The 1946 Green Bay Packers - 6-5 (T-3RD - Western Division)
Head Coach: Curly Lambeau
1946 PRE-SEASON RESULTS (0-3)
SEPTEMBER (0-3)
6 M-PHILADELPHIA EAGLES L 6- 7 0- 1-0 25,000
10 Washington Redskins (at Denver) L 31-35 0- 2-0 21,000
20 at New York Giants L 21-35 0- 3-0 50,000
1946 REGULAR SEASON RESULTS
SEPTEMBER (0-1)
29 G-CHICAGO BEARS (0-0-0) L 7-30 0- 1-0 25,049
OCTOBER (3-1)
6 M-LOS ANGELES RAMS (0-1-0) L 17-21 0- 2-0 27,049
13 at Philadelphia Eagles (2-0-0) W 19- 7 1- 2-0 36,127
20 G-PITTSBURGH STEELERS (2-1-1) W 17- 7 2- 2-0 22,588
27 M-DETROIT LIONS (0-4-0) W 10- 7 3- 2-0 23,564
NOVEMBER (2-2)
3 at Chicago Bears (3-1-1) L 7-10 3- 3-0 46,321
10 at Chicago Cardinals (4-3-0) W 19- 7 4- 3-0 30,681
17 at Detroit Lions (1-6-0) W 9- 0 5- 3-0 21,055
24 G-CHICAGO CARDINALS (4-5-0) L 6-24 5- 4-0 16,150
DECEMBER (1-1)
1 at Washington Redskins (5-3-1) W 20- 7 6- 4-0 33,691
8 at Los Angeles Rams (5-4-1) L 17-38 6- 5-0 46,838
G - Green Bay M - Milwaukee
1946 IN REVIEW
Green Bay lost a hero and Curly Lambeau an ace when Don Hutson finally made his retirement stick. The Packers long had counted on the wiry end to put points on the scoreboard, and not until the coming of Vince Lombardi would the team adjust to his loss. To make matters worse, the new AAFC was driving player salaries up to the sky, making it hard for the non-profit Packers to sign new talent. Lambeau relied on a strong running game to make up for the diminished air attack. Ex-GI Tony Canadeo, veteran Ted Fritsch, and rookie Walt Schlinkman handled the bulk of the ball-carrying with little help from QB Irv Comp and his undistinguished receivers. Quick losses to the Bears and Rams uncovered chinks in the Packer defense, and a strong mid-season spurt petered out in two losses in the last three games.
THE 25th ANNIVERSARY TEAM
In honor of the Packer's 25 seasons in the NFL, the Green Bay Press-Gazette chose an all-time Packer team: Don Hutson (End), Lavvie Dilweg (End), Arnie Herber (Quarterback), Johnny (Blood) McNally (Halfback), Verne Lewellen (Halfback), Clarke Hinkle (Fullback), Cal Hubbard (Tackle), Mike Michalske (Guard), Charley Brock (Center), Buckets Goldenberg (Guard), Cub Buck (Tackle). A similar "All-Time" team was selected in 1957 to mark the opening of the new City Stadium. The only change was Tony Canadeo replacing Lewellen. In honor of the NFL's 50th anniversary, another "All-Time" team was selected in 1969, and it was dominated by Lombardi era Packers: End (Don Hutson, Boyd Dowler), Offensive Tackle (Cal Hubbard, Forrest Gregg), Guard (Fuzzy Thurston, Jerry Kramer), Center (Jim Ringo), Quarterback (Bart Starr), Running Back (Paul Hornung, Clarke Hinkle, Jim Taylor), Defensive End (Larry Craig, Lavvie Dilweg, Willie Davis), Defensive Tackle (Cal Hubbard, Henry Jordan, Dave Hanner), Linebacker (Ray Nitschke, Dave Robinson, Bill Forester), Defensive Back (Herb Adderley, Jesse Whittenton, Bobby Dillon, Willie Wood)
NAME NO POS HGT WGT COLLEGE YR PR A G HOW ACQUIRED
Cliff Aberson 78 HB 6- 1 195 No college 1 1 25 10
Solon Barnett 72 T 6- 1 235 Baylor 2 2 25 1 1943 Draft-10th
Earl Bennett 15 G 5- 8 190 Hardin-Simmons 1 1 26 3 1943 Draft-23rd
Charley Brock 29 C 6- 1 210 Nebraska 8 8 30 11 1939 Draft-3rd
Tony Canadeo 3 HB 6- 0 190 Gonzaga 5 5 27 11 1941 Draft-9th
Irv Comp 51 HB 6- 3 205 St. Benedict 4 4 27 11 1943 Draft-3rd
Larry Craig 54 E 6- 0 218 S. Carolina 8 8 30 11 1939 Draft-6th
Tiny Croft 75 T 6- 4 285 Ripon 5 5 25 11
Bob Flowers 35 C 6- 1 210 Texas Tech 5 5 29 10
Bob Forte 8 HB 6- 0 195 Arkansas 1 1 24 9 1943 Draft-11th
Ted Fritsch 64 FB 5-10 210 Stevens Point 5 5 25 11
Lester Gatewood 33 C 6- 2 195 Baylor 1 1 25 11 1943 Draft-8th
Clyde Goodnight 23 E 6- 1 195 Tulsa 2 2 22 8 1945 Draft-3rd
Ken Kueper 18 HB 6- 0 205 Georgia 2 2 27 10
William Kuusisto 52 G 6- 0 225 Minnesota 6 6 28 4
Bill Lee 40 T 6- 3 225 Alabama 7 9 34 4 1937 FA-Brooklyn
Russ Letlow 46 G 6- 0 218 San Francisco 8 8 32 5 1936 Draft-1st
Paul Lipscomb 47 T 6- 5 240 Tennessee 2 2 23 11
Nolan Luhn 38 E 6- 3 200 Tulsa 2 2 25 11 1945 Draft-25th
Roy McKay 3 HB 6- 0 195 Texas 3 3 26 11 1943 Draft-5th
Tom Miller 76 E 6- 2 208 Hampden-Sydney 1 4 28 9 1946 FA-Wash (45)
Charles Mitchell 16 HB 6- 0 190 Tulsa 1 2 25 2 1946 FA-Bears (45)
Russ Mosley 8 HB 5-10 170 Alabama 2 2 28 2
Moose Mulleneaux 19 E 6- 4 210 Utah St 6 6 29 1 Mil (1942-44)
Ed Neal 58 T 6- 4 290 Tulane 2 2 27 10
Bob Nussbaumer 48 HB 5-11 175 Michigan 1 1 22 10 1946 Draft-3rd
Urban Odson 63 T 6- 3 255 Minnesota 1 1 27 6 1942 Draft-1st
Merv Pregulman 17 G 6- 3 215 Michigan 1 1 25 11 1944 Draft-1st
Ace Prescott 31 E 6- 2 210 Hardin-Simmons 1 1 25 2 1943 Draft-19th
Baby Ray 44 T 6- 6 250 Vanderbilt 9 9 30 11
Ray Riddick 19 E 6- 0 220 Fordham 4 4 28 2
Herman Rohrig 80 HB 5- 9 190 Nebraska 2 2 28 8 1941 Draft-6th
Walt Schlinkman 7 FB 5- 9 190 Texas Tech 1 1 24 11 1945 Draft-1st
Bruce Smith 42 HB 6- 0 197 Minnesota 2 2 26 6 1942 Draft-13th
Al Sparlis 21 G 5-11 185 UCLA 1 1 26 3 1946 Draft-30th
Charles Tollefson 27 G 6- 0 215 Iowa 3 3 30 2
Don Wells 43 E 6- 2 200 Georgia 1 1 24 11 1945 Draft-6th
Dick Wildung 45 G 6- 0 220 Minnesota 1 1 25 11 1943 Draft-1st
NAME NO POS HGT WGT COLLEGE YR PR A G HOW ACQUIRED
Al Zupek 25 B 6- 1 225 Lawrence 1 1 23 3
NO - Jersey Number POS - Position HGT - Height WGT - Weight YR - Years with Packers PR - Years of Professional Football AGE - Age at Start of Season G - Games Played
1946 PACKERS DRAFT (January 14, 1946)
RND SEL NAME POS COLLEGE
1 6 Johnny Strzkalski B Marquette
2 Did Not Draft
3 21 Bob Nussbaumer B Michigan
4 Did Not Draft
5 36 Ed Cody B Purdue
6 46 John Ferraro T Southern California
7 56 Art Renner E Michigan
8 66 Bert Cole T Oklahoma State
9 76 Grant Darnell G Texas A&M
10 86 Joe McAfee B Holy Cross
11 96 Steve Conroy B Holy Cross
12 106 Billy Hildebrand E Mississippi State
13 116 Tom Hand C Iowa
14 126 George Hills G Georgia Tech
15 136 Jim Hough B Clemson
16 146 Dean Gaines T Georgia Tech
17 156 J.P. Miller G Georgia
18 166 Boyd Morse E Arizona
19 176 Joe Bradford C Southern California
20 186 Bill DeRosa B Boston College
21 196 Ralph Grant B Bucknell
22 206 Howard Brown G Indiana
23 216 Andy Kosmac C Louisiana State
24 226 Maurice Stacy B Washington
25 236 Chick Davidson T Cornell
26 246 John Norton B Washington
27 256 Ed Holtsinger B Georgia Tech
28 266 Joe Campbell E Holy Cross
29 276 Francis Saunders T Clemson
30 286 Al Sparlis G UCLA
31 291 Ralph Clymer G Purdue
32 296 Joervin Henderson C Missouri
BOLD - Played for the Packers
10 MILLION FANS TURN OUT FOR PRO GRID LEAGUE TILTS IN '45
JAN 2 (Green Bay) - NFL attendance approached the two million mark last fall as league teams, for the 15th consecutive season, broke all records with a total turnout of 1,918,631 for 68 contests. Attendance at the 50 regularly scheduled championship games was up 19.8 percent over 1944, attracting a record crowd of 1,442,737 against 1,204,817 a year ago. The championship playoff and 17 preseason games drew another 475,894. Better balance in the league, resulting principally from the rise of the Cleveland Rams, Detroit Lions and Boston Yanks, spurred business throughout the circuit, lifting to 28,855 spectators, another new high, the average attendance for the 50 regular season contests. The average for all games was 28,636, also a new high...GREEN BAY LEADS: Green Bay, the 1944 champion, led all teams in total attendance, setting a new record for one club by playing to 521,426 spectators, or an average of 37,245 in 14 games. The previous high for one club was 507,067 in 20 games, set by the Chicago Bears in 1941, the only other time in league history when a club played to half a million spectators in one season. The New York Giants were first in home attendance with a total of 282,382, an average of 47,063 per games, for six appearance in the Polo grounds. Washington was second with 209,490, also in six games, and might have surpasses the Giants if it had room for any more. All six Redskin games were sellouts. Top road honors went to the champion Rams, who drew 196,050 in six games. But Green Bay, perennially a prime road attraction, remained one of the game's better draws by averaging 36,829 per game away from home, against 32,675 for the Rams. Green Bay participated in the two largest gates of the year, playing before 92,753 in the Chicago Tribune Charities, Inc's. All-Star game and showing to another 90,218 with the Philadelphia Eagles in a charity game in Philadelphia two weeks later. The largest crowd of the regular season, 55,641, gathered in New York on Oct. 28 to see the Redskins beat the Giants, 24 to 14. Weather conditions hardly could be called an ally of the record breaking. Twenty-five of the 50 regular schedule games were played in inclement weather. The elements, however, got in their work licks at the championship playoff in Cleveland two weeks ago, when despite temperatures of 3 below zero and a gale blowing through the Cleveland stadium, more than 30,000 turned out to see the Rams whip the Redskins.
ALL-AMERICA LEAGUE TO START WITH 8 CLUBS
JAN 5 (Chicago) - Major league professional football may be heading up the same trail major league baseball followed at the turn of the century. Right now, the All-America conference, an embryonic organization conceived during the war and dedicated to fielding teams next autumn in eight cities scattered from coast to coast, is challenging the 25-year old NFL for an even status as a major pro grid circuit. Back in 1900 the American league was born on the baseball diamond when Charles A. Comiskey moved his American association franchise from St. Paul, Minn., to Chicago. The National league battled against such intrusion into major league ranks. But the American league was established, and from its birth came the greatest sports extravaganza in America - the World Series. The All-America conference without established background such as the American association had when Comiskey inaugurated the American league, is ready to make the same move. At their meeting yesterday, members of the new league accepted Baltimore's offer to delay its participation to 1947, cutting the number of clubs to eight. Applications by two New Orleans groups and one from Kansas City were tabled until 1947. It was decided to play home-and-home schedules, with each team competing in 14 games during the season. The charter members are New York, Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles, Buffalo, Miami, San Francisco and Cleveland. Drawing of a constitution and bylaws, determination of the rules the league will follow and completion of a schedule for 1946 are the tasks that remain. It is estimated that the National league's refusal to meet with delegates of the All-America to reach a friendly understanding on operational tactics already has cost the 25 year old organization $300,000. There is a growing sentiment within the National league, some All-America club owners declared, that the rebuff last year was a tragic mistake and that another effort should be made for a peace meeting between the two. It was emphasized that any overtures must come from the National league, inasmuch as it declined the original invitation; it was intimated that such a gesture by the National league would be accepted by the All-America. The eight team setup was determined upon shortly after announcement of the conference's organization was made in September 1944. But the All-America quickly made room for Dan Topping late in 1945 when he was unable to make a satisfactory deal with the National league to move his Brooklyn team to Yankee stadium. This made it necessary to add another team, or drop one, at least in the 1946 plans. George Halas, owner of the Chicago Bears of the National league, meanwhile, gave a new turn to the battle over All-America's "raiding" of the older circuit's players. Hinkle said he had urged his star tackle, 225-pound Lee Artoe, to sign with the Los Angeles club of the new league, if he thought he could better himself. Later Edward P. (Slip) Madigan, Los Angeles general manager, announced Artoe had signed a contract to play for him next fall.
ALL-AMERICA GRID PLANS COMPLETED AT CONFERENCE
JAN 7 (Chicago) - For the first time in its history, the quarter century old NFL will have competition this fall. That became a certainty Sunday as the All-America conference concluded a three day meeting of owners and coaches at which all details for its debut were ironed out except for the schedule. The schedule will be drawn by Commissioner James (Sleepy Jim) Crowley and submitted for approval at a schedule meeting in April. The league will operate in two sections, an eastern composed of New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo and Miami, and a western composed of Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Each team, traveling by air, will play a 14 game, home and home schedule to start the week of September 1-8 and end December 8. A majority of the games will be played Wednesday and Friday nights. The playoff game between the two division winners will be held December 15. Dan Topping of New York, who bolted the National league to join the All-America and give the new league the use of Yankee stadium, emerged from the meeting as the AAC's most powerful figure. Topping claimed all the players on the reserve list of his now defunct National league Brooklyn team and said, "There is nothing the National league can do about it." Layden, acting under the National league constitution, had ruled the players reverted to the league following Topping's bolt. Layden since awarded the players to the National league's Boston club. The owners also held a secret draft at which each club selected 20 players. "Their names will not be announced," Crowley said. "The National league always has publicized its draft lists, often embarrassing the players. We hope to stop that."
