Interesting streak in the Packers/Bears series

[woodbuck27]

"George Trafton, Laurie Walquist, Verne Lewellen and Lavvie Dilweg "

Wasn't Laurie Walquist Lori Nickle's sister?

Hi KY:

I was researching this question above when I came upon ** this (see LINK below) NFL football thread... and Lori Nickle will be very surprized if Laurie Walquist is her sister and even more........confused.

See LINK for some old memories; some Packerrats alumnai nostalgia.

Here's one of the thread entries:

KYPack ... 05-15-2006, 05:17 PM

Well Tank,

It's a consensus. Everyone thinks you are a fool.

Keep posting your broken record posts. But nobody is listening.

Post when you get a clue.

Love,KY

** http://packerrats.com/archive/index.php/t-940.html

Full version of this thread:

http://packerrats.com/showthread.php?940-Lori-Nickle-Ted-Thompson-GM-Seatle-Seahawks

PACKERRATS !!

[HarveyWallbangers]

These things all depend on what you look at. The Chicago Bears today were the Decatur Staleys then, and the then Chicago Bears are the present day Cardinals. The Packers franchise is just as old, formed in 1919 when the league was born, but the Packers didn't actually start playing until two years later, in 1921. The Bears and Staleys started playing in the league in 1920.

So are the Chicago Bears, oops, I mean the Cardinals, really older than the Packers? Are the Staleys, oops, I mean Bears (but aren't they the Cardinals???) really older than the Packers?

Are the Bears/Cardinals and Staleys/Bears older just because they began playing a year earlier, although they and the Packers were all formed the same year?

I thought I read that the Packers are actually one year older than the NFL? Their first game was against the Menominee North End. It was a year or two later when they joined the NFL. I could be wrong, but I remember reading that awhile back.

[denverYooper]

"George Trafton, Laurie Walquist, Verne Lewellen and Lavvie Dilweg "

Wasn't Laurie Walquist Lori Nickle's sister?

I had an old section boss on the RR who used to say "they're all sisters upside down".

[KYPack]

I thought I read that the Packers are actually one year older than the NFL? Their first game was against the Menominee North End. It was a year or two later when they joined the NFL. I could be wrong, but I remember reading that awhile back.

The Green Bay city team was started in 1895 by a guy named Fred Hulbert. In 1917, a high school kid named Curly Lambeau played for the Green Bay team in an all-star game. In 1919, Lambeau had dropped out of Notre Dame and got his company to sponsor the Green Bay team. The city team was called the Packers because of the sponsorship. Lambeau built the team into a powerhouse & in 1921 the Green Bay Packers joined the NFL (then called the American Professional Football Association).

If you are interested in the history of the Packers by all means read a book called "Before They Were the Packers". it details all the wild history of town team football in Wisconsin and the UP. There was some great stuff happening in a time few people ever hear about today.

[pbmax]

OK, did some digging. The NFL had a forerunner named the APFA (the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, of course).

APFA formed in 1920 and had several forerunner NFL teams like the Canton Bulldogs, Decatur Staleys, Chicago Cardinals and the New York Brickley Giants*. Also had the greatest professional team name ever: the Tonawanda Kardex. The Kardex Killers, as they were known, were famous for their natty uniforms worn with an onion on their belt as was the fashion in those days. Unfortunately, the Killers only played one official League game before folding.

The early League was more or less a gentleman's agreement not to steal players as each team setup its own schedule and played locally, usually against the Little Sisters of the Poor. In some ways, their scheduling resembles modern day, big-time college athletics.

The NFL was formed in 1921, after wise minds concluded they couldn't afford to repeat the mistakes that cost them the Kardex.

Packers were formed on August 11, 1919. On August 12, 1919, Curly Lambeau had a bake sale in his driveway to raise funds to keep the team afloat after Curly got carried away with fancy lettering on the jerseys that the Indian Packing Company refused to cover. Seems they thought plain lettering would be just fine, thank you very much.

By 1921, the successful 2 season start for the team induced a few backers to cough up the cash to let Curly purchase a franchise in the NFL. Packers went 3-2 in League recognized games and promptly folded at the end of the season. Some more pigeons (ahh - shareholders) were found and Curly was able to repurchase the franchise back form the NFL for $250.

The Chicago Tribune revealed that several Notre Dame football players were playing for the Packers in a December game in 1921. There was disagreement in the League whether this ought to be allowed (the players played under assumed names to avoid jeopardizing their amateur status -- despite this, it was very common) and Halas was known to be against it. However, it should be noted that Halas was reported to be heavily involved in the newspaper coverage of his team and many link the coverage of the scandal in the Chicago Tribune directly or indirectly to Halas. His motivation? One of the players, Hartley "Hunk" Anderson had played his last down of football with Notre Dame the previous season. he was still in school and playing hockey. After the League suspended the Packers early in 1922**, Halas signed Anderson to play for the Bears.

The Packers were reinstated by the start of the 1922 season, minus one Hank Anderson. So the Packers have not technically been members of the League for 92+ consecutive years (its only 91). But they might be an older organization than the Bears. Halas ran the AE Staley football team starting in 1920. He was encouraged to take over the entire thing in 1921 and move to Chicago with the formation of the NFL. He named them the Bears in 1922.


* There is no direct connection from these Giants to the current Giants except that after Brickley's Giants folded following two non-consectutive seasons, the owner Gibson referred the fledgling NFL to his friend Tim Mara, who did in fact organize the Giants team you know today. That first team had four great nose guards who were known to terrorize the wingback whenever it looked like he might launch a forward lateral. It also proves that old adage, that its not important what you know, its who you know. That and $250 of cold, hard cash.

** The Packer.com website and other sources date both the suspension of the franchise AND the first financial trouble to the offseason after the 1921 season. Its a bit confusing about how the League could suspend a forfeited franchise.

[Pugger]

These things all depend on what you look at. The Chicago Bears today were the Decatur Staleys then, and the then Chicago Bears are the present day Cardinals. The Packers franchise is just as old, formed in 1919 when the league was born, but the Packers didn't actually start playing until two years later, in 1921. The Bears and Staleys started playing in the league in 1920.

So are the Chicago Bears, oops, I mean the Cardinals, really older than the Packers? Are the Staleys, oops, I mean Bears (but aren't they the Cardinals???) really older than the Packers?

Are the Bears/Cardinals and Staleys/Bears older just because they began playing a year earlier, although they and the Packers were all formed the same year?

I did a little digging and no, the Decatur Staleys became the Chicago Bears. The Chicago Cardinals are a different franchise and they actually started in 1898!

http://www.azcardinals.com/history/franchise.html

http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/chicago/bears.html

Our Packers are the second oldest club in the league but we didn't join the NFL until 1921.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_National_Football_League