in the history of the sport.
CUB BUCK'S CONTRACT WITH APPLETON BOY SCOUTS MAY BAR HIM PLAYING FOOTBALL
AUG 17 (Appleton-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Howard Buck, executive of the Appleton Boy Scouts, popularly known as "Cub" Buck on the gridiron, has received an offer from the Green Bay Packers, asking him to sign up with their squad for the season. Buck's record as a Wisconsin All American star and as a member of Jim Thorpe's Canton Bulldog team has made him very attractive to the Green Bay team which remembers well his effective work as an ally last fall when he helped defeat the Lapham Athletic club of Milwaukee. The big star has been in solid with the Packers since his appearance among them and they much desire his service as a line coach...NOT VERY HOPEFUL: Negotiations with Buck have been carried on by the Packers' management for about a week but it is feared that the giant lineman won't be able to see his way clear to cavort in a Packer uniform. The gist of the matter is that Buck has a big money contract with the Appleton Boy Scout council. He serves as Scout Executive and directs all activities of the youngsters. One of the clauses of the contract prevents Buck from participating in all professional football contests so long as he is handling scout affairs in Appleton. A meeting of the Appleton Scout council, it is said, will be held next week and at that time an effort will be made to have the agreement changed to that Buck will be free to participate in gridiron contests with the Green Bay eleven.
BUFF WAGNER, STAR HALFBACK, TO PLAY WITH PACKER TEAM
AUG 18 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "Buff" Wagner, one of the mainstays of the Packer backfield last season, came down from Marinette Wednesday and attached his name to a Packer contract for this fall. Wagner will be back here shortly after Labor Day and will remain throughout the fall. Buff viewed the practice last night. With the signing of Wagner, it looks as if Captain Lambeau's backfield worries are past history. Wagner, Schmael, Rosenow, Kliebhahn, Eckert, Martin Bero, Ladrow, Dwyer and Lande form a combination that will be mighty hard to beat and there is a chance that one or two more additions may be made to this list of stars. The squad went through a snappy workout Wednesday evening and another practice stunt will be staged Friday night at 6:30. The squad will begin to appears in togs next week and this means that the tackling dummy will be brought into play.
EQUIPMENT GIVEN OUT TO MEMBERS OF PACKERS' TEAM
AUG 20 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Equipment will be handled to candidates for the Packer football team Friday evening, and it is the intention of Captain Lambeau to start out Monday night with stiff practice. The signal drills of the past two weeks have produced beneficial results. The tackling dummy is to be set up over the weekend and the aspirants for the team will have plenty of chances to take a wallop at the sand bag. Some scrimmage work will be undertaken but the men will be given plenty of time to condition themselves before mixing up in practice games. Through the generosity of the Elks club, the Packer team has been given the use of the shower baths in the clubhouse. This provides the squad with splendid quarters and it will tend to greatly improve the morale of the players.
PACKER SQUAD TO TACKLE DUMMY IN WORKOUT TONIGHT
AUG 22 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - After two weeks of conditioning, the Packer football squad will start their stiff practice drill on the old courthouse grounds tonight at 6:30. Captain Lambeau wants every man on the job promptly possible before darkness puts an end to the workout. The tackling dummy has been erected and the candidates will get their first chance tonight to take a fall out of the sand bag. Equipment has been handed out and the majority of the players will be in uniform. Three hard workouts are scheduled for this week and it is probably that the squad will be split up in two teams for a short practice game on Sunday morning.
BIG CROWD SEES FOOTBALLERS HIT TACKLING DUMMY
AUG 23 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The biggest crowd of the season watched the Packer football squad engage in some real practice stunts on the old courthouse grounds Monday night. Close to two full teams were out in uniform and the players had their fill at tackling and blocking the dummy. There was a lot of snap and pep to the workout last night and the squad appears to be rounding into form in good shape. Wheeler, Leaper, M.Zoll and Wilson are expected out in togs Wednesday and with the addition of some other candidates it will give Captain Lambeau a squad of over thirty men out of which to build up a championship football aggregation. Negotiations for games are progressing satisfactorily and the management expects within the next two days to make public some of the contents booked this fall for the Packer squad.
PACKER REPRESENTATIVE AT FOOTBALL CONFERENCE
AUG 24 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers will be represented at the Professional Football association meeting which will be held at the La Salle hotel, Chicago, on Saturday. Emmett Claire will look after the interests of the Green Bay team and file its application for membership in the organization. The gridiron body controls professional football and it includes such teams as the Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents, Chicago Cardinals, Minneapolis Marines, Canton Bulldogs, Hammond All Stars and many other elevens of national repute. At this conference, the schedule of games will be mapped out and the question of players and salaries taken up. It is hoped to put ironclad contracts into effect this year so as to prevent the jumping of stars from one team to another. Chris O'Brien of the Chicago Cardinals and Bob Kay of the Canton Bulldogs have promised to sponsor the application of the Packers for admittance into the organization. Although it is not thought possible that the Packers will be able to close with many of the teams this year, there is a good chance at least one big contest can be secured for the gridiron at Hagemeister park.
PACKERS MUSS IT UP A BIT; CROWD WATCHES WORKOUT
AUG 25 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers mussed it up a bit in the practice last night and the big crowd watching the workout got their first taste of real football this season. Over two full squads were out in togs and some of the new players displayed quite a bit of pep in the practice. Art Schmael got back in town and resumed his place in the backfield along with Kliebhan, Lambeau and Rosenow. Ladrow, McLean, Bero, Lande and Eckert also got a chance to cut capers in backfield jobs. The practice game scheduled for Sunday morning will probably be put back a week because Captain Lambeau wants to get all the soft spots hardened up so as not to take any chances on injuries. The squad is rounding to in splendid shape and by the time September 25 rolls around the Packers will be in the pink of condition and able to travel in midseason form.
PRO FOOTBALL MEN HOLD MEETING IN CHICAGO SATURDAY
AUG 26 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Representatives of professional football teams will meet here Saturday night to draw up games for the coming fall at the conference of the Professional Football association. The organization will act on applications for membership from the Beloit Fairies, Rock Island Independents and Green Bay Packers as well as other prominent teams throughout the country. Bob Hay of the Canton Tigers and Chris O'Brien of the Chicago Cardinals will preside at the confab. Emmett Claire, who will represent the Packers at the meeting of the Professional Football association, left on an afternoon train for Chicago where the conference will be held. Shortly after his return it will be possible to announced some of the games on the Packers' schedule for this fall.
BLACKBOARD DRILL FOR PACKERS TEAM ON MONDAY NIGHT
AUG 27 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - CHICAGO: The second meeting of the American Professional Football association is being held there today to draw up a schedule. Applications for admittance of the Green Bay Packers and Minneapolis Marines are to be considered...The Packer football squad will have a blackboard talk at the Continuation school Monday evening at 7:30 and Captain Lambeau wants every candidate to report promptly on scheduled time. Through the courtesy of Principal H.G. Stewart of the Continuation school, the gridiron warriors have been granted the use of one of the classrooms for blackboard talks during the gridiron season. Due to the fact that the old courthouse grounds are being used by the auto dealers, there will be no outdoor workouts until Thursday night. Another practice will follow on Friday evening and there will be a practice game between the squads Sunday morning September 4.
ADMIT PACKERS TO PRO FOOTBALL LEAGUE
AUG 29 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers have been admitted to the Professional Football association. At a meeting of the gridiron magnates in Chicago on Saturday, the application of the Green Bay eleven was favorably acted on. The Packers will be the only Wisconsin team in the organization. Among the other team in the gridiron circuit are: Rochester and Buffalo, N.Y; Akron, Cleveland, Columbus and Dayton, O.; Fort Wayne, Decatur, Chicago, Evansville, Rock Island, Minneapolis, Green Bay, Louisville, Detroit and Muncie, Ind. Negotiations for contests with league members got underway at the meeting in Chicago Saturday and the Packer management is in hopes of making an announcement before the end of the week which will open the eyes of the football fans throughout the state. Some of the biggest professional teams in the country will be seen in action here on the Hagemeister park gridiron. The contracts for the games are now in the mail and as soon as they are signed, the playing dates will be made public...ADMIT THREE TEAMS (Chicago) - At a meeting of the American Professional association held at the Hotel La Salle Saturday, the Green Bay Packers, Minneapolis Marines and Evansville were admitted to membership. The schedule of games will be ready for publication early next month. Any club guilty of tampering with college players will be expelled. University authorities will be notified whenever a college player makes a request to play on any eleven in the organization. President Joseph F. Carr presided.