NATIONAL GRID LOOP WILL OPEN IMPORTANT MEETING THURSDAY
JAN 7 (Chicago) - The NFL, finally recognizing the upstart All-American football conference as a dangerous challenger, opens one of the most important meetings in its 26-year history this week in New York. The old-time National leaguers, who lifted pro football from sandlot gridirons to the nation's biggest stadia, have dozens of problems to whip at the New York meeting, but No. 1 is the rehiring or firing of Elmer Layden as commissioner. Layden's initial five-yard contract expires March 1. Selected in 1941 when he was athletic director and head coach at Notre Dame, Layden has ruled the league during its most prosperous seasons. There was strong opposition to him a year ago, but that has died out and the general consensus predicts that Layden's contract will be readily renewed as the NFL buckles down to fight the All-America...AGENDA IS ANNOUNCED: NFL headquarters, preparing for the opening meeting Thursday, released the following agenda: (1) Layden's contract, (2) 1946 schedule, (3) rules revision, (4) player draft and (5) consideration of the new opposition league and its "questionable interest in operation for the best interest of pro football." Point No. 5 packs the fireworks. During its three-day meeting here, which ended Sunday, the All-America showed the National league that regardless of pro-and-con statements, it plans to operate as a major league next fall. "The National league is prepared to fight for what it has built," league Publicitor George Strickler said. "George Halas of Chicago, Tim Mara of New York, Curly Lambeau of Green Bay and others made pro football and the National league is not going to give it way to a rival. In 15 or 20 years, there will be another major league, but the time is not yet ripe. Two leagues cannot survive,' Strickler said...EIGHT TEAM LEAGUE: A recap of the All-America's meetings reveal it will begin play next fall with an eight-team league, divided into an East (New York, Brooklyn, Buffalo and Miami) and a West division (Cleveland, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco). Each team, traveling by air, will play a 14-game, home-and-home schedule to start the week of Sept. 1-8 and end Dec. 8. A majority of the games will be played Wednesday and Friday nights. The All-America playoff game between the two divisional winners will be held Dec. 15. Dan Topping, who bolted the NFL to join the AAC and give the league the use of Yankee stadium, is the AAC's most powerful single figure. Ignoring the action of Layden, Topping claimed the 200 players on the reserve list of his now defunct NFL Brooklyn team and said, "There is nothing the National league can do about it." Layden, acting under the NFL constitution, has ruled the players reverted to the league following Topping's bolt. Layden since awarded the players to the National league's Boston club...PLAYERS FREE TO SIGN: Actually, the NFL's action would not hold up in a legal battle and the player are free for the signing. Topping took the top 15 from the reserve list, which he said are signed to personal service contracts, gave Los Angeles' undermanned team the next 22 and passed the remaining 163 to the other six All-America clubs. Among the better known players on the list are end Don Currivan, guard Tony Leon, tackle George Sergienko and end Enrico Uguccioni. The New York tinplate king, who received a "gift" of one player from each of the other clubs as part of the $75,000 deal, which lured him away from the NFL, also announced he had 35 players under contract for the '46 season...KINARDS ARE SIGNED: He named six of them, all 1945 Fleet City players, including tackle Frank (Bruiser) Kinard, six-year Brooklyn veteran and former All-National league choice, and his younger brother, George Kinard, ex-Mississippi star. The eight owners held a secret draft from a list of approximately 300 college and servicemen names. Each club selected 20 players. "Their names will not be announced," Commissioner James H. Crowley said. "The National league always has publicized its draft lists, often embarrassing the players. We hope to stop that."
PACKERS REPRESENTED
JAN 7 (Green Bay) - Three members of the Green Bay Packers organization will attend the annual session of the NFL opening in New York Thursday. Green Bay will be represented at the meeting by Pres. L.H. Joannes of the football corporation, Coach Curly Lambeau and Line Coach Walt Kiesling. Among others attending will be Line Coach George Trafton of the Cleveland Rams, who left this morning for New York. Trafton resides in the city.
JOE LAWS CALLS IT QUITS AFTER 12 YEARS WITH PACKERS
JAN 8 (Green Bay) - Joe Laws, Packer backfield star for a dozen years, is calling it quits as a football player. Laws has joined Schenley Distilleries, Inc., and will act as their "goodwill ambassador" in northeastern Wisconsin and upper Michigan. The Tiger was one of the most popular gridders ever to wear a Green Bay uniform. He was always tops with his teammates; the fans in the stands liked to see him, particularly when it came to receiving punts. He handled those skyscraping pigskins like an outfielder on a baseball field. Laws, who is an Iowa U. graduate, won the Chicago Tribune award in 1933 for being the most valuable player in the Western conference. He played in the 1934 All-Star classic at Chicago which ended in a goose-egg tie with the Bears. Two days later he reported in Green Bay for practice with the Packers. Joe has been here ever since...FIFTH IN SCORING: Joe ranks fifth on the Packers' all-time scoring list with 132 points. The gridders ahead of him are Don Hutson, Clarke Hinkle, Verne Lewellen and Johnny Blood. Laws accounted for 22 touchdowns during his Packer career. The Packer signal-called suffered a severe knee injury early in the 1940 season during a game at State Fair park, Milwaukee, and for a time it was feared his football days were over. But he surprised even the medics by recovering completely. Afterwards Laws performed more brilliantly than ever and in the championship game at New York against the Giants in 1944, his outstanding play was praised by coaches, sportswriters and players. Laws was a smart signal caller. There was a certain command about him that generally got results when directing the team on the field. The veterans looked up to him, while the recruits rated him as a "Dutch Uncle" because he was always trying to help the youngsters over the rough spots. The Packers have always been far above par on their placekick completions, and Laws had a hand in the majority of them because he pointed the cowhide for the kickers. This is quite a trick in itself. Ask any bootsmith...LIKED 1936 TEAM: Skipping over his postgraduate football years, Laws thinks the best Packers aggregation he played with was the 1936 team, which won the National league competition. So far as tough opponents went, Laws thinks Joe Stydahar, the Bears' tackle, carried off the palm. Laws claims one of the biggest changes in professional football since he started has been the crowds. Back in the middle 30's, the turnouts weren't anything to rave about, but for the past couple of years the fans have been jamming the football parks and hollering for more. This past season the Packers played to over a half-million in 14 contests. Laws, who was born at Colfax, Iowa, has lived in Green Bay ever since he joined the Packers back in 1934. During the offseasons, he worked as an NYA director, ship fitter at Sturgeon Bay, and switchman with the Green Bay and Western. Joe has four children, three daughters and a boy.
BAYS WILL ASK DRAFTEES TO COMPLETE VARSITY PLAY
JAN 9 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau, headed today for New York and the annual meeting of the NFL, said that any player drafted by the Packers at the session will be urged to return to college if he has either any competition or education remaining to be completed. Lambeau was accompanied to the meeting by Bob Conrad, advance man and scout for the club, and will meet President L.H. Joannes of the football corporation and Line Coach Walt Kiesling in the metropolis. He was reached in Chicago late Tuesday while en route from California, where he scouted the Rose Bowl contest. Commenting on the impending draft of college talent, Lambeau explained, "We have several good prospects we want to draft. However, our policy on those having college eligibility remaining will be to urge them to return to school and finish their competition. Naturally, of course, we want them to join the Packers when their competition and education are finished."...WAR YEARS INTERVENED: The league's rule on such matters reads that a player is eligible for professional competition when his class had graduated, but the Packers, realizing that the war years intervened to throw some players off schedule, feel it is better to allow such athletes to go back to school. Coach Lambeau did not have much to say about the agenda of the annual league meeting except that rule changes would be looked into and Commissioner Elmer Layden's contract may or may not be renewed. Layden's present contract expires March 31 and his retention as head man requires a unanimous vote. Lambeau said there has been considerable "buzzing" about non-renewal of the contract but "there is nothing definite either way." The Packer coach, commenting on signing of guard Bernie Crimmins as assistant coach at Notre Dame, said, "I talked the matter over Athletic Director Frank Leahy and urged that Crimmins be signed for the coaching job because it is a year-around job and an excellent opportunity for Bernie. We hate to lose him because he had a great future in pro football."...WAS PT BOAT COMMANDER: Crimmins joined the Packers last September after his release from the Navy in which he was a PT boat commander. He won the Silver Star for gallantry in action. He rapidly rounded into playing shape after reporting here and played outstanding ball, especially in the last games of the season. He was captain of the 1941 Notre Dame eleven. While Coach Lambeau was commenting on the annual meeting, Owner-Coach George Halas of the Chicago Bears had something to say about the National league's impending struggle with the newly formed All-America conference. Surprisingly enough for Halas, he adopted a tolerant attitude toward the new circuit except on one point -"player piracy". The Bears have been hardest hit by the talent shopping of the new league, losing fullback Norm Standlee, halfback Bob Steuber, end Hampton Pool and tackles Jim Daniell and Lee Artoe. On the eve of the National league's annual draft meeting in New York, Halas asserted in a press conference that the All-America has done "all the warring so far," but hinted broadly that there was no need for cut-throat bidding for players..."HAVE RAIDED CLUBS": "They (the All-America conference) have raided our clubs," Halas said in a prepared statement. "They have issued threats. All the overt acts have been theirs. The NFL and the Chicago Bears are not engaged in any war. We are not planning any war." Halas estimated that the All-America, which plans to start operations next fall on a coast-to-coast basis, had raided the National league of between 30 and 40 players. This does not include some 200 players on Dan Topping's erstwhile Brooklyn entry in the National league which recently bolted to the All-America end, whom Topping rationed among the new league's owners. "However, there were 330 men playing in our league last fall," Halas continued, "and the 10 member clubs have a total of 2,000 players on the reserve list. Sure, we'll lose more players but I think we'll survive."...SUPPLY IS PLENTIFUL: "Papa" Bear Halas also estimated that approximately 9,000 college football players were graduated every season and that the National league hired only about 200 from each crop. Thus, he explained, a supply of not more than 500 would be needed each year by two major professional leagues. Halas said the National league would continue its present draft system in which approximately 500 names of collegiate players are published and submitted to club owners. The All-American last weekend proposed a "secret" selection of players who want to play professionally.
NATIONAL LEAGUE PLANS TO KEEP DRAFT LIST SECRET
JAN 10 (New York) - The NFL says it has no immediate fight with the brand new All-America conference, but as the bosses of the older pro circuit moved in Wednesday for their annual conclave it was obvious they had their sleeves rolled up and were ready for anything that comes along. The moguls of the National league went into session today to decide on rules changes, their 1946 player draft, a possible return to the pre-war 11-game schedule, and a new contract for high Commissioner Elmer Layden, But underneath the regular order of business was a lot of talk indicating the AAC would come on for some heavy discussion pointed toward policy and action regarding the new loop...TALK ABOUT "PIRATING": Mostly the talk was about what Chicago Bear owner George Halas claimed was "piratical" player raids by the AAC on National league performers. But one league official pointed out today that although the new loop has signed up "35 of our players, there's only one we really wanted." This one is Norman Standlee, the fullback bonecrusher. The AAC San Francisco club recently announced it had taken Norman from under the Bears' collective nose. "They're welcome to all of the others they signed," the official said. However, it was obvious that the National league was preparing for any similar future moves by the All-America. It was learned that one step may be a decision by the club owners to keep secret the identity of most of the players they draft until after they've had a chance to talk terms with them...GAVE PLAYER TIPOFF: "Last year," one owner recalled, "we gave other professional clubs and league a lot of tips on players they knew nothing about, simply by announcing the players we were picking. Some of them are from small colleges and merely by selecting them for our league we were revealing that they were pretty good. As a result, this time we may decide to announce only part of the list - say, for instance, the first two drafted by each of our 10 clubs. That way we won't be letting anyone on it, because the top 20 players will no doubt all had had plenty of publicity from college performances." With 10 teams - five each in the Eastern and Western divisions - set for next season, it is likely the schedule to be adopted Friday will call for the old system of 11 games for each club. This would have each team playing a home-and-home series with each other club in its own section, plus three games with clubs in the opposite division...RULES CHANGES PROPOSED: Chief of the proposed rules changes come up for action at the opening session Friday suggests elimination of free unlimited substitutions. Halas has suggested replacing it with the pre-war rule of allowing free substitution of only two players at a time. Other proposed rule changes, all expected to touch off considerable debate, include: Elimination of the "rushing the kicker" penalty which means loss of the ball and making such an action subject to the unnecessary roughness rule with its 15-yard penalty. Making a fumbled lateral pass a free ball which can be run with by either side instead of just the offensive team. Ruling a touchback on a punt or kickoff which goes out of bounds on the fly within the receiving team's 20-yard line. Kicks which roll out of bounds would continue to be placed in play on the yard-line where they left the field...KICK RUNBACKS SOUGHT: Allowing
receiving teams to run back kicks caught in the end zone instead of automatically ruling them touchbacks. Ruling a pass which is thrown from the end zone and hits the goal posts, bounding back into the end zone, an incompleted pass from the line of scrimmage instead of a safety. Rule change No. 6, obviously, was proposed by the Washington Redskins who lost the playoff championship game to the Cleveland Rams when Sammy Baugh's pass from the end zone hit the cross bar and was turned into a safety. Layden's current five-year term expires in March, and it was believed that club owners could give him a new contract calling for another five years, with a possible pay increase.
NATIONAL LOOP SCANS SMALL PLAYER HARVEST
JAN 11 (New York) - The NFL looked over a skim-milk crop of college seniors today for its player draft and each club was expected to announce at least two selections in defiance of the All-America loop which held a secret draft pick session. The draft was expected to occupy the full second day of the NFL's annual meeting, which has been extended from its usual three days to five with the windup scheduled Monday. Club directors looking for talent from the colleges mourned the "lost class of 1946:" because of the conspicuous absence of men who will be graduated this spring. Most stars whom the war plucked from the campus in their junior years had not returned for their degrees. A notable exception to the senior-bare schools was Duke university, which with such stars as end Kelly Moto, guard Bear Knotts and backs George Clark and Gordon Carver offered excellent draft bait...DRAFTED BY OTHER LEAGUE: The catch is that many of the players drafted by the NFL will be on the All-America list as well and the league which can make them the most attractive offers will get them - provided they want to play pro ball at all. Meanwhile, the club owners apparently split, in side-chamber discussions, over whether to take the young All-America seriously - or laugh it off. Moguls like Washington's George Preston Marshall and the New York Giants' Tim Mara, whose clubs are neck deep in black ink, were inclined to pooh-pooh the younger circuit, its free spending to obtain ball players and its contention that Dan Topping's Yankees will give the Giants a rough go of it. "Why should we worry about Topping or the rest of the All-America?" Marshall wanted to know in one side-chamber session. He called in National league treasurer Dinny Shea, who used to be general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers when Topping owned the Flatbush franchise. Topping recently received a sum variously announced as $75,000 and $100,000 for putting his Yanks into the All-America...LOST TREMENDOUS AMOUNT: Shea, reading from statements he pulled out of his pocket, said the Brooklyn club had lost $238,000 in some eight or nine years under Topping's regime. "See what I mean?" the Washington wet-wash impresario put in. "We've just gotten rid of the outstanding failure our league ever had. Why should we feel bad?" League directors had before them six major rules changes advocated by the rules committee and these will be acted upon before the meeting is concluded. They included a proposed change in the pass-from-end-zone rule wherein a pass can be turned into a safety for the defensive team if it hits the goal posts and bounces backward. Such a freak safety gave the Cleveland Rams the 1945 pro title in the playoff with the Washington Redskins...SCHEDULE OTHER BUSINESS: Other matters remaining on the calendar are the question of retaining Elmer Layden as National league commissioner, the drafting of a schedule for 1946 and routine business affairs. Trading of players was light.
