Indian Jack Jacobs



Fred “Indian Jack” Jacobs was one of the most gifted athletes in Packers history.

He was born in Oklahoma in 1919, appropriately the year the Packers were founded.

It is unlikely that he will ever be enshrined in the Packers Hall of Fame, in part because he spent only three seasons in Green and Gold (1947-49) with the last two presiding over a 3-9-0 record in '48 and an even more disastrous 2-10-0 reading in '49, which might best be forgotten.

Indian Jack came upon the Green Bay scene in 1947, at a historic time in Packers annals - when Curly Lambeau was reluctantly abandoning his treasured "Notre Dame Box" attack for the "modern" T-formation, which put the quarterback directly under the center to take the snap.

Lambeau, accustomed to seeing his troops find the end zone with frequency over his long coaching career, was in search of more offensive punch after seeing the Packers score just 148 points in 11 games in 1946 - a paltry average of 13.4 points per game. He accordingly acquired Jacobs from the Washington Redskins in exchange for halfback Bob Nussbaumer.

Consequently, the signing of Jacobs as the quarterback of the new offense was heralded throughout Packerland and anticipation was high, particularly because the defending world champion Chicago Bears would be rolling into Green Bay for the season opener (Sept. 28, 1947) to present the Packers with an early and major challenge.

But Jacobs alone was more than equal to the task. He proceeded to forge what became a highly impressive - if essentially one-game - legacy with a virtuosic performance that has to rank among the most versatile in the history of the game.

In fact, it is hard to imagine that Indian Jack could have done any more while wheeling about old City Stadium that long distant afternoon, escorting the Packers to a 29-20 upset of the favored Bears.

In his first game as a Packer against the vaunted Bears Jacobs:
* Threw for two touchdowns.

* Scored on a 1-yard run, following a 17-yard rush that positioned the Packers for the score.

* Made two interceptions. (He actually picked off three Sid Luckman passes but the first one nullified by an interference penalty.)

* Punted four times, with a long of 59 yards. (He went on to finish the season as the NFL's best punter in '47.)

* He played the full 60 minutes - every play on both offense and defense.

After leaving the Packers and the NFL, Jack played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Footballl League, leading them to Grey Cup berths in 1950 and 1953.

He also was named the CFL's Most Valuable Player in '53.

The old stadium the Bombers currently play in was named "The House that Jack built" after the Jacobs.

He later served as an assistant coach at London, Ontario, and as an assistant at Montreal, Hamilton and Edmonton.