FOOTBALLERS HAVE BLACKBOARD DRILL; PLAYS MAPPED OUT
AUG 30 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers had a "skull" session better known as a blackboard talk at the Continuation school Monday evening. About twenty-six candidates for the team were in attendance and Captain Lambeau went through some of the intricate formations which will be used by the team this fall. Outdoor practices will be resumed Thursday night on the old courthouse grounds. The workout will be started at 6:30 and every man is asked to be out in uniform. There will be another drill Friday evening and probably a scrimmage on Sunday morning. The management is not yet in a position to announced the schedule of games dues to the fact that the signed contracts have not been received but the football enthusiasts can rest assured that some of the leading teams in the country will be seen in action as well as two or three of the Packers' old foes of former years.
MINNEAPOLIS MARINES TO BATTLE PACKER FOOTBALL ELEVEN HERE ON OCTOBER 23
AUG 31 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Minneapolis Marines, long famed in professional football circles, will battle the Green Bay Packers at Hagemeister park Sunday October 23. The signed contract of the Gopher eleven was received by the Packer management today. This is the first of a number of the Professional Football association games which will be played here this season. Other announcements will made within a few days. Plans to make the football field at Hagemeister park one of the best in the middle west have been mapped out by the Packer management. A seating capacity of 3,600 is arranged for the bleachers and grandstand seats will be constructed on both sides of the field from the 20 yard line. These seats will be fronted by a row of boxes on each side of the gridiron...ROOM FOR YOUNGSTERS: At the north end of the playing field, there will be a standing room space for the "knothole" gang, better known as the youngsters who will be admitted for a cut rate price of admission. The seating charts will be prepared this week and season reservations for box seats can be made with Curley Lambeau. Packer representatives traveled this afternoon to Appleton and Oshkosh for conferences with Cub Buck, Eber Simpson, Jack Below and Tom Devinney, all collegiate gridiron stars...PRACTICE THURSDAY NIGHT: The Packer squad will resume their outdoor practice stunts on the old courthouse grounds Thursday night at 6:30. There will be another workout on Friday evening at the same time.
ERDLITZ SEEKING BERTH ON PACKER FOOTBALL SQUAD
SEPT 1 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "Ick" Erdlitz, one of the greatest players ever turned out in Menominee, is seeking a job with the Packers. The Twin City halfback has spent the past two days here and held several conferences with Captain Lambeau. As yet no contract has been signed with the crack halfback. Football fans remember Erdlitz as the backfielder who made the touchdown against the Packers here last fall when Menominee played the Green Bay eleven at Hagemeister park. The Packer management is being flooded with applications from players who want to see service in a Green Bay uniform. Ross Pelty, Illinois lineman for three years, and Bill Douglass, Marquette captain and center, are among the latest applications for berths on Lambeau's squad.
JAB MURRAY WILL BE HERE TONIGHT TO TALK FOOTBALL
SEPT 2 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Jab Murray, one of the greatest linemen ever turned out in this neck of the woods, will be here this evening to talk football with the Packers' management. The big Twin City gridiron star is known to every football fan in this part of the state. He was the best linemen ever developed in Marinette, and followed up his pigskin successes with a brilliant career at Marquette and a season with an army division team. Murray has frequently played here and his smashing all around play generally made him the individual star of the game. If Murray can be secured, he would be a valuable addition to the Packers' forward line. The Packer squad will practice again this evening. The work will be called a half hour earlier, 6 p.m., due to the increasing darkness. Captain Lambeau had two complete teams out Thursday night and the players went through the best drill of their practice season.
TWIN CITY SQUAD TO MEET PACKER SUNDAY OCTOBER 16
SEPT 3 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Twin City All Stars, a football aggregation composed of the best players in Marinette and Menominee, will rub noses with the Green Bay Packers at Hagemeister park Sunday October 16. The Northerners will have one of the fastest teams in this part of the state and they should put forth a strong battlefront against Captain Lambeau's squad. Paul Christenson, former Illinois star, is the coach of the Twin City eleven while Wally Neiman, who made his varsity letter at Michigan, will captain the eleven and hold down the center berth. In accepting the game for the Twin City aggregation, Manager Lemieux predicted that the Packers would get the surprise of their lives. The Packers' schedule is being rapidly molded in form and some important announcements regarding contests will be given out within the next ten days. The candidates for the Green Bay eleven will resume the scrimmage practice Tuesday night on the old courthouse grounds at 6 o'clock.
ROCK ISLAND INDEPENDENTS SIGN CONTRACT TO BATTLE GREEN BAY PACKERS OCTOBER 30
SEPT 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Rock Island Independents, one of the strongest professional football teams in the country, will face the Green Bay Packers at Hagmeister park Sunday October 30. Headed by Frank Coughlin, who captained and played center for Notre Dame for the past three years, the visitors will present the greatest galaxy of crack gridiron warriors that has ever appeared on a Wisconsin gridiron. Football experts consider the Rock Island eleven on a par with the Decatur Staleys, Canton Bulldogs and Chicago Cardinals and they are doped to win the championship in the Professional Football association...RESUME PRACTICE WORK: The Packer squad will resume their training stunts this evening on the old courthouse grounds at 6 p.m. Three other workouts are scheduled for this week, Thursday and Friday evenings and Sunday morning.
MUNCIE COLLEGIANS WILL BATTLE PACKERS NOVEMBER 13; JAB MURRAY SIGNED UP
SEPT 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Muncie Ind., Collegians, for many years famous in professional football circles, have accepted the terms offered by the Green Bay Packers for a game to be played here Sunday November 13 at Hagemeister park. This eleven is a member of the Professional Football league. With this game closed, the Packers schedule is well on the road to completion. The Chicago Boosters open here September 25. Marinette-Menominee is booked for October 16, the Minneapolis Marines October 23, and the Rock Island Independents October 30. Negotiations for the other open dates are progressing satisfactorily...SIGN JAB MURRAY: Jab Murray, probably the greatest lineman ever turned out of Marinette and Menominee, and for three years star tackle at Marquette, will be seen in a Packers' uniform this season. The super-gridder notified the Packer management Thursday night that he would play with the Green Bay team this year and would be down for practice Tuesday morning. The appearance of Murray will bolster the Packer battle front considerably. However, Jab won't be the only star. Douglas, Marquette varsity center, was out for practice Thursday night, and several other cracks will be in the scrimmage line when the whistle blows for the Chicago Booster game two weeks from Sunday...PRACTICE AGAIN TONIGHT: The Packer squad will be out again tonight for a practice drill. The candidates are showing the results of continued workouts and every man is close to tip-top shape so far as pigskin chasing is concerned.
CUB BUCK SIGNS WITH PACKERS; WILL PLAY TACKLE
SEPT 14 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "Cub" Buck, All American football star while at Wisconsin, and for the last three years the mainstay of Jim Thorpe's Canton Bulldogs' line, has been signed by the Green Bay Packers for the professional football season of 1921. The super-gridder will hold down one of the tackle positions and will take charge of coaching the linemen. Buck is known the nation over as a player and coach and under his supervision the Packer battlefront will rank with the best teams in the country...O.K. WITH SCOUT BODY: Buck is scout executive at Appleton and it was feared that this connection might prevent him playing Sunday football but at a meeting of the Boy Scout board in Appleton permission was given Buck to play with the Packers during the football season. With the signing of Buck, the Packers will have a forward wall that will be hard to beat. Aside from the All American star, there will be Murray, Carey, Douglas, Hancock, Powers, the Zolls, Klaus, McQuillan, Wilson and a number of others out of which to mold a battlefront to withstand the smashing attacks of the teams that the Packers will face this fall. Buck is going to take the "hometown" players under his wing and he expects to develop a number of stars...STAGE GOOD WORKOUT: The Packers staged their best workout of the season last night at Hagemeister park. All of the big fellows with the exception of Hancock were on the job. The lighting arrangement proved satisfactory and there is no doubt but that the night practice problem has been solved. About 300 football fans witnessed the practice.
STAMBAUGH SQUAD WILL NOT BATTLE PACKERS ELEVEN
SEPT 15 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Stambaugh Miners probably won't be seen in action against the Packers this season. The champions of the Upper Peninsula evidently are having a bad attack of frenzied finance and their demands for appearance here will not be met. The October 9 date has been held open for the Stambaugh game but negotiations are now underway to book another team of more national reputation. The Tonanwanda N.Y., Collegians, St. Paul Millers and Cincinnati Celts are seeking games with the Packers. Word has been received from Chicago that the Boosters are coming here September 25 with a bolstered line and that Applehans' squad has been hard at practice for two weeks. The Packers played this team to a 3 to 3 tie last season and evidently the Windy City gang are coming up here intent on a victory a week from Sunday.