BERT BELL IS CHOSEN AS NATIONAL LEAGUE COMMISSIONER
JAN 12 (New York) - Any lingering doubt that the NFL is ready, willing and able to take on the young All-America conference in a knockdown fight, with no holds barred, was completely erased today as aggressive Bert Bell moved in as czar of the gridiron's oldest professional loop. Appointment of Bell to succeed the "resigned" Elmer Layden was the final touch to signs the moguls of the NFL have been hanging out for weeks about how they feel toward the brand new circuit, which already has signed up some three dozen of their players and is aiming at bucking them in several cities, notably New York, Chicago and Cleveland. Officially, the National league announced Friday night that the tall, mild Layden, late of Notre Dame's Four Horsemen backfield, had resigned as president and commissioner after a five-year term, and that Bell, a short, stocky, "give-me-fight" kind of guy, had been named to succeed him under a three-year contract calling for $20,000 salary a year...LAYDEN TO BE ADVISOR: The National league moguls said, too, that Layden would remain in an advisory capacity, at $20,000 per annual "advisory". The owners made it apparent that there was no serious friction which might have prompted the act by Layden when they offered him the same $20,000-a-year salary to remain with the league in an advisory capacity. "I am taking that offer under consideration, and it would be hard to turn down, because if has been a grand experience to work for the National league," Layden said. Although there was some opposition among the owners to Layden's regime, it was believed he had the necessary strength for reelection in which the vote of seven of the 10 clubs is required. However, it was rumored among the moguls at their meeting that the National had decided it was time to get in and pitch. It was learned there was opposition among the magnates to renewal of Layden's contract, which was to have expired March 31. And it was known that some club owners objected to Layden's attitude toward the All-America, notably his advice to the new loop to "go out and get a football first," when the All-America outfit wanted to meet with the National several months ago...IN PRO PICTURE 13 YEARS: In the 52-year old Bell, the moguls picked a man out of their own ranks, who has been fighting pro football's battle for the last 13 years. He operated the Philadelphia Eagles' franchise from 1933 through 1940, when each season meant a fight to keep going. Then, after selling his club to the curly-haired sportsman, Alexis Thompson, Bert bought a half interest in the Pittsburgh Steelers from Art Rooney. He'll have to disposed of those holdings now that he's boss of the league, and he said Rooney would buy his stock. Jock Sutherland recently was named coach and vice-president of the Steelers at a reported salary of $12,500 a year plus 25 percent of the profits, and at that time was given an option of purchasing some of Bell's shares within five years. Just what Layden's personal plans are he would not say, but he emphasized that they had no connection with football..IS PHILADELPHIA NATIVE: Bell, a native of Philadelphia, was quarterback at Pennsylvania from 1915 through 1919 but was out in the 1918 season when he was on 13 months overseas duty in France as a sergeant with the A.A.F. He came back to direct Pennsylvania as captain in 1919 and remained as the backfield coach from 1920 to 1928. In 1930 and 1931 he was backfield coach at Temple and organized the Eagles' franchise with Lud Wray. He was there until 1940, coaching the Eagles through the last four seasons until going to the Steelers in 1940 after selling the Eagles to Thompson. It was reported unofficially that a bloc of five owners sought to have Layden replaced and after it became apparent that they would not yield the other executives agreed to install Bell. Earlier Friday, the club owners voted to limit their membership to 10 teams and never permit establishment of two franchises in the same city. This did not affect the arrangement in Chicago where there are two clubs, the Bears and Cardinals...RULES CHANGES APPROVED: Six rule changes were recommended by the rules committee, but action was deferred on the annual player draft. The major changes are: Only three substitutes may enter the game at a time. Under the old rule, 11 players might be substituted at a time if the coach desired. A forward pass thrown from the end zone that struck a goal post will be an incompleted forward pass. A fourth down fumble within a defensive team's 10-yard line may be advanced only by the defensive team or by the other player on offense who fumbled. If any other player recovered, play will be resumed at spot of fumble. In blocking on offense the player's arm not in contact with his opponent may hang free. Previously both arms of the offensive blocker had to be in contact with his own body.
PACKERS' FARM CLUB
JAN 13 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers have formed a working agreement with the San Diego club of the Coast league under trams of the NFL's approval of a nationwide football association, according to an announcement from New York today. In effect, the Coast league club will be a Packer farm club supplying players to the Green Bay eleven in much the same manner as baseball team farm clubs "season" young players and then send them up to the parent organization. Further details on the agreement probably will be given by Coach Curly Lambeau when he returns from New York, Wednesday or Thursday.
PRO FOOTBALL ORGANIZATION ON NATIONWIDE BASIS VOTED; RAMS WILL GO TO LOS ANGELES
JAN 13 (New York) - Three other professional football loops have thrown in with the National league in its war against the young All-America conference, and regardless of how the fight comes out, it is now certain that the play-for-pay game is going to be organized on a nationwide basis, much after baseball's pattern. With the Pacific Coast league, Dixie league and American association already back of the NFL in this "national association", approved by the magnates over the weekend, and the currently-building Texas league asking for information on it, the entire organization is apparently in the battle against the All-America...OPPOSED IN THREE CITIES: What's more, the All-American now finds itself opposed in all key cities as a result of the switch Saturday night by the National league champion Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles, where the new loop was previously unopposed by the older circuit. Decision by owner Danny Reeves to move his title holders put the National squarely against the All-America in New York, Chicago and the California city - the three top "gate" towns in the country - in the now open and all-out war for pro grid power. And as the National's club owners headed into the stretch of their annual meeting with schedule kinks to be ironed out and player draft to be held, it was obvious the moguls were taking the battle a lot more seriously than they were when they first got together last week and felt they were a lot better prepared for the brawl. Just how seriously they were now
taking the competition was obvious in the fact they decided to keep their schedule and draft secret and were willing to make concessions to get the three minor loops into the proposed "National Association of Professional Football Leagues." Following baseball's general outline, the National league moguls agree to recognize territorial rights and player contracts of the three loops and will work out plans for player exchange and working agreements...DRAFT LIST SECRET: Only the top several players selected from the college senior ranks may be named for public consumption, with the individual clubs exercising their choice on whether they wish to reveal their draft lists. Boston, getting first choice in the draft by league agreement because of the tough break the Yanks had when Dan Topping took his interest in the club to the rival league, is expected to name Frank (Boley) Dancewicz of Notre Dame. He is already under contract to the team. Boston also had the first draft choice a year ago. The Chicago Cardinals, nominal first choice club, will take the second spot on the first go round but will go back to the top in subsequent drawings. The league directors worked into the wee hours drawing up their 1946 schedule, complicated by trans-continental jumps due to the switching of the Cleveland franchise to Los Angeles. In order to keep the All-America loop guessing as much as possible, the exact dates will not be announced at this time, only the pairing from week to week...GET SECONDARY RIGHTS: The league gave "secondary rights" to the Los Angeles and Hollywood clubs of the PCL so that they can compete with the All-America club at Los Angeles but not with the National league Los Angeles outfit, which will play on different dates. "Exclusive" rights to the San Francisco area were given to the San Francisco Clippers, the idea being that the All-America club in the Bay city can never gain admission to the NFL should the new league as a whole collapse.
STRZYKALSKI, HILLTOP ACE, PACKERS' FIRST CHOICE
JAN 15 (New York) - Coach E.L. (Curly) Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers announced Monday night his first choice in the most secret player draft in NFL history had been Johnny Stryzkalski, 190-pound wingback who performed for Marquette before entering the Air Force. While in service, Strzykalski played with the Second air force in Colorado and the Fourth Air force in Texas and was chosen on all-service teams of 1944 and '45. He still has one year of eligibility left at Marquette and Lambeau said he expects Strzykalszki would return there to complete his college career. A Milwaukee, Strzykalski was selected on the city all-conference team when he attended South Division High school there. The league staggered into the sixth day of a marathon winter session today after going through the player draft and drawing up a schedule tentatively to open Sept. 29...DRAFT LOSES SIGNIFICANCE: The draft lost most of its significance when the clubs refused to identify most of the players selected for fear the rival All-America conference would get to them first with drooling checkbooks. Those who were named probably will not play professional football anywhere before another season, at least, is past. For the record, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose Felix (Doc) Blanchard of Army but he is expected to play for at least one more season with the Cadets. Blanchard actually was third choice. The Boston Yanks, getting the first choice over the last-place Chicago Cardinals by a league agreement, had to pick Frank (Boley) Dancewicz since they already had the Notre Dame star under contract. Chicago's choice, described as a "sleeper" player of only moderate fame, was not only further identified on the grounds that he is on the point of being signed...OTHER SELECTIONS NAMED: Others definitely selected were: By the Philadelphia Eagles, first roll-call, Leo Riggs, formerly a Southern California back who played there only one season before going into the Navy three and one-half years ago. By the Washington Redskins, first and second choices respectively, Cal Rossi, U.C.L.A., passing back, and Stan Koslowski of Holy Cross. The rest of the club owners kept their entire draft lists secret, but it was announced that the Philadelphia Eagles dropped out of the selections after choosing 17 players and awarded their place on the roll-call to Boston, which was left short of talent when Dan Topping took his interests in the club to the All-America conference. The New York Giants selected only 24 players and gave their place to Pittsburgh. Each club nominally has 30 choices, which means that Boston had 43 and the Steelers 36...SCHEDULE MAKING SNARLED: The schedule making session became snarled on the problems of working out a 11-game schedule for each of 10 teams and was postponed until today. It was learned, however, that the league will open its season Sept. 29, with one game schedule that date at Los Angeles, new home of the championship Cleveland Rams' franchise. The moguls were determined that when they do arrive at a schedule, probably sometime today, they would not reveal dates and sites, on the grounds the All-America might benefit in drawing up its own playing lists for next fall.
NATIONAL LEAGUE STRUGGLES TO FIX 1946 PLAYING DATES
JAN 16 (New York) - The NFL's club owners reached for the aspirin bottle and went to the mat with their schedule-making headache again today in the hope of firing one final shot at the young All-America conference. They've already moved their championship Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles to buck the All-America in one of the "key" pro gridiron cities. They've switched their commissioner from mild Elmer Layden to rough-and-ready Bert Bell for their all-out war with the new rival loop. And Tuesday they and three other associated leagues warned all "contract jumping" players that the punishment for bolting to the All-America would be banishment from pro ball for five years. Now, with a two-week wait in front of them before the Los Angeles Coliseum commission decides whether the Rams can use the 100,000-seat stadium for their five home games next season, the moguls only have to make up a powerful gate-drawing schedule before winding up the longest annual meeting in their history. This schedule making has been the big bugaboo of the week. Meeting the All-America head on in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles - where both loops have clubs- the National league realize they're going to have to present the strongest attractions Sunday after Sunday. That was the principal reason for the complications in drawing up a schedule. Transfer for the championship Ram franchise to Los Angeles was not accomplished without difficulties. The Atlantic seaboard clubs cannot hope to make the jump to the west coach for less than $30,000 and unless the games draw bumper gate receipts it will be a losing proposition. For that reason, the owners were attempting to arrange the most attractive slate of games possible, hopeful not only of drawing capacity crowds but of outshining the rival Los Angeles club in the All-America loop...HAVE FIVE DATES: The NFL bosses stood by anxiously awaiting word from Los Angeles as to whether their request for five Sunday playing dates in the Coliseum had been accepted. The Coliseum commission tabled the application of the Los Angeles club until a later meeting on Jan. 29. The club asked for use of the bowl on Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 10 and 17 and Dec. 8, and revealed that it already had a permit to use the stadium on Sept. 6 for an exhibition game against the Washington Redskins. At the same time, Lloyd Wright, an attorney representing the All-America Los Angeles club owner, movie actor Don Ameche, asked the Coliseum commission for five dates when that league's schedule is prepared. He said he hoped the commission would take no action to give the National league exclusive use of the stadium. Four of the Los Angeles National league club's five home tussles will be against the Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. Outstanding development of Monday's semifinal meeting day was the mogul's move in reaffirming the rule barring contract jumpers for five years. Immediately their "allies" in the National Association of Professional Football Leagues - the Pacific Coast league, the Dixie league and the American Association - fell in line and agreed to enforce the same rule.
PURCHASE 13,000 SEATS FOR STATE FAIR STADIUM
JAN 16 (Milwaukee) - Purchase of 13,000 bleacher seats to increase the capacity of State Fair park stadium to 34,000 for football game was announced Wednesday by Ralph Ammon, manager of the State Fair. The bleachers were part of the stadium at the Great Lakes (Ill.) naval training station and were bought from the University of Chicago, which had turned them over to the navy at the start of the war. The stadium at Great Lakes is now being dismantled. The new bleachers will be erected on the east side of the field, according to Ammon, and the present bleachers there will be moved to the north and south sides of the field. The increased capacity will be available for Green Bay's game here next fall. Reports that the fair management would seek football attractions other than the Packers because of the added capacity were denied by Ammon. "We have an exclusive contract with the Packers," he declared. "Moreover, the rental on our park is pretty high and is beyond the reach of high school and college teams which might want to play on the field." The Packers will play at least two games in Milwaukee next fall and possibly three. The NFL schedule, now being drafted, will include 11 games next season instead of 10, and the additional Packer game is likely to be shifted here.
