Green Bay Packers (5-2-2) 7, New York Giants (4-3-1) 0
Sunday November 18th 1928 (at New York)
GAME RECAP (GREEN BAY PRESS-GAZETTE)
(NEW YORK) - A battling Packer team with a do or die spirit startled staid old Gotham here Sunday afternoon by defeating the New York Giants at the Polo grounds to the tune of 7 to 0. A paid crowd of
some 12,000 fans, together with about 2,000 guests of the management, witnessed the encounter. And the hundred and odd Wisconsinites in the stand were mighty proud of their Packers. The Bays started the game as underdogs but it wasn't long before they were holding the upper hand. At first the crowd sort of sympathized with those Westerners but it was not long before the spectators begin to sit up and take notice of the fighting Badgers. Lewellen's brilliant kicking coupled with some devilish open field running by Eddie Kotal paved the way for one of the gridiron upsets of the year. However, all the glory was not hogged by this pair because every member of the big blue Bays covered himself with. The game was more one sided than the score would indicate.
HAINES IS STOPPED
Not once were the New Yorkers inside the Bays' 40 yard line. True enough their forward passes caused many shivers to go up the spines of the occupants on the Green Bay bench but these tosses were only minor threats. The mighty Hinkey Haines was stopped in his tracks, not once by many times. Bruce Caldwell was in the lineup but that was all. He got smeared plenty whenever he carried the cowhide. It was a grueling battle. Substitutions were numerous on both sides and the hard playing was responsible for many injuries. Kotal, Lewellen and Nash got some tough bangs and it is quite possible that these players may be found on the sidelines when the whistle blows for the Pottsville game next Sunday. The Packers started off nicely with Lewellen kicking 'em far, wide and handsome on these exchanges of kicks, the Packers piled up considerable yardage. The Giants chalked up a couple of first downs but the Bays soon found their second wind and the Broadway advances were cut off sharply.
LAUNCH FIRST DRIVE
Once past midfield following an exchange of kicks, Green Bay launched its first offensive but the drive fizzled out when the goal posts loomed up close like the Woolworth building. However, the Bays were not to be denied and early in the second half they launched another scoring threat. Slashes off tackle by Kotal and bone crushing line plunges by Bullet Baker, who lived up to his name with bells on. Baker was filling in at fullback for O'Boyle and he got away like a million dollars. The Giants, living up to their name, smeared another thrust close to the goal line but they soon had to punt out of danger. The Bays forward wall sifted through like a raging torrent and the boot was blocked with the ball going to the Packers. And soon after the touchdown resulted, a first half was chalked and the goal line was but two feet away. One play fell inches short but on the next rush Lewellen knifed over and then Red Dunn kicked the oval through the uprights, just like he used to do in the old days at Marquette. When the third frame got underway, the home folks figured the Giants would stage a comeback but their dope was all wrong because the Packers kept on going just as good as every. After a couple of kick exchanges, the Bays got hitting again and the Giants were beating a retreat in a way that amazed the critics. It looked like another touchdown for the Packers when Nash grabbed a pass and fell over the goal line. However, Hubbard crashed into him like a ton of bricks and the oval oozed out of Nash's arms. Instead of a touchdown, it was a touchback.
ROSSATTI SPILLS PACKERS
When the fourth quarter started, the Packers had the ball on the Giants' 3 yard line. One Mr. Rossatti of Norway, Mich., spilled the beans when he sifted through and tossed a Packer carrier for a seven yard loss. A line play netted little and then a forward pass was grounded behind the goal line. The Giants then sortied a bit, several first downs were chalked up with the aid of some well directed passes. However, the rush was cut short when Red Dunn bobbed up from a safety post and snagged a Giant toss in midfield. Eddie Kotal then pierced the Giant line for some 24 yards. He was dumped hard and it was necessary to take him out of the game. Slick Lollar was injected into the combat and he did a good turn until replaced by Marks in the closing minutes of play. As the game neared the final whistle, the Giants threw discretion to the winds and the ozone was filled with passes. However, it was a futile effort and when the horn tooted for the end of activities the ball was well within the Giants territory.