CAL'S CORNER
SEPT 15 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers made a ten strike when they signed Cub Buck. The former Wisconsin star is known from coast to coast as one of the greatest linemen who ever put on a football show. Not alone will Buck's appearance with the Packers be a good drawing card at the gate but his presence on the gridiron will tend to give his teammates more confidence when they are battling elevens composed of pigskin chasers of national reputation.
PACKERS' SQUAD PRACTICE OFTENER FOR CHICAGO GAME
SEPT 16 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packer squad went through a snappy practice last night at Hagemeister park. About 17 candidates were on hand and Captain Lambeau gave the squad some new formations which will probably be used against the Chicago Boosters in the opening game Sunday September 25. The Green Bay eleven has a busy week of practice ahead. Blackboard talks, signal drills and scrimmage stunts have been planned so as to have the squad just "Rarin' to go" when the whistle blows a week from Sunday. Negotiations for games for the open dates, October 9, November 6, Thanksgiving Day, November 27, and the first Sunday in December are progressing satisfactorily and it is expected that within the next ten days some important announcements regarding contests can be made public.
BELOIT TO CLASH WITH PACKERS ON SUNDAY OCTOBER 16
SEPT 17 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Beloit will battle the Packers at Hagemeister park Sunday October 16. The signed contract was received by the Packer management today and the Fairies deposit their guarantee for appearance here within the next ten days. No return game will be played at Beloit this year. Football fans consider the Beloit game one of the biggest on the schedule. Beloit has been a bitter enemy of the Packers for two years. In 1919 the Green Bay team met defeat at Beloit through the assistance of referee Zabel. Last season the Packers scored a win in the game played here but lost the clash at Beloit. Jack Dalton, who played with the Packers last year, will be in the Fairies' lineup, and Manager McCarthy states that several other new faces will be seen although the stars of 1920 are back in the fold. This included Witte, the crack quarterback and "Iron" Sturdevant, tackle, who ripped up the Green Bay team's line with his plunges. With the closing of the Beloit contest, October 9 is the only date left open on the Packers' schedule. Three teams have expressed a willingness to play here that day.
CAL'S CORNER
SEPT 17 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - One of the biggest games on the Packer football schedule will be played at Green Bay October 16 with the Beloit Fairies. This Fairbanks-Morse aggregation are bitter enemies of the Bay eleven and it promises to be a game worth going miles to see. On paper, the Packers look like a much stronger team this season and if they live up to form, should give the Fairies quite an artistic trimming on the chalk marked field.
CHICAGO BOOSTERS IN GOOD SHAPE FOR OPENING BATTLE HERE SUNDAY WITH PACKERS
SEPT 19 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Boosters, champions of Chicago, will open their 1921 football season at Green Bay, Wis., next Sunday when they clash with the Green Bay Packers, members of the Professional Football league and champions of Wisconsin. The Boosters have all of their veterans back in the fold and the corp of new material several All American stars such as Knopp of Illinois and Applehans of Chicago...PRACTICING THREE WEEKS: The Chicago team has been practicing for three weeks and they will be in midseason form when the whistle blows at Green Bay Sunday afternoon. Last year, the Green Bay team held the Boosters to a tie score, 3 and 3. This was the only contest of the season that the Boosters failed to win. The Boosters leave here Saturday afternoon and will arrive in Green Bay at 9:45. Quite a handful of football fans will accompany the Boosters on their first football invasion of the season...STAGE GOOD WORKOUT: Howard Hancock, former captain of the University of Wisconsin football team and All-American tackle reported for the Sunday morning workout of the Packers at the league grounds. With his presence in the line it begins to look as if the Green Bay team will have one of the strongest battlefronts in the Professional Football league. "Red" Elliott, former Lawrence backfield man, also put in his appearance at the practice. Cub Buck put the linemen through a course of sprouts in blocking and tackling and under his supervision the linemen showed much improvement. Lambeau worked with the backfield getting them perfected on the signals. Joe Hoeffel took the ends in hand and drilled them in the art of running down on punts. Several practices are on schedule for the coming week to perfect the team play and put the squad on edge for the opening battle with the Chicago Boosters.
CHICAGO BOOSTERS TO FACE PACKERS WITH STAR LINEUP OF COLLEGIAN FOOTBALLERS
SEPT 20 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Chicago Boosters, champions of the Chicago Football league, who are booked to battle the Packers at Hagemeister park Sunday in the opening game of the football season will present an all star aggregation of college pigskin chasers. Among the second string squad for
GREEN BAY PACKERS OPEN FOOTBALL SEASON SEPTEMBER 25
SEPT 7 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The lid will be pried off the 1921 professional football season in Green Bay Sunday September 25 when the Packers and Chicago Boosters battle in a pigskin chasing conflict on the gridiron at Hagemeiser park. This Windy City eleven is well remembered by the football fans. Last year in the opening game of the season they battled the Packers to a 3 to 3 tie, Lambeau's dropkick from the 40 yard mark knotting the count in the last few minutes of play...BOOSTERS WERE SURPRISED: The strength of the Packers last year surprised the Chicagoans who had figured on the Green Bay tilt as sort of a practice stunt. This season they know different and the squad which won the "pro" title in Chicago last fall is coming up here seeking revenge for the tie game of last fall. The Boosters will present a much stronger battle front. The early opening of the football season was made possible through the courtesy of the Green Bay baseball club. The game with Manitowoc scheduled for September 25 was played Labor Day and the Bays will battle against the Shipbuilders on their home lot on that date...STAGE SNAPPY PRACTICE: The Packers indulged in the best workout of the year Tuesday night. Two stars of last season, Buff Wagner and Wes Leaper, made their appearance in the lineup. Leaper is slated for an end position while Wagner will resume his old job in the backfield. Among the interested spectators at Tuesday night's workout was Cub Buck of Canton Bulldog fame, who came down from Appleton to give the squad the "once-over". "The team looks good," said Buck. "The players seem blessed with a lot of 'pep', the winning spirit is there, and unless I miss my guess, the Packers are going to have a bunch on the gridiron this fall that won't have to take a back seat for any of the elevens in the Professional football association." The management has announced the signing of Bill Douglass, who was one of the greatest linemen ever turned out at Marquette. He was a varsity star for three years. Douglass will be on hand for the practice Thursday night.
SEES BIG FUTURE FOR PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
SEPT 7 (Cleveland-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Within two years the big baseball leagues will be putting football teams into the field, according to a prediction by Joseph F. Carr, president of the American Professional Football association. "Professional football last year drew crowds as large as many big league baseball games did," Carr said. "With the popular interest already shown and with the successful fight we are making on contract breaking and other wildcat practices, we are confident of a big league standing before long." More than half of the association's players are former All-American college football stars, Carr said, and 90 out of 100 of them have been on college or university teams. "This will not cause a conflict with college baseball by any means," Carr said. "No college student, whether engaged in, eligible or ineligible for athletics, can be contracted for by any member club of the association."
PACKERS GETTING MANY OFFERS FOR FOOTBALL GAMES
SEPT 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - With the opening game against the Chicago Boosters but two weeks off, the Packer football squad will speed up in their practice stunts so as to be in the pink of condition for the Windy City footballers. The candidates practice tonight at 6 o'clock. There will be another workout Friday evening and Captain Lambeau plans a scrimmage drill for Sunday. Several blackboard drills at the Continuation school are planned within the next ten days. The Packer management is being flooded with applications for games from the biggest teams in the country. The Moline Tractors, Muncie Collegians, St. Paul Tigers and Cincinnati Celts are all anxious to book contests with the Green Bay squad. Numerous offers to go out of town have been received by the Packers but the management is endeavoring to play all the contests at home with the possible exception of one date late in November.
the Boosters is Sachs, Illinois; Hayes, Indiana; Piepgrass, Mount Union; Neilsen, Ohio; Knopp, Illinois; Goodman, Great Lakes. The Boosters will present a stronger lineup than they had last year. Practically all of the reserve squad were regulars in the opening game last fall. Specht, who is playing halfback from the Boosters, turned down several offers from other teams Boosters, turned down several offers from other teams in the Professional Football league while Frazier, the left tackle, saw service with the Decatur Staleys last season. Goodman and Neilsen, who are listed as substitutes, starred in the game against the Packers in 1920. It was Goodman's line plunging that carried the ball down the field to the 25 yards line from where Neilsen neatly negotiated a field goal.
