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| Pillars of the NFL, Sporting Chance Press Publisher |
In 1918, Lambeau shared the backfield with George “Gipper” Gipp, the storied back who would lead the team in both
rushing and passing from 1918-1920.
Lambeau played under new head coach, Knute Rockne. Like Lambeau, Rockne was a fan of the pass
and in South Bend, Lambeau learned the Notre Dame box, a formation based on the
commonly used single wing.
During Lambeau’s stay in South Bend, World War I was raging,
but it was a flu epidemic that shortened the football season. Notre Dame posted a 3–1–2 record. In one tough game against the Great Lakes Naval
Station, Lambeau faced future rival and Chicago Bears founder, George Halas,
who played end. The teams tied.
As a freshman, Lambeau had a supporting role in the Notre
Dame backfield. He was no threat to
superstar Gipp who among other astonishing feats, held the ND rushing career
mark of 2,341 yards for more than 50 years.
Tragically, after his senior season, Gipp developed a strep infection
and died. On his deathbed, Gipp’s last
conversation to Rockne was quoted as:
I've got to go, Rock. It's all right. I'm not afraid. Some time, Rock, when the team is up against it, when things are wrong and the breaks are beating the boys, ask them to go in there with all they've got and win just one for the Gipper. I don't know where I'll be then, Rock. But I'll know about it, and I'll be happy.
Rockne would famously use the deathbed story to motivate his
underdog Notre Dame team against Army in 1928.
The quote would also make its way into movies and politics.
The Fighting Irish player roster described Lambeau as
flamboyant, an excellent blocker, and a good short-yardage runner. After
the football season, Lambeau had a bout of tonsillitis. Recuperating at home, he decided not to
return to South Bend, and subsequently quit school for good. Although Lambeau had a brief career at Notre
Dame, he would be called an “ex Notre Dame Football star.” He was proud of the connection. Lambeau did not forget Rockne. The two corresponded and Lambeau occasionally
recommended a high school player to the Notre Dame coach and he encouraged the
student to head to South Bend.
Lambeau’s practice of recommending Green Bay players to his
old coach created yet another Notre Dame legend. One player who would go to Notre Dame on
Lambeau’s recommendations was Jim Crowley.
Crowley would become one of the fabled Four Horsemen of Notre Dame—christened and made famous by Grantland Rice, a poetic sportswriter for
the New York Herald-Tribune in an era
when such craft was appreciated.
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| Four Horsemen of Football, Library of Congress Photo |
After
Notre Dame's 13–7 victory over Army on October 18, 1924, Rice penned one of
sports journalism’s favorite passages:
Outlined against a blue, gray October sky the Four Horsemen rode again.In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below.
Notre Dame student-publicity aid, George Strickler, who would
become the sports editor of the Chicago
Tribune, had a photo shot of the four ND players on horseback, which was
picked up by newspapers across the country.
The photo memorialized the passage, the players, and the team.
Crowley “recovered” from the notoriety and later coached at
Fordham University. At Fordham,
Lambeau’s work would come full circle.
One of Crowley’s players by the name of Vince Lombardi would go on to
coach the Packers in one remarkable decade.
Copyright 2014, Sporting Chance Press
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