CLEVELAND BROWNS SIGN STRZYKALSKI, BAY CHOICE
JAN 17 (Cleveland) - John Strzykalski, of Milwaukee, triple-threat left halfback for the Marquette university team in 1942, has signed a contract with the Cleveland Browns of the new All-American Football conference, Assistant Coach John Brickels announced Wednesday. Strzykalski was No. 1 draft choice of the Green Bay Packers of the National league, Brickels reported. The 195-pound back played with the Second Air force at Colorado Springs in 1944, and last season with the Fourth Air Force team at Ontario, Calif. At Milwaukee, Strzykalski had finished his sophomore year before entering the Army. A school spokesman said the former Milwaukee South Division High school player would have had "two, or possibly three years of eligibility remaining, depending on wartime ruling", had he returned to the Hilltop as a junior...WAS GOOD PLAYER: Coach Tom Stidham of Marquette said, "It's a tough rap losing a great player like Johnny, but the offer he accepted is so good I could hardly advise him not to accept. He is 24 years old and the money he is going to get will be a fine nest egg for him." Meanwhile, officials of the Browns said they had no statement to make in regard to a rumor that John Harrington, Marquette end during the 1941 and 1942 seasons, had been signed also. The Chicago Cardinals of the National league selected Harrington in the draft a year ago. The National league meanwhile climaxed five days of schedule maneuvering Wednesday by adopting a 1946 playing chart, opening Sept. 22 and closing Dec. 8, with each club playing 11 games. The title playoff between the Eastern and Western divisional champions will be held in the home park of the Eastern winner on Dec. 15 unless sectional ties should set it back a week...FIVE AT HOME FOR BAYS: The New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions and Boston Yanks each will play six home games and five on the road. It will be five home and six away for the Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, Chicago Cardinals, Los Angeles (nee Cleveland) Rams and the Green Bay Packers. Leaning backward to avoid giving any information to the rival All-America conference, the club owners refused to divulge the sites and dates and even declined to disclose which teams will play each other. However, the schedule will return to the prewar scheme of home and home series for each team in its own division and three single outside games with the opposite geographical division. The moguls revealed that they probably will meet again in April, but set no definite date or site...SCHEDULE NOT DEFINITE: Bert Bell, newly-appointed commissioner of the league, asserted the chief reason for not revealing any more of the 1946 schedule is that the playing dates have not been definitely set and that they will be concluded at the meeting in April, probably in New York. As he adjourned the week-long annual meeting, Bell said he was going to ask every club owner to try to get jobs for every player who wants to live in the city in which he plays. He said the owners were more cooperative in this meeting than in any other he's attended in 13 years. That showed, in his estimation, that they were determined to fight the All-America conference all the way. As National league officials returned home from their week long conference a word battle threatened between Bell and the commissioner of the rival All-America circuit, Jim Crowley...HAD APPROACHED CROWLEY: Crowley started it by saying that Bell, named commissioner of the National league last Friday, had approached him only a month ago regarding establishment of an All-America franchise in Philadelphia. Bell, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, reportedly had a 10-year option on Philadelphia's Shibe park as a playing site. Bell, reached by the United Press at Philadelphia, said he had discussed the matter with Crowley there, but not at Bell's invitation. Bell did not indicate that he would be connected with the projected Philadelphia All-America club himself. He said Crowley told him that Gene Mori, head of the Garden State Race Track in Camden, N.J., would be in to see him later. When Mori came, five days later, Bell said he told him then that "in the best interests of professional football, as long as there is a National league team in Philadelphia, we cannot let the All-America into Shibe park."...WAS PROTECTIVE MANEUVER: This was an indication that Bell had obtained the option on the park merely as a protective maneuver to prevent any promoter from the rival league from gaining it. According to Bell, Mori sought the option which he had on the park, and which he still holds. Technically, he could oust his National league colleague, Alexis Thompson, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, from the park and install a team of his own. However, as commissioner, he is required to dispose of his Pittsburgh holdings and to terminate any other negotiations for franchises. Crowley told Gene Ward, New York Daily News sportswriter, that Bell had discussed an All-America franchise for Philadelphia shortly after Dan Topping bolted the National league to put an All-America team in the Yankee stadium here. "We were accepting bids for a 10th team," Crowley said. "I talked with syndicate representatives here in New York, then we met Bell in Philadelphia. There were further conferences, but a few days later I talked with Bell again and he told me they weren't ready to go. Later, of course, we pared the league down to eight teams."
PACKERS WILL LAUNCH 1946 SEASON AGAINST BAYS
JAN 18 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers will open their 11-game 1946 NFL season at City stadium Sept. 29 against the Chicago Bears and close the campaign against the Los Angeles Rams in the California city Dec. 8, Coach Curly Lambeau revealed today following his return from the annual session of the league in New York. The Green Bay coach had comments on several other matters of pro football. Somewhat tired by the most lengthy session in the league's 25-year history, Lambeau did not reveal the other playing dates and opponents for the Packers in 1946 except that they would meet each of the other four teams in the Western division twice and tangle also with three elevens from the Eastern section. Five of the Packers' contests will be at home and six on the road...SENDS OUT CONTRACTS: To prepare for such a schedule, Coach Lambeau said he would start today sending contracts to both old members of the squad and men recently drafted or drafted prior to this year and now available following their discharge from military service. He expressed disappointment that his first choice this year, halfback Johnny Strzykalski of Marquette, had signed with the Cleveland Browns of the new All-America conference. "Before I left for New York, I was told by a usually reliable source in Milwaukee that Strzykalski was not signed by any other club and would be available with the exception, perhaps, that he would return to Marquette for another year. We were absolutely willing to have him finish his schooling and competition and drafted him despite that. Between the time I left for the meeting (Jan. 9) and when I returned the Browns signed him up, although we were told he would sign with the Packers."...NO PLAYER SHORTAGE SEEN: But the coach took the matter philosophically enough, saying that "I am not much concerned about the so-called player shortage. There is plenty of material available.: Lambeau said he would sent out approximately 100 playing contracts. Generally speaking that much had been accomplished at the New York meeting, but he issued a warning. "During these times, pro football should do more thinking than talking," Lambeau emphasized, apparently referring to the multitudes of words that have been thrown about during the last several months about the battle between the National league and the new pro circuit. Apparently moguls at the annual session saw eye-to-eye with Lambeau on his assertion since they did not reveal their 1946 schedule nor the names of draftees...APPROVES CLEVELAND TRANSFER: The transfer of the champion Cleveland Rams to Los Angeles in a good move in Lambeau's opinion "especially if the Rams are assured use of the Coliseum", a stadium that holds upwards of 100,000 people, and is ideally constructed for football. Lambeau did not comment on the working agreement the Packers have with San Diego of the Pacific Coast conference nor did he offer any on the election of Bert Bell, part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, as commissioner of the league. He succeeds Elmer Layden, who resigned, when it became apparent that he could not muster sufficient voted for reelection to the job. Bell will sell his Steeler interests. The next meeting of the league is scheduled for late in April, either in Chicago or New York, where the league offices will be moved in the near future from Chicago, where they have been located since 1941.
BIG BILL LEE, STAN KRAMER SIGN PACKER CONTRACTS
JAN 23 (Green Bay) - Tackle Bill Lee, a veteran of eight campaigns in the NFL and later with the U.S. Navy, has signed a contract with the Packers for 1946, according to an announcement today by Coach Curly Lambeau. The Green Bay coach also said that he has signed end Stan Kramer, a Sturgeon Bay High school product and later with the Navy. The contracts were the first returned of a batch sent out late last week when Lambeau returned from the annual meeting of the NFL in New York. From now until the annual preseason practice sessions begin in August, the Packer squad of 1946 will be increased by the addition of a considerable number of both old and new men, it was indicated...STARTS WRESTLING TOUR: Lee, recognized as one of the best right tackles in the league when he entered the Navy in late 1942, has kept in touch with the grid game playing with several service elevens. He told Lambeau when he returned his contract that he was immediately embarking on a wrestling tour "to keep myself in shape and prepare for the 1946 season". The giant tackle - he weighs about 240 - was captain of the Alabama eleven in 1934, the team that went to the Rose Bowl and had an outstanding end named Don Hutson. Lee played two and a half seasons with the Brooklyn Dodgers before landing a berth on the Green Bay squad. He was an All-American tackle in college and played on the 1935 College All-Star team. Lambeau had this to say about the ex-Packers, one of the first to rejoin the squad after receiving a service discharge: "Bill is one of the smartest and best tackles the National league ever had," which is sufficient indication that the Green Bay coach will depend heavily on Lee's services in the right tackle spot during 1946...WAS ON SERVICE ELEVENS: Kramer, who graduated from Sturgeon Bay High school in 1939, went into the Navy shortly after and recently received his honorable discharge. He has played against many ex-National league stars in service and was recommended by two of them, Joe Stydahar and Wee Willie Wilkin. The Packers obtained Kramer although he received offers from Philadelphia, the Chicago Bears and New York Giants. The new left end is 6 feet 3 inches tall, 24 years old and weighs 220 pounds. He played with the famous Fleet City (Calif.) Navy team and later with the Navy-Honolulu All-Stars, who boasted such other grid greats as Steve Lach, Bob Morrow and Al Matusa. Kramer told Lambeau that he wanted to play with the Packers since Green Bay is near his home.
SMITH TO PLAY IN 1946-47; RAMS' DATES ANNOUNCED
JAN 24 (Green Bay) - Halfback Bruce Smith, one of Minnesota's all-time grid greats, will be with the Packers for the 1946 and 1947 seasons under terms of a two-year contract he signed with the club some time ago, Coach Curly Lambeau explained today. Some question about Smith's status came up among football fans when it was announced Wednesday that tackle Bill Lee and end Stan Kramer, a newcomer, had signed, the Green Bay coach said. Meanwhile, it was announced in Los Angeles that the six NFL team which will meet the Los Angeles Rams in their new home-to-be, Memorial Coliseum, will be the Packers, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Chicago Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Lambeau had previously said here that the Packers would play the Rams in the season finale Dec. 8...WON MANY HONORS: Winner of the Heisman trophy and numerous other awards plus positions on virtually every All-America team in 1941, Smith joined the Packers in midseason of 1945 and saw action in several games after recovering from an injury he sustained in his first appearance with the Bays. He is a left halfback and a hard runner. Smith, who was a flying officer in the Naval Air corps, had signed a two-year contract with the Bays last January. The contract called for him to play two seasons with the Bays but since he joined the club late there was some question about whether 1945 should be considered a full season, the Packer coach said. Consequently, to eliminate any difficulty Smith signed another contract calling for his services during 1946 and 1947, Lambeau said, adding that the ex-Minnesota ace had been approached by an All-American club when the team made its eastern swing last fall but that he had turned down the offer. He said he preferred to stay with the Packers, and expressed the viewpoint to Coach Lambeau...EXHIBITION OPENS SEASON: The champion Rams and the Redskins, National pro league 1945 finalists, will meet in an exhibition Sept. 8, with the others coming for regular season games, Charles F. (Chile) Walsh, Rams' general manager, said Wednesday night in Los Angeles. The Rams' Sunday dates in the 103,000-capacity bowl are Sept. 29, Oct. 20, Nov. 10, Nov. 17 and Dec. 8, but Walsh said opponents will not be matched with dates until the league's schedule meeting in April. Walsh declared the Rams had not asked for the exclusion of other local pro teams from the Coliseum. Members of the Coliseum commission, who will formally award contracts next Tuesday, apparently have taken no action on the applications of the Los Angeles All-American franchise and the Hollywood Bears...ADMITS RAMS SET: But Commissioner Chairman Leonard J. Roach, who has virtually admitted the Rams will be tendered a three-year contract along with USC and UCLA, said: "Apparently the All-America team will not play any games in the Coliseum next fall. The commission has not received a formal, written application from the All-America club. They have asked for consideration but not specific dates, nor has money been discussed."
PACKERS HAVE 192 ON PLAYER RESERVED LIST
JAN 25 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers had a reserve list of 192 football players and while it is anticipated that salaries for the 1946 season will be somewhat higher than previously, the organization will not "go so far out of line so as to endanger" football's continuance here, Coach Curly Lambeau said today. "I don't foresee any player shortage during 1946," the coach said, adding that numerous football fans in this vicinity had approached him about prospects for next season, when the Bays will play an 11-game schedule in the NFL. Besides talking about player prospects, Lambeau also gave more detail on the recent hook-up with San Diego of the Pacific Coast league...HIGH SALARIES PAID: Stressing that "we have always wanted boys who played football for love of the game and not only for what they could get out of it," Lambeau also gave more detail "no other club in the National league has paid higher salaries than ours." He contrasted this with the early days of pro football here when net receipts were divided among players at the end of the season. "In the early days," he said, "we couldn't afford to pay high salaries and we didn't. During 1929, the first championship year, saw the picture change a little and we were able to pay more after that. We want to continue this practice. However, we won't go our so far out of line so as to endanger the club." The Packer coach admitted the possibility that several players may be lost to the new All-America conference "because they want to get all they can out of the game." He added, however, that "the prospects now are that we should have a good team next season and I don't see any player shortage at all." A misunderstanding has arisen among some as to the effect of a recent NFL ruling that those signing with the All-America would be barred from the established league for five years. Lambeau said that the regulation covers only those players who actually play with an All-America club and does not include those who may sign contracts with teams in the new league but never play in it...PLAY GOOD FOOTBALL: He said the Packers have been fortunate so far in that no player has yet signed with the other league. Further details on the agreement between Green Bay and San Diego will be worked out when Lambeau confers with Don Smith, president and general manager of the Coast league team, in the near future. Present plans call for the San Diego coach to be selected by the Packers so that the Green Bay system can be installed here. "We made an arrangement with San Diego because they play good football out there and probably will continue their season about a month after ours is finished," Lambeau said. Players who show further need for seasoning will be sent to the coast and gridders showing promise there will be added to the Packer squad. He said this arrangement will eliminate outright releasing of men here who could be developed, a measure now not possible. Salaries for San Diego players will be somewhat smaller than those paid here. However, the Packers have agreed to make up whatever difference exists between what a player was receiving here and what he would get on the coast, Lambeau said. The Coast league is one of three minor circuits which recently tied up with the National circuit.
MEAD TO PLAY WITH GIANTS
JAN 26 (Madison) - Jack Mead, end on the 1944 and 1945 Wisconsin football teams, has signed to play this fall for the New York Giants. Mead signed after being contacted several days ago by Richard (Red) Smith, line coach of the Giants. Tommy Farris, recently discharged from the Coast Guard, is taking work at the University and has not yet decided on what he will do this fall. Farris, Wisconsin quarterback in 1939-40-41, was field general of the college all-star team that drubbed the Washington Redskins, 28-7, in 1943. The Green Bay Packers took Farris in the NFL draft, but at least two teams in the new All-America conference have made advances to the vicious blocking ex-Badger. In addition, he is considering going into coaching immediately.
PACKERS SIGN PASSING STAR
JAN 28 (Green Bay) - The number of Packers who have signed contracts for the 1946 season rose to four today with the announcement that Jim Richardson, a former Marquette star, had come to terms. Coach Curly Lambeau, en route to the west coast, met Richardson in Chicago Saturday and signed him up. Richardson led all college football passers in the country in 1941, when he set a record by completing 637 of his passes as Marquette quarterback. He played for Marquette in 1939-40-41 and was inducted into the Marine corps shortly after. He is a lieutenant and expects to be discharged about March 1. In addition to his genius as a passer, Richardson also was a fine broken field runner. He probably will be used in the left halfback spot here. A graduate of Boys' Tech in Milwaukee, "Richardson is a natural passer and we have not had a natural passer since Cecil Isbell," Lambeau said. Lambeau expects to spend several weeks on the west coast contacting players either on the Green Bay draft list or others who were not drafted but who showed promise on college squads. The Packer coach will also complete a formal agreement with the San Diego club of the Pacific Coast league, recently made a Green Bay farm club.