HUNDRED WISCONSIN FANS
It is safe to say that there were about a hundred Wisconsin fans in the stands and it is needless to add that they got their eyes full and then some. Among those who came up to the Packer bench to say howdy were: Tommy Danz, Louis Cook, Archie Duncan, George Dewitt, Johnny Nick, Jimmy Walsh, Heinie Wintgens, Don Irminger and a raft of others. The Packer squad left New York Monday afternoon at 3 o'clock for Atlantic City where they will spend the
week in preparation for the game at Pottsville next Sunday. According to present plans, Lambeau & Co. will leave Atlantic City on Saturday to take in the Cardinal-Frankford game at Philadelphia on Saturday en route to the Miners' hamlet.
GREEN BAY - 0 7 0 0 - 0
NY GIANTS - 0 0 0 0 - 7
SCORING
2ND - GB - Verne Lewellen, 1-yard run (Red Dunn kick) GREEN BAY 7-0
BAYS TRAIN AT BRONX, RUN FOUL OF THE LAW
NOV 19 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - The Packers nearly ran afoul of the law while practicing Saturday morning in New York. The Polo grounds were engaged so the Giant management told Captain Lambeau to use Central Park for practice. A bus was hired and the driver was instructed to take the team to Central Park. Evidently he didn't know where Central Park was any more than the Packers. He let them off on a vacant square which the team found out later was Bronx Square...A PRIVATE PARK: A sound like a referee's whistle was heard but the players didn't pay any attention to it. Things went along for another ten minutes and then a flock of blue coats arrived on the scene. A huddle was called and threats of arrest were heard but explanations followed and the Packers beat a hasty retreat to their bus after smiling and bluffing their way out of the hoose-gow.
PACKERS PREPARE FOR POTTSVILLE
NOV 20 (Atlantic City, NJ) - The Green Bay Packers, conquerors of the New York Giants, arrived here Monday evening and immediately went to the Morton hotel, which will serve as the headquarters during their stay at this well known New Jersey resort. The Badger footballers came out of the grueling combat with the Giants in fairly good shape, although several of the boys were a bit the worse for wear. Eddie Kotal's ankle is badly swollen but the peppery little backfielder claims the old "pin" will be in good shape in time to scamper around and stop LaTone in Sunday's game with the Pottsville Maroons. Tiny Cahoon, who played a great game against the New Yorkers, has a pair of slightly cracked ribs but with proper taping, he is expected to be fairly good by the weekend. Lewellen's knee is causing him some trouble and he is carrying a shoulder bruise that is rather painful...O'BOYLE HAS CHARLEY HORSE: The rest of the team seems to be fit, although Whitey Woodin claims to be still suffering from that "slivvers" ailment. It is figured that O'Boyle should be in shape to go Sunday. However, in case he still is riding the pesky charlie horse, Bullet Baker can fill the bill. Baker performed superbly against the Giants. The Packers sure won a home, in football in New York. Everyone of the papers lauded Capt. Lambeau's team to the skies and several of Gotham's best known sport scribes even went so far as to say that the Green Bay team was the best looking professional football eleven that had ever performed in Gotham. Lewellen got a lot of ink. One of the morning papers carried a three column layout of Lew with the caption: "He mixes law with football and how". A number of these papers have been mailed back to the old hometown so that the Packer fans can read for themselves just what the New Yorkers had to say about the Blue and Gold...TEAM RECEIVED CONGRATULATIONS: Several telegrams were received from the Bay congratulating the team and this pleased the players immensely. "Doctah" Kelly even went so far as to long distance his congratulations by telephone to Capt. Lambeau and a cheer went up from the gang when Lambeau announced that the doctor would join the club either Wednesday or Thursday. His services are badly needed as the doctor knows just what to do for the aches and pains of a gridiron warrior. The doctor is apt to find the whole team at the station when he pulls in here either Wednesday or Thursday. Practice was resumed this morning but the drill was confined mainly to some limbering up exercise, a signal drill and blackboard talk. The team knows Pottsville will be plenty tough, but they are going in there battling determined to do their best at any cost.