PACKERS WILL CARRY BIG SQUAD DURING GRID SEASON
SEPT 21 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers will carry a squad of 22 men during the football season. Following the regulations of the Professional Football league, all signed contracts have been sent in to headquarters before September 25 and the Packer management has successfully closed with all the players. This year's Packer team is the strongest aggregation that ever represented Green Bay. The line has been strengthened considerably while new material in the backfield will give the team an offensive strength which will be hard to beat. On the ends there will be Leaper, Wheeler, Martell, Gavin and Abrams. All these men are hometown products and capable of playing bang up football...TWO STAR TACKLES: Cub Buck, Jab Murray and Milt Wilson will take care of the tackle berths. Buck is an All American lineman, Murray starred at Marquette, while Wilson has shown class with the Packers for two seasons. Joe Carey, Sammy Powers and the Zoll brothers will take care of the guards. Carey played with the Chicago Cardinals last season, while Powers and the two Zolls have had two years service with the Packers. Douglas, former Marquette star, and Klaus, who played center for the Packers last fall, will take care of the snap back job...PLENTY OF GOOD BACKS: There is a wealth of backfield material. Captain Lambeau, Red Elliott, Art Schmael and Buff Wagner form a quintet hard to beat while Kliebhan, Ladrow, Rosenow, McLean and Lande are capable of jumping into any of the backfield positions. The probable lineup of the Packer team at the first whistle in the opening game Sunday at Hagemeister park against the Chicago Boosters will be as follows: Ends, Wheeler and Leaper; tackles, Buck and Murray; guards, Powers and Carey; center, Klaus; backs, Wagner, Lambeau, Schmael and Elliott.
CAL'S CORNER
SEPT 22 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers will not want for football material this fall. A squad of 22 men will be kept in togs throughout the season and this will enable the team leaders to make changes without weakening the battlefront as practically all the men on the squad are about on a par as pigskin chasers. A complete team of extra players boost the salary list considerably but the Packer management is confident that it will pay in the long run.
JOE HOEFFEL WILL COACH PACKER TEAM; BELOIT MAY PLAY HERE ON OCTOBER 16
SEPT 10 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Joe Hoeffel, former Wisconsin football star, who will cooperate with Captain Lambeau in building up a winning football machine for the Green Bay Packers, was on hand for Friday night's practice and helped put the candidates through a stiff drill. Arrangements have been completed to have Hoeffel out with the team in a coaching capacity or the remainder of the season. There is a good chance that the Beloit Fairies will play here on October 16. Although this date had originally been given to the Marinette-Menominee team, negotiations are underway to transfer the Twin City contest and play the Fairies on the third Sunday in October...MATHYS
EXPECT RECORD CROWD TO ATTEND CHICAGO-PACKERS FOOTBALL CLASH SUNDAY
SEPT 22 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - When the whistle blows Sunday afternoon at 2:30 for the opening game of the professional football season here between the Chicago Boosters and Packers at Hagemeister park, the largest crowd that ever witnessed a pigskin argument in this part of the state is expected to be in attendance. The fame of the Packers isn't alone confined to Green Bay. Marinette, Oconto, Sturgeon Bay, De Pere, New London, Kaukauna, Appleton, Oshkosh and other neighboring towns are showing interest in the Green Bay eleven and hundreds of fans from these cities will be on hand for the opening game. Many requests for reservations have already been made by out of town gridiron enthusiasts...SEATS ON SALE: The box seats, which are sold for the season, have been practically all cleaned out. The reserved seats which will placed on sale every week are now available at the Beaumont Hotel, The Congress, Lynch's, and Nevue and Schweger drug store. The construction of the stands at the field is being rushed to completion. Everything will be in readiness for the opening game. Both of the reserved seat sections are finished, and the box seats already set up. The bleachers, which are to be used by general admission ticket holders, will be set to handle the throng Sunday. The management aims to have seats for everybody attending the games...SEVERAL EXTRA ENTRANCES: Several extra entrances and ticket booths will be constructed so as to avoid any confusion or crowding at the main entrances. There will also be a special gate at the extreme east end of the field for the kids who are to be admitted into "Knot-hole-Gang" space at a reduced price of admission.
CHICAGO BOOSTERS EXPECT TO BEAT PACKERS; COMING HERE WITH ALL STAR TEAM
SEPT 23 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Chicago Boosters, champions of Chicago, leave here Saturday afternoon over the Northwestern road for Green Bay, Wis., where on Sunday they will clash with the Green Bay Packers in the opening game of the football season. The Boosters lineup as it now stands over the fast going Badger team. Last year the elevens played a tie contest but Captain Applehans feels sure that his lineup of Collegians will smear up the clean record of the Green Bay eleven. The Booster lineup as it now stands looks capable of giving any of the teams in the Professional Football league, quite an argument. Every man on the squad is an experienced pigskin chaser and in Specht, Neilsen, Goodman and Miller, the Boosters have a quartet of backfield stars who don't have to take a back seat for any players in professional football. Quite a number of fans will follow the Boosters to Green Bay for the opening argument. Reservations for the team and fans have been made at the Beaumont Hotel. The Chicago footballers will arrive in the Wisconsin city early enough to get a good night's rest before the big game. The Packers will be ready for this crack aggregation of Chicago footballers and when the whistle blows Sunday afternoon, 2:30 at Hagemeister park, the old "Rarin' to go" spirit will be very much in evidence amongst the Green Bay teams. Every man on the squad is in shape for a grueling argument. The seven weeks of training have put the players in the pink of condition and there isn't even one player on the hospital list.
THE FOOTBALL SEASON
SEPT 23 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Football, the greatest of fall games, is ushered in here Saturday by the high school elevens, and Sunday by the Packer team, Green Bay's representatives in the Professional Football league, will play the Chicago Boosters in the first game of the season. Green Bay for the past four years has been one of the strongest football cities in the middle west. Both the high school teams and the professional eleven are deserving of support. Increased gate receipts will enable Green Bay to be treated to a still higher grade of football. The field at Hagemeister park, which has been made over this fall, ranks with the best in the state. There is a seating capacity of 4,000. Both the high school teams have an abundance of good material and they promise to be well up in the competition for the state scholastic football championship. The Packers are faster and better than ever this season. The addition of several players of national renown has greatly strengthened the lineup and this Green Bay team, which has never been defeated on its home field, bids fair to hold its own with the best professional elevens in the country. Football is one of the many sports that distinguish Green Bay. Let us strive to excel in them all. We never invest anything in sports that does not yield large dividends. We should make this the best season yet.
CHICAGO BOOSTERS "LOAD UP" FOR PACKERS
SEPT 24 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Chicago Boosters, champions of Chicago, and the Green Bay Packers will pry off the professional football lid here Sunday afternoon at Hagemeister park. The kickoff will be at 2:30. The opening game of the pro grid year promises to attract a record attendance. The advance sale of tickets has exceeded expectations and unless all signs fail the park will be packed to capacity, long before the whistle blows. Hundreds of pigskin fans from this part of the state have wired in for reservations...BOOSTERS "LOAD UP": The Chicago team has bolstered its battlefront for the game against the Packers by signing "Hole Denis", one of the greatest fullbacks ever turned out by Ohio State, to play in the backfield. He is a line smasher of national repute and is rated as one of the greatest players of the day. The Packers are in shape. Six weeks of practice has put the squad right on edge and no better Green Bay football machine ever trotted out on a gridiron. The team is much stronger in the line while the addition of a couple of star backfielders gives the eleven greatly increased offensive strength. Cub Buck, Murray, Douglas and other crack gridders will make their first appearance in the Packer lineup...CAN HANDLE BIG CROWD: The Packer management has laid out one of the best football fields in the state. Arrangements to handle the crowd without confusion have been completed. There will be four entrance gates; one for reserved and box seats; two for general admission (which includes bleacher seats), and one gate for the kids at the east end. Two other additional doors will
PRO FOOTBALL NOT MENACE TO SPORT VIEW OF BRICKLEY
DEC 5 (New York-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Professional football does not constitute a menace to the collegiate game, nor does it intend to infringe on the territories or schedules of college elevens, according to Charles Brickley, former Harvard All-American, and now manager of the New York Giants. "I really feel that professional football will do a lot of good for the game, and I think I can substantiate my views," Brickley said. "Most of the big professional games are played on Sunday, and do not interfere at all with college games. I do not think that any man who has ever played college football will think of faking or throwing a game. Every college players that I have ever seen is too decent a man ever to think of such a thing. It might surprise you to learn that there are least 100 professional or semi-professional teams in the neighborhood of New York and Philadelphia. For instance, the Great Philadelphia teams - the Philadelphia Quakers, Holmesburg, Frankford and Conshocken - have 10,000 to 15,000 people at all their games, and the rivalry is intense. These teams have been running for years and the best people in the towns support them."