ANDY URAM IS CITY VISITOR
JAN 28 (Green Bay) - Sp. 1/c Andy Uram, former star halfback of the Packers, visiting friends in the city, said today that he is undecided about his future as far as football is concerned. He was discharged from the Navy in December at Shoemaker, Calif., where he played with the undefeated Fleet City eleven last season. Andy went into service in April, 1943, and has been stationed at Camp Perry, Va., where he played on the service team, Bainbridge, Md., Pearl Harbor and Shoemaker. He joined the Fleet City team in midseason last year and played right halfback in eight of the team's 14 games, all of them victories. During five seasons with the Packers, Uram scored 99 points on 16 touchdowns and a point after touchdown. He is 10th on the team's all-time scoring list. He still holds the NFL record for the longest run from scrimmage, a 97-yard gallop for a touchdown he made against the Chicago Cardinals on Oct. 8, 1939. Uram was accompanied here by his wife. They have a daughter, Sally, 5 1/2, attending kindergarten in Minneapolis.
MORRIS SIGNS CONTRACT FOR 1946 SEASON
JAN 29 (Green Bay) - Joe Morris, a guard from North Texas Teachers college, has signed a 1946 Packer contract, according to an announcement today from the office of Coach Curly Lambeau. Morris is the first guard signed for the coming season and the fifth player announced as having signed. A native of Houston, Tex., Morris was recommended for a tryout here by Herman Rohrig, ex-Packer blocking back who saw brief service with the club here last fall while on leave. Rohrig played with Morris at Kenton Field in New Orleans during the 1943-44 season and figures he is of professional career. A three-sports star at North Texas Teachers, Morris is 25 years old, 6 feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. He graduated from the Texas college in 1942 and went into service immediately after. His ability as a lineman on the Kenton Field team won Morris a second place mention on the All-Army elevens both seasons he played. Indications were today that other prospects will come to terms in the near future assuring an adequate squad when practice opens in early August.
TWO GRID LEAGUES IN PLAYER SIGNING RUSH
JAN 30 (Chicago) - Signing of a flock of players by teams in the National and All-America Football leagues marked announcements today from widely scattered points throughout the nation. Of special interest to Packer fans was a Chicago report that Tony Canadeo, former star halfback, was considering two coaching offers and that halfback Johnny Strzykalski, No. 1 choice of the Bays in this year's draft, has been signed by San Francisco. Canadeo, former Gonzaga university star, has been discharged from the Army. He said he was considering two coaching offers at present, but otherwise he did not indicate whether he intended to leave the Packer organization. Coach Lawrence T. (Buck) Shaw, of the All-America San Francisco 49ers, announced the signing of Strzykalski, former Marquette university back, and Joe Vetrano, one-time Mississippi Southern back. The addition of the two backfield 49ers brought the San Francisco roster to 26 signed players...PLAYED IN SERVICE: Strzykalski, who would have had two years of eligibility remaining had he returned to Marquette, and Vetrano played together on the Army's Fourth Air Force team while they were in the service. Early in January, the Cleveland Browns of the All-America league reported Strzykalski had agreed to play with the Browns. Shaw said Strzykalski had been signed by Cleveland in error and before Commissioner Crowley found him to be on the 49ers reserved list. Shaw said the 49ers protested Shaw said San Francisco protested and the Cleveland contract was nullified, opening the way for Strzykalski to join the West coast eleven. Chicago's three professional football teams apparently are not having much trouble getting both veteran and rookie players to sign contracts. Lt. Ray Bray and Lt. Ed Kolman, both linemen with the pre-war Bears of the NFL, signed Tuesday and said they had expected to be discharged by the Navy this summer.
FORTE, ARKANSAS BACK, SIGNED BY BAY ELEVEN FOR '46 SEASON
JAN 31 (Green Bay) - Robert Forte, a 200 pound back from the University of Arkansas, has signed a contract with the Packers for the 1946 season, it was announced today. He is the sixth gridders to come to terms with the club. An all-Southwestern conference back during the 1942 season, Forte can double at fullback or left halfback, according to scout reports turned into the team's headquarters. He is 6 feet 1 inch tall and is 25 years old. Described as a good passer and a better than average runner, Forte is now a lieutenant in the Army but he expects to be discharged by June. He is now stationed at Camp Campbell, Ky. His home is Waterproof, La.
CANADEO IS HOME
JAN 30 (Chicago) - Tony Canadeo, former star halfback of the Green Bay Packers and Gonzaga university, has been discharged from the army and is at his Chicago home. He said he was considering two coaching offers at present, but otherwise did not indicate whether he intended to leave the Packer organization.
PACKERS GET EXCLUSIVE FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT FOR USE OF STATE FAIR PARK FOR GRID TILTS
FEB 2 (Green Bay) - An exclusive five-year contract giving the Green Bay Packers use of State Fair park in suburban Milwaukee for football games was completed today with signing of the contract by fair park director, Ralph E. Ammon, according to an announcement by President L.H. Joannes. Negotiations for exclusive use of the park for football have been going on for some time, Joannes said, and an informal agreement had been reached just recently. Ammon signed the contract when he returned from a trip to Washington. The fair park director told the Press-Gazette he would return the contract to team officials immediately. The state fair park management recently purchased 13,000 bleacher seats from the University of Chicago, increasing the capacity of the park for football to about 34,000. The bleachers will be placed on the east side of the field opposite the grandstand, Ammon said. Those formerly used there will be moved into the end zone. Work of erecting the bleachers will begin in June, Ammon said. The park will be used for two of the Packers' National league games next year with three others classified as "home games" to be played at City stadium, including the season opener against the Chicago Bears on Sept. 29. The sites of other games and opponents on the home schedule will not be released until later, probably after the April meeting
PACKERS TO PLAY GIANTS IN CHARITY TILT SEPT 20
FEB 2 (New York) - Because of a dearth of graduating college football players, the Green Bay Packers Saturday were substituted for the College All-Stars in the annual New York Herald Tribune fresh air fund game to be played against the New York Giants here September 20. It will be the only New York appearance of the Packers next season. The game will be played at night and will mark the first appearance of Frank Filchock, ace passer, in a Giant
uniform.
ODSON SIGNS BAY CONTRACT FOR 1946
FEB 2 (Green Bay) - Two announcements of significance marked today's news from headquarters of the Green Bay Packers. The first was that Urban Odson, one of the
greatest tackles in Minnesota football history, has signed a Packer contract for the 1946 season. The second said that the Packers and the New York Giants will meet at the Polo Grounds in New York next Sept. 20 in a charity contest sponsored by a New York newspaper. A 240-pound, 6 foot 4 inch giant who played right tackle on famous Gopher powerhouses of pre-war years, Odson was the Packers' No. 1 draft choice in 1941, shortly before his graduation from college. Immediately after leaving school he was inducted into the Navy, precluding his chance to join the Bays. He just recently received an honorable discharge...ALL-AMERICAN TWO SEASONS: An All-American choice for his play during the 1939 and 1940 seasons at Minnesota, Odson was later named to All-Service teams for the 1941, 42, 43 seasons, when he played for the Bluejackets. Other members of the teams were halfback Bruce Smith, who has signed a two-year contract with the Bays, and end Carl Mulleneaux. Odson was also on sea duty two years. Odson also played with Smith at Minnesota and was likewise a teammate of guard Bill Kuusisto and halfback Hal Van Every of the Packers. Another player on those famous elevens which ran up a string of victories numbering near 20 was tackle Dick Wildung, the Packers' No. 1 draft choice in 1942. Wildung has also been unavailable because of Army service...NEGOTIATIONS BY LAMBEAU: Negotiations to get Odson under contract were conducted by Coach Curly Lambeau shortly before he left for the West coast. At that time, the Green Bay coach described Odson as "one of the greatest pro football tackle prospects in years," adding that he should help greatly to bolster the Packer forward wall. He is now 25 years old and thus should be available for several seasons. His home is in Raymond, S.D. For this year only, the Packer-Giant exhibition will replace the annual Eastern All-Star game between the Giants and a squad selected from graduating members of eastern college teams. Sponsors of the game, played for the benefit of the New York Tribune fresh air fund, said the Packers were substituted "because it is impossible this year to recruit from graduating classes in the east enough first class football players to give the Giants a battle." It will be the only New York appearance of the Packers in 1946, unless the two teams should meet in the league playoff. In their 25 previous meetings, the Packers have won 13, lost 11 and tied one...SEVEN ANNOUNCED SIGNED: Announcement that Odson had signed brings the number of players revealed as being under contract to seven. According to figures released by National league publicist George Strickler in Chicago on Thursday, the Packers have 15 old players under contract and 18 newcomers.
ALL-AMERICA FAT PURSES TEMPTING PACKER TRIO
FEB 5 (Green Bay) - The long green from the fat purses of the All-America league magnates has been dangled temptingly in front of many a NFL player but, as of today, not a member of the Green Bay Packer squad has succumbed to the lure. While other National league clubs have suffered raids, the Packers seemingly have been impervious. But they not gone untempted. Two Packer players, Charles (Chuck) Tollefson and Tony Canadeo admitted today they had been "approached". Rumors about other potential job-hopping Packers have been rampant. Tollefson, 215 pound guard from Iowa, said the Miami club of the All-America circuit was "dickering" for his services. He said the offers "sound all right" but emphasized he was only "considering". Canadeo, a left halfback, is very popular with the All-America crowd. New York, Chicago and Miami have been after him, he said. "All their offers were good," Canadeo stated. "But I haven't talked turkey yet." The money boys from the All-America loop also have been reported reliably to have had words with Irv Comp, the Bays' ace passer; Milburn (Tiny) Croft, 290 pounds of tackle; and a pair of nifty ends, Clyde Goodnight and Nolan Luhn, both formerly of the University of Tulsa. None of them have signed - yet - but Coach E.L. (Curly) Lambeau is now in Hollywood and Packer fans say it's not the California climate that is making him warm.
TACKLE TINY MCLAUGHLIN SIGNS CONTRACT FOR 1946 PACKER TEAM
FEB 5 (Green Bay) - Robert (Tiny) McLaughlin, former Clintonville High school and St. Norbert college tackle, today signed a Green Bay Packers contract for the 1946 seasons, according to an announcement from club headquarters. He is the eighth player the club has announced he signed. The ex-St. Norbert player was recommended for a tryout here by two ex-Packers, Coach August (Mike) Michalske, who tutored McLaughlin when he was line coach of the Knights for two seasons, and Bernard Darling, ex-Bay center. Both reported to Coach Curly Lambeau that they felt McLaughlin has major league ability...PLAYED THREE YEARS: McLaughlin is 26 years old, weighs 212 pounds and is 6 feet 4 inches tall. He played varsity football at St. Norbert for three years following a year at Marquette, where he was a member of the freshman team. He was a member of the St. Norbert squad that won seven games and tied one in the 1941 season, the best small college record in the state that year. The Clintonville product plays right tackle on defense and left tackle on offense. He is extremely fast for a big man and kept in touch with football during several years in the Army playing with service teams in various sections of the country. He was honorably discharged late last year. He is residing in Green Bay while doing railroad work.
CENTER BUDDY GATEWOOD SIGNS 1946 BAY CONTRACT
FEB 7 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers today had signed another outstanding linemen for the 1946 squad. An announcement from club headquarters here said that Lester (Buddy) Gatewood , an All-American center in 1942, had come to terms. He is the ninth player announced as having signed. The Packers' sixth choicer in the 1942 NFL draft, Gatewood is a graduate of Baylor university in Texas, where he played with tackle Bubo Barnett, who toiled with the Bays during the 1945 season. He is 6 feet tall and weighs 215 pounds. His home is Houston, Tex. He is 25 years old. Star of the Baylor front line three years, Gatewood was chosen All-Southwest center in 1941-42 and named to several All-American teams in 1942. Shortly after his graduation from the Texas school, he was inducted into the Navy and spent two years in the V-12 Navy program at Tulane university in New Orleans...PLAYED AT TULANE: He played a season with Tulane and was named All-South center in 1943. Shortly before the 1945 grid season opened, Gatewood was transferred to Oceanside, Calif., where he was regular center on the undefeated Fleet City eleven that went through 14 games without setback. At Fleet city he played with halfback Andy Uram, who joined the squad during the last half of the season. Other members of the powerful Fleet City team were Harry Hopp of the Detroit Lions, Bruiser Kinard of the old Brooklyn Tigers, Ed Kalmen of the Chicago Bears, Lou Zontini of the Cleveland Rams. Ability sufficient to play with such professional stars indicates that Gatewood will fit readily into the Green Bay scheme for the next title campaign...SECOND STAR LINEMAN: Gatewood is the second player of national fame to join the Packers within the last week. The other was tackle Urban Odson of Minnesota, the Bays' No. 1 draft choice in 1941.
CLEMSON BLOCKING BACK SIGNS WITH GREEN BAY
FEB 13 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers announced the signing yesterday of Jim Hough, a blocking back at Clemson University for the last three seasons, to a 1946 Packer contract. He was chosen by the Green Bay club in the NFL draft. Hough, who will graduate from Clemson in June, is 23 years old, six feet tall and weighs 200 pounds. His home is at Kershaw, S.C.
PACKERS SIGN HAND, IOWA CENTER AND WAR VET
FEB 14 (Green Bay) - Tom Hand, former University of Iowa center and guard and a veteran of 22 months overseas with the Marine corps, has signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers for the 1946 season, according to an announcement today from club headquarters. Hand is the 11th gridder announced as having signed for the next campaign. The former Hawkeye gridder was No. 11 on the Packer draft this year and is regarded highly by Coach Curly Lambeau. He is now attending Iowa, where with a major in physical education. He expects to graduate in June. His education was interrupted when he was inducted into the Marine corps. He served on the aircraft carrier Bunker Hill, and following overseas service was given an honorable discharge last September. He is 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 210 pound and is 24 year old. While at Iowa he was a teammate of Packer guard Charles Tollefson, a standout on the famous "Iron Men" team of Dr. Eddie Anderson. Hand, a native of Emmetsburg, Ia., where he will be married late this month, played on the College All-Star squad of 1943. The All-Stars ran roughshod over the champion Washington Redskins, 27 to 7. He is the seventh linemen to come to terms for the 1946 season. Four halfbacks are under contract.
