 earl louis "curly" lambeau (april 9, 1898 &ndash; june 1, 1965) was founder, player, and first coach of the green bay packers professional football team. he shares the distinction with rival george halas of the chicago bears of coaching his team to the most national football league championships, with six. he was an inaugural inductee to the pro football hall of fame in 1963. == early life== lambeau was born april 9, 1898 in green bay, wisconsin, to marcelline lambeau and mary sarah latour, both of belgian ancestry. lambeau was a standout multi-sport athlete at green bay east high school, and captain of its football team as a senior in 1917. lambeau then enrolled at the university of notre dame in 1918 and played for legendary coach knute rockne, making the irish's varsity squad as a freshman, but a severe case of tonsillitis forced him to return home before his sophomore year. == professional football == === founding the packers === after returning to green bay, lambeau went to work as shipping clerk at the indian packing company. lambeau and george whitney calhoun founded the green bay packers on august 11, 1919, after the packing company put up $500 for uniforms. the team's name reportedly was offered to curly by his girlfriend agnes aylward after a pickup game; curly had wanted to call the team "the green bay i
1898_births 1965_deaths American_football_halfbacks American_people_of_Walloon_descent Chicago_Cardinals_head_coaches Deaths_from_myocardial_infarction Green_Bay_Packers_executives Green_Bay_Packers_head_coaches Green_Bay_Packers_players National_Football_League_general_managers Notre_Dame_Fighting_Irish_football_players Players_of_American_football_from_Wisconsin Pro_Football_Hall_of_Fame_inductees Sportspeople_from_Green_Bay,_Wisconsin Washington_Redskins_head_coaches