PACKERS TRAIN FOR GAME WITH MINERS SUNDAY
NOV 21 (Atlantic City, NJ) - The Packer have started gunning for the Pottsville Maroon game on Sunday under ideal conditions and it is a safe bet that Captain Lambeau's team will hit the trail for the mining community in just as good shape as the snappy ocean air makes possible. Conditions are ideal here. The management of the Morton Hotel has gone out of the way to make the "Wisconsin Bays" feel at home and through the courtesy of the city, the Packers are practicing at Bader field, the municipal athletic field. Dressing room facilities at this park are equal to Soldiers field in Chicago and this is saying a lot. The morning workouts have attracted many football fans who are eager to glimpse at the club that spanked the Chicago Bears and New York Giants during the same season. The fame of the Packers preceded them here as the New York papers carried glowing accounts of the Giants game, and the fans here kept busy asking where is this Lewellen and can you point me out "Kiki" Kotal. The "Kiki" was wished on the former Lawrence star by a Gotham scribe and it seems to be stuck. Even the players are barking at him now. Kotal's ankle is not coming along as nicely as expected but with the arrival of Dr. Kelley on Thursday, it may be whipped into shape for the Pottsville game. Harry O'Boyle's Charliehorse is fast going into the stable while Tom Nash's twisted knee should be OK again in three days...ROONEY WITH ATLANTIC CITY: Atlantic City has a professional club which features Joe Rooney, the former Duluth star, and Colahan, who started off the season with the New York Yankees. Last Sunday the resorters bumped off Millville, 7 to 6, and the natives here are still smiling. Rooney and Colahan bobbed in the hero roles. Joe made the touchdown while his Irish partner did a lot of fancy booting. The Bays are at work on a defense through which they hope to cut short the line plunges of one Tony LaTone, the Pottsville bone crusher. Captain Lambeau is paying special attention to the stone wall and the Packer forwards figure that "push 'em up tone" is not going to get any unusual amount of yardage this time...CARR PRAISES TEAM: President Joe F. Carr, of the NFL, who was present at the Packer-Giant game in New York last Sunday sent a letter of congratulations to the Bay management. In his letter, the league president lauded the Packers for their sportsmanlike conduct on the field of play and added that in all his football experience he has never glimpsed a professional eleven that functioned so perfectly as the Packers did against the Giants. Carr also added he thought Lewellen was the greatest kicker the game had ever known since the days of Jim Thorpe. Atlantic City papers had their staff photographers on the field Tuesday morning and they snapped the Bays fore, aft and otherwise. The local publications are giving the Wisconsinites quite a bit of ink and their comments are favorable, even running into superlative adjectives. According to present plans the team will pull stakes here Saturday morning at 11 o'clock for Philadelphia. Practice will be called at 7:30, so as to get in a workout before train time. Seats have been reserved for the team at the Yellowjacket-Cardinal game at Frankford Saturday afternoon. Immediately after this league contest, the Bays will leave for Pottsville where they will stop at the Necho Allen hotel.
BAY PACKERS WORKING OUT IN ATLANTIC CITY
NOV 21 (Atlantic City, NJ) - With the pro football championship buzzing around pretty lively, the Green Bay Packers are putting in a solid week of practice at Atlantic City in preparation for the game with the Pottsville Maroons in the Pennsylvania mining town this Sunday. Aside from Eddie Kotal and Tom Nash, the Bays came out of the their grueling battle with the New York Giants in pretty good shape. Kotal has a bruised leg, while Nash's pet knee is causing some trouble. Both players, however, are reporting for practice. The Packers are engaged in building up a defense by which they hope to stop Tony LaTone, the Pottsville fullback. Large crowds gather daily to see the Badgers strut their stuff and the Atlantic City fans are kept busy watching all the stars that shine with the Big Bay Blues.
Bader Field - Atlantic City (1928)
gridders. Immediately after playing the role of spectators the Bays will board a train for Pottsville. The Maroons management has been playing up the Packer game heavier than usual and a big crowd is expected to be on hand at the Minersville park when the whistle blows. During off hours in Atlantic City, the Packers have been quite popular while a number of the gridders are regular visitors at the aviation field. However, none of the Packers are missing the call for meals.
BULLETIN
NOV 22 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - Bo Molena, noted Michigan fullback, and who has played for the past two seasons with the New York Yankees has signed a contract to play with the Green Bay Packers, according to a telegram received today from G.W. Calhoun, secretary of the football corporation, who is at Atlantic City with the Green Bay team. Molenda today reported and had his first workout with the Green Bay professionals this morning. He is expected to add much strength to the Packer eleven as he is a crashing type of fullback and is always good for a couple of yards in a pinch.