HERMAN ROHRIG SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BAYS
FEB 19 (Green Bay) - Herman Rohrig, a halfback on the 1941 team and who returned briefly last season while on leave from the Army Air corps to play against the Chicago All-Stars, has been discharged for service and has signed a 1946 contract with the Packers, it was announced today. He is the 12th gridder to sign for the 1946 campaign. An ex-Nebraska star, Rohrig left service with the rank of captain and is now at his home in Lincoln, Neb. He played three seasons with the Cornhuskers and was a member of their 1940 Rose Bowl team. After seeing action with the College All-Stars against the Chicago Bears, he joined the Packers for the 1941 season...CONTINUED ON GRIDIRON: Inducted into the armed forces shortly after 1941, Rohrig kept active in football. He played with the Army All-Stars in 1942, the Kessler Field eleven in 1943 and 1944, and the Air Forces Training command team at Fort Worth, Tex., last season. He was named to the 1945 All-American All-Service team for his play last fall. Rohrig is 5 feet 9 inches tall, weighs 198 pounds and will be 28 years old on March 19. Taking advantage of a leave last August, Rohrig joined the Packer squad drilling here for the All-Star game. In the first quarter, following a fumble recovery by the Packers on the All-Stars' 20-yard line, he pitched a touchdown pass to halfback Roy McKay for the first score against the highly talented college squad. The Packers won, 19-7...SCORED FOUR POINTS: During the 1941 season, Rohrig kicked one field goal and one point after touchdown, his total in the Packers' all-time scoring list. He is the second former Packer to return to the team after release from service. The other is tackle Bill Lee, who served several years in the United States Navy.
CLYDE GOODNIGHT SIGNS UP WITH PACKERS FOR 1946 GRID SEASON
FEB 21 (Green Bay) - End Clyde Goodnight, one of the brightest rookies in the professional football ranks last season, has signed a 1946 contract with the Green Bay Packers, it was announced today. He is No. 13 on this
year's Bay roster and the second veteran lineman to come to terms for the next campaign. Announcement that he has signed squelched rumors that he might transfer to the All-America conference. It was known that he had received several offers from the new pro league, interested in the ex-Tulsa All-American because of the promise he showed in his first season with the Packers. Goodnight is a left end and alternated that post last year with Asst. Coach Don Hutson, frequently starting games in place of Hutson. The latter, incidentally, spent extra time coaching the Tulsa youngster (he's 21 years old) in the pass receiving department. Goodnight, like Hutson, is blessed with tremendous speed...HIGHLY REGARDED BY COACH: Similarity between the playing styles of the two was often mentioned by Coach Curly Lambeau during practice last year. On one occasion Lambeau said, "Goodnight is the closest thing to Hutson that has come into the league for several years." The coach thought enough of his ability to use him for a considerable length of time in the All-Star game. Although he was offensive ability, Goodnight's principal value during 1945 was on defense. On several occasions he dropped opposing ball carriers for big losses. He is one of the few National leagues players ever to get credit for scoring a safety, which occurred when he tackles a Detroit halfback in the end zone in a game at Milwaukee. He also scored three touchdowns for a first-year total of 20 points. Goodnight was No. 2 on the Green Bay draft list in 1945 and played three years at Tulsa on teams that went on succeeding years to the Sugar, Orange and Sun Bowls. The right end on two of those teams was Nolan Luhn, who also showed promise of stardom in the professional league in his first year here in 1945. Luhn has not, as yet, signed for the coming season...TAKING ADVANCED STUDIES: A native of Holland, Tex., Goodnight graduated from Tulsa last May with a bachelor's degree in zoology and he is now taking advanced study at the university. He weighs 190 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. He was in the Army seven months before receiving an honorable discharge. Invited to play with the College All-Stars against the Packers last season, Goodnight turned down the invitation and had the pleasure of aiding the Bay eleven to a 19-7 victory over the collegians.
GUARD RUSS LETLOW TO REJOIN PACKERS IN 1946 SEASON
FEB 23 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers today could put a complete football team on the field. This was made possible through the signing of veteran guard Russ Letlow, who left the squad after the 1942 season to enter the armed forces and recently received his honorable discharge. Announcement that Letlow had signed was made today and put the Packer roster for 1946 upon to 14 men with at least two prospects for each position. One of three veteran linemen signed to date, Letlow is the second guard to come to terms. The roster now includes five backs, two centers, two guards, three tackles and two ends. Of the group, however, most are newcomers who will have their first taste of professional football during the 1946 campaign, if they can make the steep grade during sessions leading up to the first game...OFFERS FROM NEW LEAGUE: Letlow, a veteran of seven campaigns in the NFL and all of them with the Packers, was being tailed by several of the teams in the new All-America conference but he turned down all offers, explaining to Coach Curly Lambeau that "I cannot see myself playing football for anybody but the Packers in the National league." A member of the championship teams of 1936, his first year in professional football, 1939 and the division champs in 1938, Letlow was inducted into the Navy after the 1942 season. He continued playing football while at Great Lakes, Bainbridge, Md., and in Honolulu, where he was a member of the Service All-Stars. During his play with service teams, he perfected his ability as a field goal kicker, an art which should aid the Bays during the 1946 season. He was named to several All-America All-Service teams and played with several other Packers on them, including halfbacks Andy Uram and Bruce Smith, and end Carl Mulleneaux...PLAYED AT SAN FRANCISCO: Now living in Milwaukee, where he is employed, Letlow weighs about 225, is 6 feet tall and is 32 years old. He came to the Packers following four years with the University of San Francisco. After completing arrangements with Lambeau to rejoin the team, he told the coach that he would begin immediately to get in top shape for the 1946 race.
WILDER COLLINS SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BAY SQUAD
FEB 26 (Green Bay) - Wilder (Toby) Collins, regular right guard on the Tulsa university football team for three years and a star in two other sports as well, has signed a 1946 Green Bay Packer contract, it was announced today. Collins is the 15th player announced as having signed for the next Packer season. A teammate of ends Clyde Goodnight, who recently singed for 1946, and Nolan Luhn on the Tulsa Orange Bowl team of 1945, Collins was chosen sixth by the Packers in the 1945 NFL draft. He did not join the squad last season, however, because he wished to return to school and finish his education. He played with Tulsa in 1945...PLAYS TWO POSITIONS: Collins can play either guard or right tackle and has the weight for either line spot. He stands 6 feet 3 inches and tips the beams at 250 pounds. He is 25 years old. Although he is big, he can sprint the 100-yard distance in :11.1, according to reports received from talent scouts of the Packers. A native of Coffeyville, Kan., the new recruit attended Coffeyville Junior college before entering Tulsa in 1944 to study medicine. Prior to going to the Oklahoma university, he spent 16 months in the Army Medical corps and was given a medical discharge. While at Tulsa he won three major football letters, and two each in basketball and track...PLAYED IN OIL BOWL: His last intercollegiate grid play was with Tulsa in the Jan. 1 Oil Bowl contest, which Georgia won by a 20-6 count mainly through the efforts of halfback Charley Trippi, who counted two touchdowns late in the game, which stood 7-6 at halftime.
TACKLE BUBO BARNETT RETURNS SIGNED 1946 PACKER CONTRACT
FEB 28 (Green Bay) - Tackle Solon (Bubo) Barnett today was the second veteran of the 1945 Green Bay Packers to return his signed contract for the 1946 season. Sixteenth on the Packers' roster for the next NFL championship race, Barnett is the 11th lineman under contract and the fourth with professional gridiron experience. A graduate of Baylor university in Texas, Barnett joined the team after the start of the 1945 season but came along rapidly and was used frequently at tackle in the last several games. He is 6 feet 1 inch tall and weighs slightly more than 225 pounds. While at Baylor he was a teammate of center Buddy Gatewood, one of the Packers' crop of rookies for 1946, and an All-American product while at the Texas school...SECOND VETERAN TACKLE: Barnett is the second veteran tackle to come to terms. The other is Bill Lee, who will rejoin the team following Navy service since shortly after the 1942 season. The only other lineman of 1945 to return his contract is end Clyde Goodnight, the former Tulsa star who spurned several attractive offers from the new All-America conference to return here for his second season...RETURNED FROM SERVICE: All of the linemen and backs signed for 1946 have seen service in the armed forces. Barnett served in the Marine corps from July, 1943 until last year, when he was given an honorable discharge.
PACKER STAR'S CHILD SERIOUS BURNED
MAR 6 (Green Bay) - Sally Laws, 5-year old daughter of Joe Laws, veteran backfield star of the Green Bay Packers, was in a serious condition at St. Mary's hospital today suffering from first and second degree burns inflicted Monday when her clothes caught fire apparently while she was playing with matches. Mrs. Laws, who was working in the basement, heard screams and rushed upstairs to find her daughter's clothing aflame. She beat out the flames. The child suffered burns about the abdomen, the upper part of her legs and the hands. Laws said one of his pipes was found near the child. The Laws' have three other children.
END NOLAN LUHN ON ROSTER FOR PACKERS
MAR 9 (Green Bay) - End Nolan Luhn, who came to the Packers somewhat unheralded in 1945 and turned into one of the best defensive ends in the NFL during his rookie year, has returned his signed contract to the Green Bay Packers for the 1946 season, it was announced today. In addition, the Packers have signed a recruit, guard Jug Bennett of Hardin-Simmons. News that Luhn had returned his contract from his home in Kenney, Tex., boosted the Packer 1946 stock considerably. The lanky wingman, who many Packer observers, have likened to Lavvie Dilweg, all-time Green Bay great, started practically all of the 1945 league games and is being given plentiful consideration in Coach Curly Lambeau's 1946 plans...SHOWED OFFENSIVE PROMISE: Although he scored only a single touchdown last season, Luhn showed promise offensively although he showed greater quality as a end on defense in his rookie year. His return was matched recently by end Clyde Goodnight's agreement to terms for 1946. The two were regular ends at Tulsa university and joined the Green Bay eleven last fall together to continue their partnership. Picked No. 23 on the Packers' 1945 draft list, Luhn finished his competition at Tulsa in the Orange Bowl game Jan. 1, 1945. He had played the previous New Years' day with the Oklahoma team in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans. He went to Tulsa from Kilgore, Tex., college, where he was an all-state end for two years. Luhn graduated from Tulsa with a bachelor of arts degree in physical education last May. He was also a basketball star at Tulsa, where he played center and was captain of the 1944-45 quintet. He weighs 200 pounds, is 6 feet 3 inches tall and 25 years old. Last year he received an invitation to play against the Packers in the College All-Star game but turned down the bid to report here...ROSTER HAS 18 PLAYERS: The signing of Luhn and Bennett brings the Packers' roster for 1946 to 18 men. Bennett, whose home is Graham, Tex., was recently discharged from the Army. He had planned to report here last fall but was prevented from doing so because of the serious illness of his father. He was the 21st choice of the Packers in the 1942 player draft.
ANDY KOSMAC SIGNS WITH BAYS TO BOOST ROSTER TO 19 MEN
MAR 13 (Green Bay) - The 1946 roster of the Green Bay Packers reached 19 today with the announcement that Andrew J. (Andy) Kosmac, a center and blocking back, had returned his signed contract. He is the third center added to the roster and the 14th lineman, all but five of whom are rookies and will be getting their first taste of professional football. Five backs are also signed. Kosmac is a veteran of 20 months service in the U.S. Marine corps. He returned to Louisiana State university to resume his education after receiving a medical discharge last year, and promptly was named captain of the 1945 LSU team. He played two years as a blocking back and then was shifted to center. He is rugged and fast for his size. A native of Pennsylvania, Kosmac is 25 years old, weighs 210 pounds distributed over a 6 foot 1 inch frame. He will finish his education at LSU this spring with a bachelor of science degree in agriculture. The 1946 roster now has three centers, four guards, four tackle and three ends.
ACE PRESCOTT, HARDIN-SIMMONS FLASH, JOINS PACKERS
MAR 16 (Green Bay) - Harold (Ace) Prescott, one of the all-time great ends turned out at Hardin-Simmons university in Texas, has signed a 1946 Green Bay Packer contract to at last get the chance he has been waiting for since he was drafted by the Bays late in 1942. He is No. 20 on the roster for next season and the fourth wingman under contract. One of the top choices of Coach Curly Lambeau in the player draft, Prescott was unable to join the team for the 1943 season because of his imminent induction into the armed forces. During the 1942-43 season at Hardin-Simmons, he won letters in basketball, football and track and captained the grid squad...PLAYED IN SUN BOWL: On Jan. 1, 1943, he played in the annual Sun Bowl game and for his play was named the outstanding lineman for that contest. One of his opponents in the New Year's day fracas was halfback Hal Van Every, then playing with the Second Air Force squad of Seattle. Prescott is 26 years old, weighs 210 pounds and is 6 feet 2 inches tall. One of his teammates at Hardin-Simmons was guard Jug Bennett,
who recently signed with the Packers for the 1946 season. In service for 30 months, Prescott recently was discharged on points following service with a tank destroyer division in Africa, Italy and France. His home is Phoenix, Ariz., where he was voted, in his senior year, as the gridder most likely to follow in the footsteps of another Phoenix Union High school great, end Carl Mulleneaux, a Packer veteran. Prescott plans to return to Hardin-Simmons to study for a master's degree.
CROWLEY SEES A TRUCE - AND A FOOTBALL SERIES
MAR 20 (Cleveland) - James (Sleepy Jim) Crowley, commissioner of the new All-America Football conference, predicted Wednesday that the NFL would eventually "declare a truce" and permit its champions to play a pro gridiron "world series" with the champions of the new league. "I believe that all the National league is waiting for is to see how we draw at the gate," he added. "As for that, I believe the Cleveland Browns, for instance, will attract more fans in their opening game than the National league ever drew here in the history of its organization." Crowley said nearly 100 former National league players had signed with the new league but declared the All-America conference did not encourage "contract jumping". He asserted the suit threatened by the Detroit Lions against the All-America New York Yankees for the signing of Frankie Sinkwich was "mere ballyhoo". The Yankees signed the former Georgia star "only after the advice of attorneys," said Crowley, "and I am sure the Lions have no legal hold on Sinkwich."
COMP SPURNS BIDS BY NEW GRID LOOP; TO PLAY WITH BAYS
MAR 22 (Green Bay) - Halfback Irv Comp, veteran of three seasons with the Green Bay Packers, told newsmen in Milwaukee Thursday that he has rejected several offers from the clubs in the new All-America league and will be back with the Packers with the 1946 season. Comp said that he would sign a contract with the Bays. Top passer of the Packers since he joined the club in 1943, Comp said he had accepted terms after a telephone conversation with Coach Curly Lambeau, now in California. Comp also reported that Lambeau had said the Packers had a chance to sign Dick Todd of the Washington Redskins, according to the Associated Press. It was known here that Comp had been contacted by the Chicago Rockets of the new professional grid league along with several other members of last year's eleven. Practically all of the contact work had been done by Ernie Nevers, ex-National league star and now an assistant coach on the Rockets' staff under head coach Dick Hanley.
CARL MULLENEAUX IS 21ST ON BAY ROSTER
MAR 23 (Green Bay) - End Carl Mulleneaux, who rejoined the Green Bay Packers last season after a three-year stretch in the United States Navy, has returned his signed contract for the 1946 season, according to an announcement today. He is No. 21 on the roster for next season and and the sixth veteran lineman to come to terms. The big end who joined the Bays after a brilliant career at Utah State had some difficulty getting into shape last season. He also sustained a leg injury shortly after reporting for drills which kept him from making the preseason swing with the club. He was contacted on the west coast by Coach Curly Lambeau recently and is anxious to report for the 1946 campaign when he figures he can regain his old form. Mulleneaux is 6 feet 3 inches tall, weighs 210 pounds and will be 29 years old April 1. He joined the team in 1938 and played through the 1941 season after which he was inducted into the Navy. He played with the Great Lakes Bluejackets and several other service teams prior to his discharge last year. While with the Packers, Mulleneaux scored 13 touchdowns on passes, putting him 14th on the all-time scoring list with 78 points. He is the second veteran right end to return for 1946. The other is Nolan Luhn, who probably will regain his starting position with Mulleneaux used principally in relief roles.