PACKER FOOTBALLERS LAY AWAY THEIR TOGS; STRONG TEAM IN FIELD NEXT FALL
DEC 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packer footballers have laid away their moleskins for the season of 1921. Despite rumors to the contrary the Green Bay eleven will not be seen in action again this year. Completing the most successful season in the history of professional football here the Packers finished sixth in the league standings. The won seven games, tied a pair, and were defeated twice, Rock Island and the Staleys pulling the trick. The Chicago Boosters, Rockford, Cornell-Hamburgs, Beloit, Minneapolis Marines, Evansville and Hammond feel before the Packers' sweeping attack. Tie games played with the Cardinals and Racine Legion....MAKE PLANS EARLY: It is a bit early to look ahead to next year but the management is laying its plans and it can be stated that the Packers will again be represented by another strong eleven in the Professional Football league. Efforts will be made to sign up players as soon as possible and get things in shape to hop off on the right foot when the 1922 gridiron season rolls around. Negotiations have been already opened with several football stars but no announcement will be made until they complete their college course.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 6 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers finished up at Milwaukee on Sunday by playing Racine to a tie and thus holding their claim to the state professional football championship. The Green Bay squad made a remarkable record on the chalk marked field. It was their first season in "fast company" and they came through with bells on. The Packers didn't win national honors but they met the best of 'em and only lost two games during the season. Seven wins were marked up and there were two tie games. Incidentally, they put Green Bay on the sport map with capital letters.
PACKERS TO BATTLE AGAIN IN MILWAUKEE ON SUNDAY; PLAY MARQUETTE ALL-STARS
DEC 7 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The football season is not yet over. It was thought that the curtain had been rung down when the Racine American Legion eleven and the Green Bay Packers played a 3 to 3 tie at Otto Borchert's baseball orchard last Sunday, but the end is not in sight. The Marquette All-Stars, composed of players who finished their college career on the Marquette eleven this season, will battle the Green Bay Packers, Racine or the Waukegan Legion team at Athletic park next Sunday. Walter W. Lange, prominent sportsman, is sponsoring the game. Lange believes that the crowd which was so interested in last Sunday's game will return for this game and also that the Marquette followers who watched their favorites work in all the university games, also will be on hand to lend their support. The All-Stars defeated the Beloit Fairies last Sunday, 21 to 0. It is likely that Johnny Mohardt, the fleet Notre Dame halfback, will get in the game. If the Packers are selected to play against the All-Stars, Mohardt will be in the Marquette lineup. Mohardt, having finished his college athletic career, is now preparing to enter the professional baseball ranks, but will take a fling at another gridiron tilt, before he hangs up the moleskins for good....WILL MAKER OFFER: Walter Lange, the Milwaukee sportsman, who is promoting the football game in the Cream City on Sunday, has not been in direct communication with the Packer management but word has been received here that he will make an offer late today to get the Green Bay eleven on his card Sunday against the Marquette All Stars. This is the team that walloped the Beloit Fairies last Sunday 21 to 0. There is a chance that if a satisfactory offer is received from Lange, the Packers will get their moleskins out of the mothballs and go at it again. The team is practically intact with the exception of Art Schmael, who has gone north and it would be possible to put a crack aggregation on the gridiron. Many of the players are eager to play one more game this season.
PACKERS FACE ALL STARS
DEC 10 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - There is an unusual amount of interest shown here over the post-season football game between the Green Bay Packers and Marquette All Stars which will be played here Sunday afternoon at the Brewers' ball park. The famed Green Bay eleven has a legion of followers in this city and they will all be out to see Captain Lambeau's eleven battle against one of the strongest elevens that ever stepped on a Milwaukee gridiron. In preparation for the fracas, the Northerners practiced twice in Chicago today and they won't reach here until Sunday morning. They will stop at the Wisconsin hotel. Dame Rumor has it that the Packer lineup will be bolstered by the addition of several stars...FIT FOR FRAY: The Milwaukee team is fit for the fray and they will present a fast battlefront. Hank Gillo won't be able to play on account of his contract with the Racine Legion but the All Stars management has added a couple of stars to its backfield who ought to give the Green Bay team plenty of trouble. The All Stars, who have been hard at work all week, went through a two hour drill on Friday. Only light signal practice was held today. The Hilltop eleven is in great shape and as practically the whole team has been working together all fall they are picked to win over the great Green Bay aggregation. A blanket of hay was spread over the entire gridiron at Athletic park on Friday insuring a fast
PACKER SQUAD PRACTICES IN CHICAGO ON SATURDAY FOR GAME AT MILWAUKEE
DEC 8 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The announcement that the Packers would go at it again on Sunday in Milwaukee has kicked up quite a bit of interest here. Although it's getting rather late for football, the weather conditions are favorable to the gridiron game and the Packers are playing as many contest as possible. Sunday's fracas in Milwaukee will be the twelfth joust of the season for the Bay gridders. Members of the Packer squad will assemble in Milwaukee Saturday morning and there will be two workouts at one of the parks. Two new faces will probably be seen in the lineup as Art Schmael and Billy De Moe will be among the missing. Schmael is trapping in the woods about the Soo while De Moe has reported for hockey practice at the Canadian Soo. There will be no excursion run for the game but when the whistle blows at Athletic park in the Cream City Sunday afternoon, the usual number of Green Bay rooters will probably be on hand pulling for a Packer victory.
STAGE IS SET
DEC 8 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The stage is being cleared for another professional football game at Athletic park next Sunday, involving the Green Bay Packers, that great northern team, and the Marquette All Stars, composed of players who finished their college career at Marquette this fall. It will be the final game of the year. The game will start at 2 o'clock. Walter W. Lange, local sportsman, is staging the game. Lange was a spectator at last Sunday's game between the American Legion of Racine and the Packers which ended in a 3 to 3 tie, and he thought so much of the exhibition that he wanted to see the Packers in Milwaukee again...ALL-STARS BEAT BELOIT: Announcement of the signing of the Green Bay team was made Wednesday noon. Racine and Waukegan professional lineups were also given consideration but the Packers were considered by far the best drawing card. The All Stars defeated the Beloit Fairies, 21 to 0, last Sunday and anyone who has been following football this year knows that Beloit had a wonderful team. Green Bay announces that several new men will be added to strengthen the team. Local fans who watched last Sunday's game and saw the Packer lineup can imagine what a whirlwind team will be here next Sunday.
MARQUETTE ALL STARS GET GILLO FOR PACKER GAME
DEC 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The vanguard of the Packer football squad pulled out today for Chicago where on Saturday the team will put in two practice licks for the game with the Marquette All Stars in Milwaukee on Sunday. Reports from the Cream City that the All Stars have signed up Hank Gillo and are on the track of a couple of other stars is not worrying the Packers to any great extent. True enough Gillo booted quite some field goals but he failed to smash the forward wall of the Green Bay team. Cub Buck, Tubby Howard, Keefe, Malone, Hayes and all the other Packer stars who are not here have been ordered to report to Chicago Saturday morning. It is quite likely that several new faces may be seen in the lineup as the management is hot on the trail of a couple of crack gridders.
OFFICIALS ARE NAMED
DEC 9 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Bob Holloway, former University of Chicago star, has been selected to referee the professional football game at Athletic park on Sunday when the famous Packer team of Green Bay will play the Marquette All Stars. Scott of Colgate will referee and Art Meyer, coach of the Washington High School eleven, will be head linesman. Tickets were placed on sale Thursday afternoon and judging from the demand Sunday's turnout will be as big as the crowd which witnessed the Racine-Packer battle. The price of the pasteboards is $1 and there will be no reserved seats. Hank Gillo, former Colgate star, who was named on three successive All Americans, was signed by the All Stars on Thursday and will play fullback on Sunday. The Packers will come here with practically the same lineup they used against the Racine Legions. Hayes of Notre Dame and De Moe of Syracuse will play end; Cub Buck and Coughlin will hold down the tackle berths, with Wilson and Carey at guard. Lambeau, Malone, Berry and Wagner will play in the backfield. The big game, which will start at 2:30 o'clock, will be preceded by a game between the South Side Malleables and another M.F.A. team. This will start at 1:30 o'clock.
REDUCED RATES
DEC 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Football fans planning to attend the Packer-Marquette All Star game at Milwaukee on Sunday can take advantage of the fare-and-a-half rate over the C. & N.W. Tickets for this excursion must be purchased before midnight December 10 and they hold good on the return trip until December 12.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 9 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - It won't be long now before the gridiron doctors start tinkering with the football code. It is hopes they will let well enough along and not attempt any drastic changes in the playing rules. Some of the forward pass have got their hammers out but they will be knocking up against a brick wall because the aerial attack has come to stay. Right now it is the most spectacular method of offense and gives the little teams a chance to cop with the big fellows...Racine is still yelping about last Sunday's game with the Green Bay Packers. The Racine paper has come out with a bitter attack on Head Lineman Messmer, claiming that it was his penalties that enabled the Packers to get within scoring distance. Racine evidently has forgotten it was this same officials who called an offside on the Packers and gave Gillo another chance for a field goal after he had missed the first one.