PACKERS GETTING IN GOOD SHAPE FOR GAME
NOV 22 (Atlantic City, NJ) - The Packers' sunshine horseshoe has followed the club into Atlantic City and ideal football weather has been on tap for each practice session. The team works out every morning before an admiring throng of spectators and a handful of the Blue Tornadoes (the Atlantic City pro team). Bader field is about a mile from the hotel and the bus ride wakes up the boys just enough so that when it comes time to don the "monkey" suits everybody is bubbling with pep and vinegar. Eddie Kotal's leg injury is still causing him considerable trouble but he's spending most of his time giving the knee hot water treatments and the bruised spot is showing some improvement. Tom Nash is just about off the hospital list and seen some service in the signal drill. The rest of the boys are "rarin' to go" and it begins to look as if Pottsville is going to have its hands full Sunday...GUARDS AGAINST LETDOWN: Capt. Lambeau is working his squad at top speed against any letdown following the skirmish with the Giants. The Packer leader figures that if his club can leap the Pottsville hurdle this weekend, Green Bay will have something to say about the National league championship. Following the Pottsville game, the Bays are booked with Philadelphia, Providence and Bears, all tough nuts to crack, but everyone of them can be figured as key games and this means that there will be an extraordinary amount of fight in evidence. One of the most enterprising Atlantic City camera man shot the Packers in several setups and the films turned out so well he was swamped with orders from the players. A number of these pictures are already in the mails to Green Bay. The southern boys with the club are more than thankful that they aren't up north these days. A paper from home carried the stories about the rain and snow and the team felt pretty well pleased that they are down here among the boardwalk where the gulf stream blow in, warming things up like an early summer night in Green Bay...GUESTS OF FRANKFORD: The Packer squad will be guests of the Frankford Ath. association in Philadelphia Saturday for the Yellowjackets-Chicago Cardinal game. A block of seats have been set aside for the Bays and the team is being played up as an added attraction. One of the Philadelphia papers carried the story that the Green Bay Packers would be on hand to see the Jackets meet the Cards and added that evidently wholesale scouting was within the laws of the dollar and cents
interest in the Packers. At Thursday's practice, the hotel furnished a bus and a number of the guests went out and gave the Bays the once over. It was amusing to hear the comments of the older people around the hotel last evening. Dr. A.E. Westcoat, manager of the Atlantic City pro eleven, is anxious to have Green Bay play here next season. He figures that the Packers have already made themselves solid with the football fans, many of whom come out daily to see the Wisconsin club go through its drill. Of course nothing definite can be done about this game until the 1929 schedule is drafted. The Packer players have been discussing a protest filed by the Frankford Yellowjackets over the 6 to 6 tie game with Providence last Saturday. The papers in Philadelphia gave considerable ink to the complaint filed to Joe Carr, the league president. It seems that Umpire Annenberg ruled that a Hornet back stepped out of bounds while running the length of the field. The protest is accompanied by about fifty affidavits which state that the player was at least six inches in bounds all the way. As it was the decision of an official, the Packer players don't think the protest will get to "first base".
BAYS PLAY AT POTTSVILLE SUNDAY
NOV 24 (Pottsville, PA) - The Pottsville Maroons will have as their opponents here Sunday, the Green Bay Packers, one of the leading teams of the NFL. The Badger state champions come here from Atlantic City where they spent a week practicing after their seven to nothing victory over the New York Giants at the Polo grounds last weekend. The Green Bay team will reach here tonight at 8:45. This is only the second time that Green Bay has ever exhibited in Pottsville. Back in 1925, the Miners walked all over the Badgers to the tune of 31 to nothing, but times have changed since then...SQUAD WORKDS HARD: Several weeks back Pottsville journeyed to Green Bay and took a lacing by a two touchdown margin. However, the Miners figure that they have a win coming to them and the squad has been working hard all week to turn back the invaders. Pottsville came out of the Chicago Bear game in good shape and every man on the payroll will be ready for the whistle. According to reports received from the Packers' Atlantic City camp, the Wisconsin team has a couple of its stars, including the flashy Eddie Kotal, on the hospital list. However, the Pottsville tribe takes these stories with a grain of salt and fans think the Packers will have their full strength in the game here. The Green Bay club bolstered its lineup by adding Bo Molenda, a bone crushing fullback. Members of the Maroons rate Molenda as one of the best backs of the professional gridiron. If the day is fair, all signs point to a good crowd. The Maroons haven't played at home for two weeks and many of the enthusiasts are anxious to look Green Bay over. Any team that can whip the Bears and Giants in one season certainly is deserving of some attention.