SPARLIS, VET UCLA GUARDS JOINS PACKERS
MAR 26 (Green Bay) - Guard Al Sparlis, a veteran of three years with the University of California at Los Angeles, has signed a 1946 Green Bay Packer contract, according to an announcement today. He is the fourth rookie guard on this year's roster and the 22nd player under contract for the 28th Packer team. Coach Curly Lambeau signed Sparlis in Los Angeles the other day and one of the witnesses happened to be a comparative youngster who had made quite a name for himself in the NFL last season. His name is Bob Waterfield, who was named the league's most valuable player for his work during his first season with the Cleveland, now Los Angeles, Rams...WATERFIELD IN ASIDE: Waterfield, an acquaintance of Sparlis through their play on the UCLA eleven, had hopes that the Uclan guard might be enabled to join the Rams. In an aside to Sparlis before he affixed his signature to the Green Bay contract, Waterfield said, "If Curly ever gets generous maybe he'll trade you to the Rams and we play some more football together." It is unlikely, however, that this will come to pass because Lambeau drafted Sparlis last January following scout reports that reported the UCLA lineman as among the best in the Pacific coast conference. He is aggressive and fast. Now 22 years old, he weighs 195 pounds and is 5 feet 11 inches tall. The fourth rookie, Sparlis, is another Far West product just as the others are, including Joe Morris of North Texas Teachers, Wilder Collins of Tulsa, Jug Bennett of Hardin-Simmons. The one veteran among guards signed to date is Russ Letlow, a longtime campaigner in the National league before he went into the Navy in 1942.
O.K. PURCHASE OF FAIR PARK SEATS
MAR 27 (Madison) - The State Board of Agriculture has approved purchase of 12,800 demountable steel seats at a cost of $34,500 from the University of Chicago to be used at the State Fair park stadium at West Allis. Milton H. Button, director of the Department of Agriculture, said today the seats would be used primarily to increase the seating capacity for Green Bay Packer professional football games. They also can be used for any special occasion, such as the state's centennial celebration which has been proposed for 1948 at the park. Money for the purchase will come from the state fair park revolving appropriation.
FORMER PACKER SIGNS WITH LOS ANGELES
APR 4 (Los Angeles) - Slip Madigan, manager of the Los Angeles Dons of the All-American Football conference, announced the signing Wednesday of three more ex-collegians, including Forrest and Elmer McPherson, brothers. Forrest McPherson, 240-pound lineman, played with the University of Nebraska, the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Green Bay Packers. Elmer McPherson, 215-pound fullback, was with Georgia Tech and an Army Air Force team.
PACKERS TO MEET REDSKINS IN DENVER EXHIBITION ON SEPT. 10
APR 8 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers will meet the Washington Redskins in a night game in Denver Sept. 10, according to an announcement in Denver on Sunday. The game will ring up the curtain on football in the Rocky Mountain region. During the last several years the Packers and Redskins have played exhibition contests in either Baltimore or the national capital before sellout crowds. Shifting of the game site probably was agreed upon because the Redskins plan to train on the west coast this year. The only other exhibition contest scheduled for the Bays to date is a charity game against the New York Giants in the Polo Grounds on the night of Sept. 20. The Packers will open their NFL season against the Chicago Bears in City stadium Sept. 29.
TOMMY FARRIS SIGNS TO PLAY PRO FOOTBALL
APR 16 (Madison) - Tommy Farris, brilliant quarterback on the Wisconsin football teams of 1939-40-41, has signed to play professional football with the Chicago Rockets of the All-America Conference. Farris was discharged from the Coast Guard a few months ago after more than two years of service in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters. Farris had received offers from two other teams in the All-America Conference. The Green Bay Packers owned draft rights to Farris in the NFL.
NATIONAL GRID LEAGUE SHIFTS SPRING MEETING TO NEW YORK APRIL 28
APR 19 (New York) - A meeting of the NFL originally scheduled for Philadelphia April 28, 29 and 30, will be held instead in New York on the same dates, league headquarters announced Thursday. At that time the 1946 schedule will be drawn and business left over from the annual meeting here in January will be completed. Coach Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers and a member of the league's executive committee is expected to arrive here from the west coast on April 27. Assistant Coach Don Hutson will arrive the day before and Line Coach Walt Kiesling will also be on hand, coming up from Miami.
TED FRITSCH JUMPS TO CLEVELAND ELEVEN OF NEW ALL-AMERICA LOOP
APR 23 (Green Bay) - Fullback Ted Fritsch, winner of all-league honors in 1945 with the Green Bay Packers, today has shifted his affiliation to the Cleveland Browns of the new All-America Football conference. The news that Fritsch had jumped from the Bays to the Cleveland eleven was made in the Ohio city Monday night by General Manager and Coach Paul Brown. A veteran of four seasons with the Packers, Fritsch was the first regular from the Green Bay team to accept an offer from the All-America conference. Terms and salary included in his contract with the Browns weren't revealed but Fritsch is reported to have told Green Bay friends that he has been offered $10,000 for a season...COMES AS SURPRISE: Jumping of the star fullback to the Browns came as a surprise to Packer officials. Asst. Coach Don Hutson said he was "very much surprised" to hear about it, adding that Fritsch and several other Packers had been approached by the All-America league clubs but the Green Bay roster had remained intact until Fritsch walked off the roost. "I certainly am sorry to hear it," Huston said, adding, "the last time we talked to Fritsch he said he wouldn't sign until
he talked to us. Fritsch said he would come and see us next week."...FIFTH IN LEAGUE SCORING: Fifth in the National league scoring last season with eight touchdowns and three field goals, Fritsch will report Aug. 1 for practice, Coach Brown said in Cleveland. A spokesman for the Browns said Fritsch will fit well into the Browns' plans for their first season in professional football. "Fritsch is just the man we needed to fill our fullback spot. We had been seeking a smashing, driving ball carrier and he completely fills the bill," the Cleveland officials was quoted as saying. Asked whether the Browns were contemplating other Packers, the spokesman said, "No, he's he only Packer we wanted."...LED BAYS TO TITLE: A graduate of Central State Teachers college at Stevens Point, Fritsch joined the Packers in 1942. He is 25 year old, 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 219 pounds. In the 1945 season, he ranked first in kickoff returns in the National league, averaging 34.9 yards. In 1944, he scored both Green Bay touchdowns when the Packers defeated the New York Giants, 14-7, for the world's championship. Fritsch ranks sixth on the Packers' all-time scoring list with 130 points scored on 19 touchdowns, four points after touchdown and four field goals. During the offseason, he took graduate work at Wisconsin and was trainer and a reserve player with the Oshkosh All-Stars basketball team.
LAMBEAU IS SURPRISED BY FRITSCH
APR 23 (Green Bay) - By telephone from California this morning, Coach Curly Lambeau told the Press-Gazette that he could hardly believe that Fritsch had signed with the Browns and that he wouldn't believe it was true until he heard from the fullback. "The last word I had from Ted was that he had received an offer from Cleveland and that he definitely was not interested in playing football for anyone but the Packers. His signing with the Cleveland team is undoubtedly true but I can hardly believe it," the Green Bay coach said. Lambeau admitted that it was hard to lose as good a football player as Fritsch but, he continued, "on the other hand, the sense of loyalty to the team and team spirit are what count with the Packers. If Ted has lost his sense of loyalty to the Packers, then he is better off with the Cleveland team." The Packer coach said that another reason he felt Fritsch would remain with the Packers was that the football cooperation had paid all of the fullback's expenses to the Mayo corporation at Rochester after the 1945 season to have his appendix removed. The coach explained that Fritsch had been bothered by the appendix to a great extent last season and to some extent even before he joined the team in 1942. It was recalled that the appendix caused Fritsch to take frequent rests during games.
HUTSON SURPRISED
APR 23 (Green Bay) - Assistant Coach Don Hutson of the Green Bay Packers said tonight that Ted Fritsch was the first Packers to jump to the All-America league and that he was "very surprised" to hear the big fullback had signed with the Cleveland Browns. "I am certainly sorry
to hear it," Hutson said, adding, "the last time we talked to Fritsch he said he wouldn't sign until he talked to us. He said he would come in and see us next week."
KEN KEUPER, CLIFF ABERSON SIGNED UP BY LAMBEAU
APR 27 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau, en route to New York for the spring meeting of the NFL, had a profitable stopover in Chicago, where late Friday he signed veteran backfielder Ken (Red) Keuper, former Georgia ace, and a rookie back, Cliff Aberson of Chicago. The number of Packers now under contract for the 1946 season is 24. The more important signing was that of Keuper, who early this week came to Green Bay from Georgia, of which he is now a resident although originally he hailed from Waukesha. Red had received several attractive offers from the new All-America league but refused to be lured away from the Packers. Keuper summed up his refusal to jump the All-America with a terse, "I didn't want to take a chance on the new league." It had been rumored for some time that the most attractive offer to Keuper had been made to Miami. The redhead said before going to Chicago to see Lambeau that he hoped to come to an agreement and that he plans to make his home in Green Bay...WAS NINE LETTER ATHLETE: A nine-letter man at Georgia, Keuper joined the Packers in 1945 after serving two years as backfield coach at his alma mater. At first he was used as fullback but then was shifted to blocking back, where he turned in several sparkling defensive performances, especially toward the end of the season. He perhaps is remembered best for coming out as top man in a melee with Lee Artoe, the big bad man of the Chicago Bears, in the second half of the contest at Wrigley field last fall. Keuper is 27 years old, weighs 215 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. He was a member of the Georgia team that won the 1943 Rose Bowl game and played in the Orange Bowl in 1942 and the North-South game in 1944. Among his teammates at Georgia were backs Frankie Sinkwich, the National league's most valuable player in 1944, and Charley Trippi, All-American ball carrier who starred in the game between the All-Stars and Packers last fall...ALL-CONFERENCE CHOICE: In his junior year, Keuper was All-Southeast conference fullback choice. Besides starring in football he played three years of basketball, and was on the track squad the same number of seasons. He is married and the father of a son, born about two weeks ago. Although Aberson did not play college football, he was recommended to the Packers by a veteran player, Herman Rohrig, who played with the Chicago boy for two years at Keesler Field, Miss. Rohrig told Lambeau that Aberson is an excellent passer and should make a valuable addition to the Green Bay backfield corps. He starred after leaving Keesler field with the 18th Regiment team that won honors in the European theater during 1945. Aberson plays either fullback or left halfback. He is 25, weighs 205 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall...TO ADOPT 1946 SCHEDULE: Lambeau said that final consideration of the 1946 National league schedule is the principal business on the agenda of the New York meeting. Only two championship games of the Packers have been announced thus far, the opener here against the Chicago Bears Sept. 29, and the last game against the Los Angeles Rams there on Dec. 8. The Packers will play four other home games, including two in Milwaukee, and either four or five others on the road depending on whether a 10 or a 11 game schedule is adopted. Also attending the New York meeting are Asst. Coach Don Hutson and Pres. L.H. Joannes of the football corporation.
OPPOSE MERGER WITH ALL-AMERICA CIRCUIT
APR 29 (New York) - Three NFL owners declared bitter opposition to any merger with the All-America conference today, ending all possible hopes for affiliation between the two rival professional grid circuits for 1946 - possibly for many seasons to come. The owners' unexpected declaration, informal but emphatic, came during a pause in the night-long session of schedule making as the NFL opened its three-day spring meeting here, its last scheduled get-together before sending 10 teams into the field next fall...STAND GETS BACKING: While sitting around a hotel conference room Sunday night, owners Fred Mandel of the Detroit Lions, Jack Mars of the New York Giants and Ted Collins of the Boston Yanks said their official stand - flat opposition to an agreement with the All-America. The Mandel-Mara-Collins block can keep the two rivals at bay for years to come inasmuch as eight votes out of 10 are necessary to swing the merger. When the other owners heard of the tri-party proclamation, they were practically unanimous in backing up their fellow members. The NFL's snub of the All-America, less than six months between the new circuit makes its debut as a rival, was not formal since the matter had not been brought up at the meeting. But the owners' stand was conclusive and forecasts defeat for the merger proposal which probably will be presented since A-A Commissioner James Crowley petitioned Commissioner Bert Bell of the NFL for a hearing on it...CROWLEY CONTACTED BELL: Crowley recently telephoned Bell, according to the NFL chief, proposing a combined player draft and mutual respect of contracts and the portly Bell indicated he would place the All-America matter before the meeting. The sudden break in the long scrimmage between the two circuits promises an expensive fall for pro football when raids and players salaries continuing at an all-time high and with open patronage competition in three cities where each league has a team, New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The NFL pigskin powers, in completing their 1946 schedule, now plan to bunch their traditional rivalry games in the three key cities in an attempt to steal the play at the gate.
PACKERS CONFIRM GAME WITH RAMS HERE OCT. 6
APR 29 (New York) - Out of the morning of pulling and tugging over a revised schedule, Coach Curly Lambeau, representing the Green Bay Packers at the annual spring meeting of the NFL, had only three definite dates to announce. The Packers will open the league campaign against the Chicago Bears at Green Bay September 29, will play the Los Angeles Rams, defending champions, at Milwaukee State Fair park October 6, and will meet the Rams in a return game at
Los Angeles December 8. Until Sunday, Lambeau thought he had his schedule, as drawn at the winter meeting, set, but some of the other teams ran into snags, and he had to junk his. Lambeau said he hoped to play three games at State Fair park in Milwaukee, with its increased seating capacity, and three in Green Bay. One of the three in Milwaukee will probably be an exhibition with the Philadelphia Eagles September 8. Any chance that the National league might get together with the rival All-America conference disappeared when three of the owners, Fred Mandel of Detroit, Ted Collins of Boston and Jack Mara of the New York Giants emphatically said they would refuse to have any dealings whatsoever with the new league. The three could block any attempt to get together. The meeting here will continue through Wednesday. Other matters on the agenda include a discussion of the working agreements with the three minor professional leagues, adoption of a revised constitution, and a discussion of player contracts in light of the recent raids by the All-America league.