WEATHER CONDITIONS HALT GREEN BAY-MARQUETTE GAME
DEC 12 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - A melodrama which might very properly be called "The Fight for Sport Rule in Milwaukee" or "Otto Borchert's Iron Hand" has been holding the board in the Cream City during the last week and its climax came here Sunday. As a result the Green Bay Packer-Marquette All Star gridiron argument was called off. In justice to the Packer management, it can be said that they did everything possible to have the game played in order not to disappoint the Green Bay fans who followed the Bay champions here for the fracas. However, their attempts proved futile as Promoter Lange stood pat and refused to stage the game...LOT OF RAIN: Weather conditions in Milwaukee were not ideal for football but it was possible to stage the game. It began raining early Sunday morning and continued until long after the noon hour. The gridiron at Marquette field was a sea of mud and rain oozed the uncovered stands at the Hilltop park in a way that would have made it very uncomfortable for the spectators. The game, which was originally booked for Athletic park, which is owned by the Milwaukee baseball club, Otto Borchert, ruling power, was changed at the eleventh hour to Marquette field. The announcement of the change was fairly well played up in the Milwaukee papers but hundreds of fans splashed their way to Athletic park and then retraced their steps to Marquette field where, on their arrival, they were greeted with the announcement that everything was called off. Incidentally, some fine little peeves developed and the game promoters were the target of uncomplimentary remarks...NO END OF RUMORS: There were rumors galore about the reasons for the change in playing fields. Both sides, the Lange forces and Borchert tribe, expressed their views. On the face of things the main cause was Borchert's boosting of the rent for Athletic park. At the last minutes, he demanded a wad of coin for the use of his gridiron which Lange refused to pay. The promoter then secured Marquette field, offering to donate all of the profits to the Christmas fund, which is being gathered by the Milwaukee papers. The stands at the Hilltop park are uncovered and, if the game had been played, the spectators would have got pretty wet watching the splash around in the gridiron mud...MAY PLAY GAMES: Some negotiations are underway for games in Milwaukee on Saturday and Sunday but as of yet nothing has been settled. There is some talk of the Packers playing two games in two days and plans to this effect are said to be underway. It is probably fortunate that the game wasn't played from a Marquette point of view because the Green Bay squad had an aggregation on the job that sized up as the Packers' strongest team of the season.
PACKERS ELEVEN TO BATTLE IN MILWAUKEE ON SUNDAY; MAY PLAY SATURDAY ALSO
DEC 13 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers may set a precedent in professional football this weekend. Negotiations are now hanging fire for the Wisconsin champions to play two games on successive days in the Cream City. One game is certain. The Marquette All Stars will be the Packers' opponents. This is the contest that was called off due to inclement weather conditions last Sunday...SEEK ANOTHER TEAM: Walter Lange, the Milwaukee promoter, assisted by his assistant, Eddie Stumpf, well known in Lake Shore league baseball circles, are no searching the middle west for a suitable eleven to hook up with the Packers in the other game. If another team is secured it is probable that the Marquette All Star fracas will be scheduled for Saturday and the joust with the other professional aggregation on Sunday. Although two games in succession is a test that no other team in the history of football has ever attempted, the Packers feel confident that they can come through with flying colors...PLAN SEVERAL ADDITIONS: Several additions will be made to the squad so as to allow changes in the backfield and at the ends. There will also be a couple of other linemen on the job too in case any of the regulars cave in under the strain of playing two games in successive days. Word is awaited in Milwaukee and it is probable that complete announcement in regard to the weekend football tilt in the Cream City will be made public Wednesday.
PACKERS WILL PLAY BUT ONE GAME IN MILWAUKEE; BATTLE MARQUETTE TEAM ON SUNDAY
DEC 14 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers will play only one game in Milwaukee this weekend. Due to the lateness in the season, efforts to secure another team aside from the Marquette All Stars proved futile and the contest will be staged on Sunday afternoon at Marquette field. The Green Bay team will be in good shape for the fracas. A number of stars of the professional football world have been signed for the fracas and the Cream City Collegians are sure to have quite an argument on their hands.
BIG ADVANCE SALE
DEC 14 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The postponement of last Sunday's football game between the Marquette All Stars and the Green Bay Packers, billed for the Marquette campus, has only served to sharpen the appetites of thousands for the game if the advance sale of tickets can be accepted as an indication of what to expect in the way of attendance next Sunday. All tickets purchased last week will
be good for the deferred date. The game is billed to start at 2 o'clock as no preliminary attraction will be staged. Walter Lange, who is promoting the contest, stated on Monday that the net proceeds would be turned over to the various newspaper Christmas funds. The Green Bay lineup will represent what will be practically a lineup of the stars of three professional elevens this season - namely the Packers, Rock Island Independents and several of the famous Canton Bulldogs. Against this array will be potted Johnny Mohardt supported with a machine line combination of former Marquette heroes. Every precaution is being taken to protect the field against inclement weather conditions this week, and Walter Lange is authority for the statement that the game will be played next Sunday regardless of anything mother nature or the weatherman have up their sleeves.
ROCKNE THREATENS TO LAUNCH WAR ON "PRO" GRID SPORT
DEC 15 (South Bend- Green Bay Press-Gazette) - As a result of the suspension from athletics of Garvey, Larsen and Hartley Anderson, three line stars, Director of Athletics Knute K. Rockne of Notre Dame may start a movement among college coaches to discourage professional football. According to evidence secured in investigating the cases of three Notre Dame men, the promoters of professional teams leave few steps unturned to induce college men to enter the professional game. So serious has the situation become during the last two years that much trouble has been occasioned by coaches throughout the country in keeping their men free from taint...CONSTANT TEMPTATION: The promoter does not wait until the athletes are through with college football, but, according to a summary of experiences here, just so soon as a man comes into the limelight he is approached by agents from Chicago, Buffalo, several Ohio cities, and one or two Indiana towns, with propositions which prove real temptations. Time and time again Notre Dame men have been approached. Although the trio suspended by Notre Dame failed to yield to the desires of the promoters until after the season closed, they finally took a chance and were immediately discovered and punished. Because of charges frequently hurled at Notre Dame in which the university is accused of fostering professionalism, extra efforts are taken by its board of control to keep away the taint from the university teams...MEANS WRECKING OF TEAM: The loss of Garvey and Larsen from the football team in 1922 will prove a real blow to the local institutions because of the graduation of most of the stars of this year's eleven. The result is that Rockne will have to rebuild a complete team and while the material at Notre Dame is unusually good because of the system employed here to develop athletics, he will have a gigantic problem on his hands to equal the elevens of the last four years.
MARQUETTE ALL STARS LOADING UP FOR PACKER GAME
DEC 15 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Evidently the battle cry down in Milwaukee is "Beat the Packers at any cost". Dame Rumor has it that the management of the Marquette All Stars is going the limit to place a fast aggregation of football players on the field Sunday to face the Green Bay champions. Several college stars as well as a number of professional aces have been signed up by the Cream City eleven for the game this weekend. This will give the Collegians a team that will be the equal of any in the middle west. However, the Packers won't be caught napping. Jimmy Conzelman, Duey Lyle and Nutch Weinig of the Rock Island Independents will be in the lineup of the Green Bays and together with the other regulars, Captain Lambeau's squad won't have to worry much about whom they bump up against.
GAME DRAWS INTEREST
DEC 15 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The professional football game between the Marquette All Stars and Green Bay Packers which will be played here Sunday afternoon at Hilltop park is attracting more than its share of interest. Promoter Lange will turn over the net proceeds to the Christmas Charity fund and tickets are said to be selling like hot cakes. There will be no postponement this time despite the condition of the weather. The college gridiron has been covered with a straw blanket which won't be removed until just before the whistle blows. The contest is expected to draw a large number of out-of-town football fans. Many from Green Bay will be here. Racine has asked for a block of seats and there will be delegations from Janesville, Beloit and Kenosha in attendance. The Marquette college students will be out en masse to root for their old favorites.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 15 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Dame Rumor has it that the Marquette All Stars are "loading up" to the brim for the gridiron argument with the Green Bay Packers in the Cream City this weekend. The Milwaukee team is said to be going out and getting the best possible material in the football world at all cost. Well, let them do it.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER
DEC 15 (Chicago Tribune) - At least one football team in the American Professional Football league should be banished from that organization for all time. Tampering with college players by commercialized sport has at times put the amateur game on the rocks. The fight for the almighty dollar seems to be greater than fair play. It probably always will be, but the men who go out of their way to increase their earnings by enticing college players to their ranks and play them under their own or assumed names, not only are a menace to their own organization and to amateur sport, but to their own community as well. An infraction of this nature has been called to the attention of the sporting public by the athletic authorities at Notre Dame. These authorities have declared three of their football players ineligible for further competition in athletics at Notre Dame, have revoked letters awarded them, and have erased their names from the list of monogram men for playing professional football. A wise move and a fair move is the least that can be said of the ruling...Did the professional football team that put these lads on its payroll care what became of them? Did that team care what stigma was placed on the name, Notre Dame, through the use of those players? Did that team care for a rule on ethics written and adopted by the American professional football association in Chicago early in the fall? No, and an emphatic no, to the three questions. At the professional football meeting before the opening of the 1921 season, the rule on ethics was passed, and President Joe F. Carr of Columbus, O., declared at the time that the rule could be enforced, even if necessary to expel the offending member from the organization...Here is the rule on ethics, which Mr. Carr said would be enforced: "Tampering with players on college teams shall not be tolerated by this association. The same creates much unfavorable public sentiment against professional football and is deplored and discouraged by this association. An adequate supply of football players who have completed their academic status exists, and by confining ourselves to those men much favorable public sentiment shall be ours." The Green Bay Packers, a member of Mr. Carr's organization, broke this rule into small bits. Hartley Anderson, Arthur Garvey and Fred Larson played on that team while still students at Notre Dame, and the athletic authorities there found it out and set down the boys involved. Will Joe F. Carr do the same thing with the Green Bay Packers team? If he has interest of professional and amateur football at heart will do it. If he has not he will not.
WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL NOT HALT PACKER GAME IN MILWAUKEE, STATES LANGE
DEC 16 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - "The Green Bay Packer-Marquette All Star football game will be played here Sunday, rain or shine," stated Walter Lange, steel magnate, who is promoting the game in the interest of the Christmas Charity fund, which is being raised by the Milwaukee newspapers. "I can promise the fans that there will be no postponement," continued the promoter. "Our advance sale of tickets has been unusually heavy and we will not disappoint the holders of the pasteboards. The managers of both teams have agreed to put their squads on the gridiron rain, shine or
TOUCH OF REAL WINTER PUTS CRIMP IN PACKER-MARQUETTE FOOTBALL FRACAS ON SUNDAY
DEC 19 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Due to weather conditions, which were more fit for hockey than football, the professional gridiron argument which was scheduled here on Sunday between the Green Bay Packers and Marquette All Stars was called off by Promoter Lange. Up until Saturday noon it seemed as if the game would be played. Early in the afternoon a man-sized blizzard swept into Milwaukee and, inside of an hour, the straw blanket at Marquette field was covered with about four inches of snow. It was simply impossible to stage the game. It cost Promoter Lange a pretty penny in his efforts to put on the gridiron conflict. The two successive postponements piled up a lot of expense and Lange is back about $750 in his attempt to stage the game. As soon as the postponement was decided upon, Eddie Stumpf , Lange's right hand bower, sent telegrams to many cities in the state announcing the fact that the game was being called off. This action kept the out of town fans at home. It is estimated that about $1,200 was paid back by the promoters to ticket purchasers..."IT'S ALL OVER NOW": The Packer football season is officially closed due to the lateness of the season no attempt will be made to play any more games. The players have turned in their moleskins and the togs will be put in mothballs until next fall rolls around when the Green Bay team will probably be bigger and better than ever.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 21 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - One of the Racine sport scribes has picked an all star professional football team which is composed of four Green Bay Packers, two Beloit Fairies, and five Racine Legion stars. Langhoff, Lambeau, Dalton and Gillo are placed in the backfield, Rhenstrom and Stuvengen at the ends; Buck and Shackleton, tackles; Keefe and Gorman, guards; Murray, center. In our opinion, Hayes of Green Bay is a far better end than Rhenstrom while Coughlin and Smith are head and shoulders above Gorman and Shackleton.
STRAIGHT FROM THE SHOULDER
DEC 21 (Chicago Tribune) - With the professional football season practically at an end, it behooves backers of the game to get down to brass tacks and adopt some stringent rule regarding the employment of college players on their teams. The rule should be so drastic that a team enticing these boys from the straight and narrow path automatically would be banished from the national association as soon as the fraud was discovered. Rumors are rampant that some Big Ten college players sneaked away this fall and, like the Notre Dame boys, picked up some extra change. Relators of these stories refuse to give names, but declare they are telling the truth. We suspect that some of these rumors have reached the ears of the Big Ten athletic authorities, and the cleansing of the game rests to a great extent with them. Notre Dame set the pace, washed its slate clean, and wrecked the nucleus of its 1922 eleven. There is a field for professional football, as there is for all other commercialized sport. Fans who cannot witness college games on weekdays have an opportunity of attending Sunday game, played by former stars of the university gridirons, but unless Joe F. Carr and his colleagues prevent repetitions of the Green Bay Packers episode professional football faces a rocky road to access, with the chances of a big wreck before it reaches its goal.
PRO LEAGUE HEAD WILL PROBE FOOTBALL SCANDAL
DEC 22 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Word has been received here that when the annual meeting of the Professional Football league is held in January, President Joe Carr will demand a sweeping investigation of the charges that some of the teams in his organization have been tampering with college players. The action of the Notre Dame athletic board in ousting Garvey, Larson and Hunk Anderson from all sport activities for alleged participation in professional football has kicked up a hornet's nest that would be easily settled...HINT OTHER PLAYERS: Several of the sport writers here come out with stories demanding immediate injury and it is hinted that, aside from the above mentioned Notre Dame trio, many other collegiate players have strayed from the path of the simon pures and associated themselves with the professionals. One professional football man, who is in immediate touch with the goings on of the pros said: "Somebody is trying to make the Green Bay Packers the 'goat' of the whole affair. Possibly the Badger team, which made a great record on the gridiron did make use of college stars, however, I can't prove this. But if they did - it was no more than nearly what all the professional teams were doing."...STALEYS LONE EXCEPTION: "The Staleys were about the only team I think that didn't trifle. It was not necessary for them because theu had an all-time football machine. None of their players did anything but play football. Naturally, the college authorities are trying to wreck their vengeance on the professional managers but in some instances that I know of, the pro team leaders were approached by the college players, asking to play. If the whole affair comes to a showdown many of these collegiate stars will be shaking in their boots."
PACKERS TO PLAY MORRIS SUPREMES ON INDOOR GRID
DEC 27 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Morris Supremes will clash with the Green Bay Packers in an indoor football game at the International amphitheater, 42nd and Halsted streets, Friday night. The game will start of 8:30 o'clock.
PACKERS CLASH WITH SUPREMES IS CALLED OFF
DEC 30 (Chicago-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Managers Joe Plunkett and Al McGurk of the Morris Supremes yesterday cancelled their indoor football game booked against Green Bay, Wis., Packers tonight at Dexter Park pavilion. Due to the scandal surrounding the proselyting of three Notre dame varsity athletes by the Green Bay team in a game at Milwaukee earlier in the season, the Wisconsin outfit has been boycotted by a large part of the local indoor football following.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 31 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Once more several of the Chicago papers took a chance to rub it into the Green Bay Packers. The Packer-Morris Supreme game was called off and the reason given was that the Green Bay team was in bad with the football fans of the Windy City for using college players which resulted in the blowup at Notre Dame. We have to laugh at the folly of the statement. It is about as near right as any of these Chicago sports scribes to get anything right. The game was called off because the Morris Supremes wouldn't meet the guarantee.
MANY CANDIDATES WILL WORK OUT AT PACKERS PRACTICE
AUG 12 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers football squad will be up and at it tonight on the old court house grounds in their third practice of the season. The workout will start promptly at 6:30 and continue until darkness puts a halt to the pigskin chasing stunts. A number of new candidates are expected to report tonight. It is hoped to have two complete teams running through signals. Word has been received from Buff Wagner and the star halfback will be here next week for the football season. Captain Lambeau plans to speed up the drills next week and it is hoped to have the tackling dummy in shape for use
The 1921 Green Bay Packers - 3-2-1 (6TH)
Head Coach: Curly Lambeau (Joe Hoeffel)
by the players. The practice gridiron has been smoothed over and is now in good condition for the workouts.
PACKERS NEEDING MORE CANDIDATE FOR LINE JOBS
AUG 13 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - A squad of twenty two men worked out at the Packers football practice on the old courthouse grounds Friday evening. Captain Lambeau ran the men through a long single drill and it looks as if a corking good football machine is in the making. There appears to be a raft of good candidates for the backfield and ends so far the aspirants for line jobs have been slow in reporting. Milt Wilson, Sammy Powers, the two Zolls, McMillan, Baetz and Klaus at the present time form the nucleus of the line. Among those seeking end jobs are: Wheeler, Gavin, Martell, Abrams, Bernhardt. Backfield materials is plentiful with Captain Lambeau, Schmael, Ladrow, McLean, Rosenow, Dwyer, Bero, Martin and Eckhardt on the job. Guy and Wes Leaper, Buff Wagner and Erdlitz are expected out during the coming week. As yet the management is unable to make a definite announcement in regards to Cub Buck, Davey and Brumm, the trio of former Wisconsin stars who have been tendered offers to play with the Packers. Practice will be resumed Monday night at 6:30. Efforts are now being made to secure training quarters with a shower bath and as soon as this is arranged for, uniforms will be given out and scrimmage work started.