BY CAL
NOV 24 (Philadelphia) - "Wholesale scouting" was on tap at the Yellowjackets-Chicago Cardinal game played here this afternoon at Frankford field as the Green Bay Packers squad, some 22 strong, stopped off here en route to Pottsville, Pa., where they are booked Sunday and viewed the game. The Jackets management gave the Wisconsin gridders seats right along the sidelines, the crowd gave the
BO MOLENDA JOINS BAY TEAM IN PRACTICE
NOV 25 (Atlantic City, NJ) - Bo Molenda of Michigan, who has played with the New York Yankees for the past two seasons, checked in at the Green Bay Packer camp here in Atlantic City Thursday afternoon and took his first workout Friday with Capt. Lambeau's pennant chasers. After much inducement, Charlie Pyle, owner of the New York Yankees, finally agreed to part with the line plunging fullback. The Bay squad figures that the addition of Molenda has increased their title chances greatly. Molenda spent Thursday night in his room going over the signals and formations with Capt. Lambeau, Lewellen and Earpe. The latter two played with Molenda on the Yanks cross country tour last season after the Packers had finished their schedule. It didn't take Dr. Kelly long to swing into action after he arrived here. Kotal, Nash and several of the other boys who are a bit the worse for wear from the gridiron bruises got his immediate attention. Salt water baths with steaming hot towels are chasing away the aches and pains...DOCTOR HELPS KOTAL: The doctor is spending extra time on Kotal and the flashy backfielder spent over six hours Friday in the hot room having his knee taken care of. Eddie is responding to the treatment in good shape, and there is a good chance that he will have a hand in trying to tone down Tony La Tone. If the Bays are able to shake their injury jinx which has been camping on their trail all season, the players feel confident that Frankford, Providence and Chicago Bears are going to have their hands full throwing the club for a loss. There is a lot more confidence in the camp now that Molenda has arrived on the scene, because Bo has the reputation of being good for a yard or two in any kind of a pinch. The boardwalk here is getting quite a play from the Packers. Many of them are hiking the wood while just as many others ride around in a vehicle pushed by attendants. When the hikers and riders cross each other along the ocean roadway, the verbal razz-berries fly thick and fast with the occupants of the chairs getting the worst of it...DISCUSS FRANKFORD PROTEST: The year rounders at the hotel, many of whom are way past the spring chicken age, are showing much
Badgers quite a hand as they filed into the park to play a new role, that of spectator instead of player. On Thanksgiving Day, Green Bay and Frankford meet here in a game which experts figure will just about decide the pro league championship...ATLANTIC CITY: The Green Bay Packers shook the sand of Atlantic City off their shoes this morning and departed on a week's trip calling for three game which will just about decide their chances of winning the National league bunting. The Green Bay eleven which has been stopping at the Hotel Morton all week is booked at Pottsville on Sunday, Philadelphia on Thanksgiving day and Providence, December 2nd, following the game in Providence the Badgers will return here for a few days before heading for Chicago where they will wind up the season with the Bears at Wrigley field. According to Captain Lambeau, all the players except Kotal and Nash are in the pink. The Bay leader would not say whether ot not he would use Molenda against Pottsville.
LOOKING UP IN THE REALM OF SPORT - POTTSVILLE BOOSTER DAY
NOV 24 (Green Bay Press-Gazette) - They are planning to make it a Booster Day down in the coal mining region of Pennsylvania where the Pottsville Maroons perform, when the Eastern team takes on the Packers tomorrow, according to a story in the Pottsville Republican. Here is what the publication has to say about the game tomorrow: "The Green Bay game on Sunday, November 25th, will be a fitting day to observe as a Booster Day for our Pottsville Maroons, inasmuch as on that day the Maroons will meet a community owned and managed team, a goal towards which the Maroons are striving so that the local club might really be the people's own football team. A wonderful spirit was shown to the Maroons on their recent trip to Green bay, they being welcomed as the official representatives of Pottsville, and a great crowd turned out to see the Champs of 1925 play the Packers. A good turnout for the coming game here would accomplish a two fold purpose, the first being to show the team from the Northwest that their presence here is appreciated and also show the Maroons that the Pottsville and Schuylkill county fans still honor the Maroons and appreciate what has been done in bringing the greatest grid stars here to play on a local field. Local fans should feel proud of the fact that they are able to see such stars and teams here and can enjoy national league football with such large cities as New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Providence and other large cities. Pottsville, with a population of 30,000, is able to see football that other cities of its class cannot enjoy. Most of the other clubs in the National league have at least 100,000 people to draw from for their attendance and the management of the Pottsville club realizing that the Pottsville fans want good football have kept the game alive here.
