The Making of the Green Bay Packers

On August 11th, 1919 a group of young athletes put together by Curly Lambeau and George Calhoun, gathered together at the Green Bay Press-Gazette building on Cherry Street and organized a football team. Years later this team would come to be known as the Green Bay Packers.

Lambeau and Calhoun had wanted to start a professional football team. They spoke with Lambeau's employer, The Indian Packing Company, where he worked as a shipping clerk. The Indian Packing Company agreed to put up the money for the football jerseys and allow the team to use the athletic field for practices. With this tie to the company the name "Packers" stuck.

In 1921, two officials of the packing plant financially backed Lambeau, who needed money so that he could obtain the football franchise team. He was running out of money and even threw in money of his own. The Green Bay Press-Gazette general manager advanced Lambeau the monies to keep the football team franchise alive. He then lobbied town businessmen and formed the Green Bay Football Corporation. From those first days and somewhat shaky beginnings, the Packers have gone on to earn national recognition through out the country and gain nation-wide recognition by winning more championships over the eighty years that they have played football, more than any team in pro football. This has given the Green Bay Packers a top status in the National Football League. The Green Bay Packers are the only publicly owned corporation in National Football.

The Green Bay Packers are currently the only non-profit, community owned major league professional sports team in the United States. The Green Bay Packers have won 12 league championships and three Super Bowls, the most in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers story begins over 80 years ago, from the "Iron Man" period of the first decade under founder Lambeau, to the present day Green Bay Wisconsin. Although founder Lambeau left the Green Bay Packers to move onto another professional team, they still play on a field named for him, Lambeau Field.