Art Schmaehl's official player's contract from the Packers' first season - A native of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Schmaehl solidified his place in the sports record books on October 23, 1921, during the team's first game in league history, when he scored the first ever Packers touchdown in league history. Schmaehl's heroics during the monumental game propelled his Packers to a 7-6 victory over the Minneapolis Marines, which also marked the team's first win in league history.
Call it the Book of Genesis for the storied Green Bay Packers franchise, the document that started it all, and one that stands at the pinnacle of the team's archives in both rarity and importance. For many of even the most dedicated and knowledgeable Packers collectors, the offering will serve as a first notice that this important relic even exists, and we're quite confident that the issue listed here represents the full population of survivors. The better part of a century that has elapsed since the brief early 1920's run of Dope Sheets was printed in Green Bay, and the delicate newspaper stock that served as the medium, have ensured that all but a tiny handful have been lost to the ravages of time. And, again, we stress that this is the sole inaugural issue known. Curly Lambeau, team founder and six-time NFL Champion, plays the appropriate role of cover boy for this debut printing, next to an article trumpeting, "The American Professional Football League is to football but either the American League or the National League is to baseball." The APFL would change its name to the familiar National Football League in 1922. Page two begins with an article entitled, "A Word About the Dope Sheet," authored by "J. Emmett Clair, Mgr. Acme Packers Football Club." He explains that, "Arrangements for the publication of this weekly sport periodical were completed on Wednesday of this week. The edition had to reach the printers on Friday in order to be in your hands today. For this very good reason this number is not illustrated as future numbers will be, nor is there as much close-up 'dope' on football in general and in Green Bay in particular as we expected to publish." A score sheet appears at center of the eight-page publication, with the "40-0" victory over the visiting Chicago Cornell-Hamburgs in what is recognized (and stated on page one) as the "Third Game" of the professional Packers notated in pencil by the Sheet's original owner. Attendance records for this contest have been lost to history, but those 1921 Packers games for which ticket sales were recorded range from just 2,000 to 7,000, another factor in the intense rarity of Dope Sheets in the modern hobby. See more of the program here. (SOURCE: Heritage Auctions)
WON'T PLAY: Charlie Mathys won't be in a Packers' uniform this season. Hopes that the Green Bay product, who starred for three years with Indiana, would play here this season went up in smoke when Mathys wired from Bloomington that he was unable to get a further leave of absence from the firm that he has secured employment with and that he had been ordered to Iowa immediately. The loss of Mathys will be keenly felt by the Packers because the little quarterback is one of the greatest players in the middle west. The Packer squad will indulge in a scrimmage drill Sunday morning and all members of the squad are asked to report at the Elks' clubhouse at 9:30 with their football togs.
CRACK ROCKFORD TEAM TO BATTLE PACKERS OCTOBER 2; CHICAGO STAR SIGNED UP
SEPT 12 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Rockford Olympics will face the Packers at Hagemeister park on October 2. The crack Illinois team accepted the terms offered by the Green Bay management and they will be here for the second game of the season with a crack aggregation of footballers. The Rockford team has been considered one of the strongest teams in the middle west. Last year they held the world famous Staleys to a 18 to 0 score and took a fall out of the Beloit Fairies by a good sized score. This team held Hammond to a tie last season...GET STAR LINEMAN: Jack Carey, former star lineman of the Chicago Cardinals, Paddy Driscoll's great eleven, will be seen in a Packer uniform this season. The Chicagoan came here Tuesday. A job has been secured for the gridder and he will stay during the gridiron season. With Murray, Douglas, Buck and Carey the Packers have the foundation for one of the best scrimmage fronts in the professional league. The Packers will work out Tuesday night at 7 o'clock and all the stars will be here for the drill. Captain Lambeau plans for a two hour practice as arrangements have been completed to light up the field...SUNDAY MORNING DRILL: The squad went through a long scrimmage Sunday morning at the ball grounds with Joe Hoeffel in charge of the work. Coach Cary of St. Norbert's was on hand and he gave the linemen some valuable pointers. The former Holy Cross star should prove of great assistance to the Packers. About 300 fans saw the Sunday morning practice drill and the showing of some of the new candidates opened the eyes of the onlookers.
HOWARD HANCOCK IS SIGNED BY PACKERS FOR LINE POSITION
SEPT 13 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Howard Hancock, varsity footballer at Wisconsin two years ago and who is now coaching the Oshkosh Normal eleven, has accepted terms offered by the Packer football management and will play here this season. He is expected to report for practice this evening. According to Cub Buck, Hancock is one of the greatest linemen ever turned out at the "U" and that he will be a valuable addition to the Packers' forward wall. The addition of Hancock will give the Green Bay team a front equal to any in the Professional Football league. The Marinette-Menominee game has been shifted to November 20 so as to clear the decks for the Beloit game here October 16. The Fairies management is demanding the "world for all" for the appearance in this city but it is practically certain that the Line City eleven will accept a compromise offer. The Packer squad will practice tonight. A number of the big fellows are expected to be there. The candidates will report with their uniforms at the Elks' club at 6 o'clock sharp.
be thrown open for exit. A force of a dozen ushers will take care of the holders of the reserved and box seats. The number of the seats are plainly marked and the management is confident there will be no trouble in handling the spectators. The Traction company will provide extra car service to the field. The gates at the park will open at 1 o'clock. The playing field and sidelines will be kept clear of everybody except officials, substitutes, coaches and press representatives.
ARRIVE TONIGHT
SEPT 24 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Chicago Boosters squad, 22 men strong, will arrive tonight at 11:15 over the C.M. and St. P. Their traveling schedule was changed at the last minute, so as to allow the team to leave Chicago later in the afternoon. The Boosters will be quartered at the Beaumont Hotel.
field for the game, which is expected to be featured by Marquette's aerial play. Preliminary to the big game the South Side Malleables will play the Hegedorn Electrics. These two elevens made a fine record in the M.A.F.A. race this fall and an interesting contest is looked for.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 10 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Sunday's game in Milwaukee will be the third time this season that Hank Gillo has bumped up against the Packers and in each game, it was with a different team. Gillo played with Hammond against the Bay eleven. Last week, it was his field goal that tied Racine with the Packers, and now he has been signed by the All Stars.
snow so there isn't a chance of the game being called off. We have gone to heavy expense in covering the playing field at Marquette college with a heavy blanket of straw and, if it becomes necessary we will burn the playing turf so as to have it fit for action. I am confident that the biggest crowd in the history of football here will witness the teams in action on Sunday."...MANY FANS GOING: It is expected that a large number of Green Bay fans will travel to Milwaukee this weekend for the final game of the season. The Packers have been ordered to assemble in the Cream City Saturday afternoon and an attempt will be made to stage a signal workout. All of the stars will be on the job and every indication points to the strongest teams of the season representing Green Bay.
CAL'S COMMENTS
DEC 16 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - A Chicago sport scribe demands ousting of the Green Bay Packers from the Professional Football league for making use of college players. Why not the other elevens if the Packers are heaped on the frying pan? It is a well known fact that nearly all of the "pro" squads make use of college players while they are still members of varsity teams. In these days of frenzied finance, a hundred bucks or so a game looks pretty good to the youth in college and many of them are willing to take a chance of pulling through without getting caught...We don't defend the action of using varsity players in professional football but we can't help but wonder how it is going to be stopped. True enough the Professional Football league has a regulation barring this practice but like "Summer ball" it will probably continue just as long as there is a pigskin to be booted. It is amusing to hear the threats of some of the college authorities threatening to wipe out the professional game. Sunday football is here to stay and what's more we expect to see it grow more popular each season.
PACKERS MEET ALL STARS
DEC 17 (Milwaukee-Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Green Bay Packers and Marquette All Stars will have it out here Sunday afternoon on the college gridiron in a game which is being promoted by Walter Lange, to boost the Christmas Charity fund. The local collegians will have an all star aggregation in the field. A number of outside players have been inserted in the ranks and the home team will present a lineup equal to any in the professional football world. The Packers will also have a strong team. The Bay management has signed up a few newcomers and they will be in the fracas when the whistle blows. The game will start at 2 o'clock and all indications point to a record crowd. The gridiron is covered with a heavy blanket of straw and the promoters announce that despite the weather conditions the game will be played.