PRO LOOP PONDERS MAJOR-MINOR PACT
APR 30 (New York) - The NFL, working with three top minor professional loops, prepared today to "squeeze out" the rival All-America conference by putting its players in the same category as baseball stars who jump to the Mexican league. The National league executives, meeting here in an offseason executive session, showed immediate enthusiasm for a proposal by Rufus Klawans, president of the Pacific Coach Football league, that the minors establish relations with them that would be identical to baseball's major-minor agreement. Klawans' proposal, which may be put before the National league for a vote today, would put National League Commissioner Bert Bell as sole ruler of professional football with jurisdiction over the American league, the Dixie league and the Pacific Coast league...NEW LEAGUE OUTLAWED: The proposal, if adopted, will make the All-America conference an outlaw league. Under such a regulation, whenever players would be cut from the All-America squads there would be no place for them either in the National league or any minor league. Klawans said that this would leave more than 300 All-America players without jobs in pro football when squads are cut this fall. All-America teams carry between 60 and 70 players on their rosters at present and under normal circumstances would be cut to about 35 men when the season opens. The National league, in pruning its squads, will have jobs for virtually all players who want to stay in professional football with one of the minor league teams. The National league owners already have stated that players who appear on the rosters of All-America teams which have opened the season will be suspended...ADOPT 55-GAME SCHEDULE: The National league also adopted a 55-game schedule Monday and stated that no game of any kind would be permitted by any of its members after the annual East-West championship game on Dec. 15. The season opens on Sept. 29 for eight National league teams. The Chicago Bears play at Green Bay, the Detroit Lions at Chicago against the Cardinals, the Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles against the champion Rams who moved during the offseason from Cleveland, and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet the eastern champion Redskins at Washington. The New York Giants and Boston Yanks will play a night game at Boston on the following day, Sept. 30. It will be the only night game on the 1946 schedule. The regular season closes on Dec. 8 with the championship playoff game a week late in the city of the eastern champion. In contrast to the original January meeting, when the owners pondered over the schedule problem about a week without a decision, the playing program was approved on the second day of the current meeting. It calls for an 11-game schedule for the first time since 1942, with all teams opening and closing their seasons on the same dates.
PRO CLUB IGNORE ALL-AMERICA LOOP
MAY 1 (New York) - NFL club owners ended a three day meeting here Wednesday with the final day devoted to much talk and little action, and with a formal statement concerning any possible agreement with the new All-America conference still missing. The question did not even come up for discussion, it was reported, although individual statements by several club owners earlier and the reaffirming of the rule against post-season games left no doubt that had official action been taken it unquestionably would have been against any dealings with the rival league. Much of Tuesday's and Wednesday's discussion concerned the maintenance of amicable relations with colleges, with the owners going back at least partially to prewar standards of player eligibility by stipulating that a player may not be signed until he has been graduated or his class has been graduated.
COACH LAMBEAU DUE TO RETURN HERE TONIGHT
MAY 3 (Green Bay) - Coach E.L. (Curly) Lambeau of the Packers will arrive in the city tonight from New York, where he attended the spring meeting of the NFL earlier this week. Asst. Coach Don Hutson returned from New York earlier. With 24 players already signed for the 1946 11-game season, Lambeau probably will begin immediately negotiations with unsigned veterans and several others who have been recently discharged from service.
CANADEO, TOLLEFSON SIGN PACKER CONTRACTS FOR 1946
MAY 6 (Green Bay) - Halfback Tony Canadeo, one of the standout runners in the National league before he entered service, and guard Charley Tollefson, who has two years experience, have signed contracts with the Packers for the 1946 season, according to an announcement today by Coach Curly Lambeau. The number now under contract is 26. At least one club in the All-American conference dangled an attractive offer before Canadeo following his return from overseas duty with the Army, but the veteran ball carrier and passer declined the bid to return to the Packers for his fourth season. His signing boosts the backfield stock of the Bays considerably for the 1946 campaign. Canadeo played here from 1941 through 1943, following a brilliant career at Gonzaga university in Washington. Drafted by the Packers, he immediately fit in to the Green Bay system at left halfback. A hard running, difficult-to-stop ball carrier, he scored 11 touchdowns in three years and in 1943 placed fifth in league's ball carrying department and sixth in passing...GOT ALL-LEAGUE MENTION: Receiving all-league mention, Canadeo lugged the ball for a 5.2 yards average in 1943 and completed 56 out of 129 passes for nine touchdowns. He played briefly with the Bays in 1944, seeing action in games against Detroit, Cleveland and the Chicago Bears while here on furlough. He is 6 feet tall and weighs 190 pounds. Inducted into service in Dec. 1943, Tony went overseas a year later and served with the Ninth Army in Germany. He was in on the push across the Rhine near the end of the war and later was stationed at Berchtesgaden and Munich. He won four battle stars. He returned to the United States in January. Now working for a local concern, Canadeo is the eighth back under contract for 1946 and the fourth veteran...STARTED TWO YEARS AGO: Tollefson made his debut with the Packers in 1944 after service in the armed forces. Fast and rugged, Charley started several games last season at left guard and probably will be used to a greater extent this year. He is 29 years old, weighs about 210 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. As a collegian, Tollefson played with probably the most famous squad turned out at the University of Iowa. It was during the 1939 season that a smaller than usual Iowa squad came up from nowhere and captured the Big Ten crown, gaining a not inconsiderable amount of fame in the process because of the starting team's ability to go 60 minutes with substitution. Called "Iron Men" the team scaled the heights under Coach Eddie Anderson. Tollefson was regular right guard on the "Iron Men" squad and was named to several Big Ten honor teams. He won three letters and was named to the College All-Star squad which met the Packers in the annual starlight contest at Soldier field in 1940. The Packers won 45-28. Tollefson has been residing in Green Bay and is working for a local concern.
FULLBACK AL ZUPEK, EX-LAWRENCE STAR, SIGNS CONTRACT WITH BAYS
MAY 7 (Green Bay) - A star of the Lawrence college eleven for three seasons before he went into service, fullback Al Zupek, today had signed a contract to play with the Packers next season, according to an announcement by Coach Curly Lambeau. Twenty-seven players are now on the squad roster for 1946. Recently discharged from service, Zupek is residing in Appleton and he came up from there to talk over terms with Coach Lambeau. The former Viking star had previously written the coach from the Pacific that he was interested in playing pro football and that he had always had a secret ambition to join the Packers, whom he has been watching in action since he was a youth...ON MIDWEST ALL-STAR TEAM: Zupek, named to Little All-America teams for his play at Lawrence under Coach Bernie Heselton, plays either fullback or end but prefers the former position. He is an excellent passer and punter. At Lawrence, he was named to the Midwest conference first team in 1941 and 1942 when he was high on the list of leading ground gainers in the league. He joined the Marines in 1943 and was sent to Oberlin college in Ohio, where he played fullback on the undefeated and unscored on team in five games. Transferring to the Air corps, he went to Ohio Wesleyan university, where he played four games, receiving first place mention on the Ohio conference eleven. Transferred to Great Lakes in 1944, Zupek played with the Bluejackets in four games. He is 6 feet 1 inches tall and weighs 210 pounds. He is 24 years old and married.
JOIN GRID DODGERS
MAY 7 (Brooklyn) - Bob Kahler, former halfback for the Green Bay Packers, and Garry Schmeelk, 215 pound pre-war tackle at Manhattan college, have joined the Brooklyn Dodgers of the All-America conference, the club announced today.
CHARLEY BROCK SIGNS '46 PACKER CONTRACT
MAY 8 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packer line, now being shaped for the 1946 NFL campaign, was bolstered considerably today when center Charley Brock signed for his eighth season, according to an announcement by Coach Curly Lambeau. Brock, field captain of the team in 1945, is the 28th player under contract. Long rated one of the top centers - if not the best - in the National league, Brock did not get a full share of credit for his tremendous defensive and offensive ability until 1945, when he was named unanimously to practically every all-league team picked by the experts. In other years, he was never worse than second and often was rated on a par or better than the Chicago Bears' Bulldog Turner or the New York Giants' Mel Hein. The All-America league had its eyes on the former Nebraska star some months and had done everything possible to get him to sign. But Charley spurned the offers until he had an opportunity to talk with Coach Lambeau. They finally agreed to terms Tuesday following several conferences...SELECTED IN LEAGUE DRAFT: One of the all-time greats at the University of Nebraska, Brock played three seasons for the Cornhuskers and was selected by the Packers in the 1939 National league draft. He joined the team after playing with the College All-Stars that year and has been regular center since that time. Always a team player, Brock is probably the most cagy defensive center in the league and on numerous occasions has knocked down or intercepted passes or made tackles which would have spelled danger for the Bays if not stopped. He is also steady and reliable on offense. Brock has contributed several incidents in Packer lore in his years here, all of them connected with his defensive ability. The most recent occurred in the New York game last season. With the score tied 7-7 at halftime, Brock set up the second Packer score by utterly and completely "stealing" the ball from veteran back Ward Cuff of the Giants and returning it to the Green Bay 7, a gain of 28 yards. Two plays later the Packers rammed over for a score...INTERCEPTS A PASS FOR SCORE: Shortly after, Brock intercepted a pass by Junior Hovious of the Giants and romped 24 yards for a touchdown that put Green Bay in the clear, 23-7. But perhaps the most famous incident recalled about the Cornhusker All-American was his theft of the ball from halfback John Morrow of the Chicago Cardinals in a night game in 1942. The Cards were leading and had their first chance in years to defeat the Packers. The big hand of the field clock swept toward the last minute. Morrow came through the line and Charley was there to meet him. Brock snatched the ball from the Cardinal carrier and scored the touchdown that gave Green Bay a 17-14 victory. In all, Charley has scored four touchdowns for Green Bay, a not unusual fete considering that he is a center. He is 29 years old, weighs 205 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. He is married and residing in Green Bay.
TINY CROFT SET FOR FOURTH BAY SEASON
MAY 9 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers had their second veteran tackle under contract today with the announcement by Coach Curly Lambeau that Milburn (Tiny) Croft had signed a contract for 1946, boosting the squad to 29 and with a good chance that other signatures are imminent. Croft, who usually reports in around 300 pounds and shaves off poundage to game weight of about 285, is the largest lineman in the NFL, a distinction he has held since joining the Packers in 1943 following his graduation from Ripon college, where he starred three years in football and as a weight man in track. Coach Lambeau said he would use Croft at left tackle next season. During his three-year career with the Bays he has shifted from one side of the line to the other, seeing considerable action on the right side of the line in 1944 and last year also. The Packer coach added that he was pleased with Croft's spirit and the improvement he has shown from year to year...PREDICTS POTENT ELEVEN: The Bay coach had some other things on his mind about the way the 1946 squad is shaping up and he came up with the prediction that "present indications are that we will have one of our best squads and certainly our best since 1939," when the team won the Western division title and the world's championship from the New York Giants. Lambeau said he was basing his prediction on the fact that there are now 32 contracts on file in the league office and that 14 veterans remain to be contacted for he new campaign. The team will have balance and power, particularly in the backfield, the coach said. The backfielders already signed includes such veterans as Bruce Smith, Herman Rohrig, Tony Canadeo and Ken Keuper and several rookies who promise to fit into the Green Bay scheme. According to a recent letter Lambeau received from a well-known coach, rookie left halfback Cliff Aberson of Chicago "might be one of the all-time great passers in football". The Packer coach conferred with Smith, the former Minnesota star, when he visited here earlier in the week. Smith told the coach that he is determined to have his best year in football. He picked up a pair of shoes and a football while here to start some extracurricular activity when he returns to his home. He said he would contact any Gopher players who might be used here. In the first shift of player talent, Coach Lambeau said he had given rights to guard Pete Tinsley and blocking back Ben Starrett to the Boston Yanks. Tinsley, a former Georgia player, toiled with the Bays for seven years and Starret was a four-year backfield veteran. No players or cash were involved in the transaction with Boston.
PAUL LIPSCOMB JOINS PACKER TACKLE CORPS
MAY 10 (Green Bay) - Tackle Paul Lipscomb, who broke into the Green Bay Packers' starting lineup in the first game of the 1945 season and held his spot during practically all of the championship campaign, has signed for 1946, according to an announcement today by Coach Curly Lambeau. He is the sixth tackle to come to terms for this year and the 30th player on the roster. A veteran of several years Army service, Lipscomb came to Green Bay last August after being away from football during his military service. He immediately gained the attention of the Green Bay coaching staff for his work at right tackle, where the services of veteran Paul Berezney were going to be available only for the game against the All-Stars...GETS STARTING ASSIGNMENT: Berezney started the All-Star contest but then retired from football and Lipscomb, a former star at the University of Tennessee, took over. He showed his ability in the first league game here against the Chicago Bears and held the starting assignment for practically every other game. With one year's experience behind him, he should be of even greater value to the Packers next season, the Bay coach believes. Lipscomb is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 240 pounds. With his return the Bays will have three experienced right tackles on hand when drills begin in August, approximately four weeks before the first exhibition contest scheduled against the Washington Redskins in Denver, Colo., on Sept. 10. The other two right side veterans are Bill Lee and Bubo Barnett. The only veteran signed thus far for the left side is Milburn (Tiny) Croft. Rookie tackles signed are Urban Odson, the ex-Minnesota All-American, and Tiny McLaughlin of Clintonville, who played several years at St. Norbert college. Others signed include nine backs, four centers, six guards and five ends. They come from a variety of schools scattered throughout the country.
LACK OF SPACE NOT PLAYERS BIG PROBLEM OF 1946, LAMBEAU SAYS
MAY11 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau isn't worried about whether he'll have enough Packers around next fall to go through the National league 11-game campaign but he is already getting perturbed about where the players who do come here are going to live. The season is three months away, that is, the practice season but that's when the players begin arriving in town. The Packer coach said today that several potential contract signers have indicated they are perfectly willing to play their professional football with the Green Bay eleven. But, in the next breath, they stipulate that they'll have to be assured of a place to hang their hats when they do get here. Indications are that a squad of some 45 will turn out early in August for drills. Thirty already are under contract and most of them are rookies. The Packer coach is busy these days contacting veterans he'd like to have return to the squad, which will play in the National league for thee 26th year, and, in general, as the Packers for the 28th year. Some professional teams have been claiming credit these days for inaugurating the first air flights to rival's camps. Actually, the Packers set the pace as long ago as 1940-41, when air travel was not quite as popular as it is today. Coach Lambeau said that the Packers will travel almost exclusively by air this year, the first time they have been able to do it since the last season before the war. There'll be a change in the travel, however, with the squad of 33 players, coaches, trainers and equipment going in one large 55-passenger planes. The team will go to Milwaukee by train and from there to Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington and Los Angeles. This will not only cut down their travel time but also allow more practice time at home, the coach explained. Formerly, the team was split into two groups with the equipment being stowed in the plane carrying the lighter players. New planes can easily handle the whole squad and the equipment with room to spare even though the average weight per passenger is somewhat above ordinary because of the heft of most of the linemen.
HORACE YOUNG, EX-FLYING FORT PILOT, SIGNS WITH PACKERS
MAY 14 (Green Bay) - Horace Young, who piloted a Flying Fortress over Europe for 31 months, often wished the day would arrive then he could once again throw blocks on opposing football players. He'll have that chance next fall with the Green Bay Packers. Coach Curly Lambeau announced today that Young had signed for 1946, bringing the number under contract to 31. A three-letter winner at Southern Methodist University in Texas, Young was recommended to Coach Lambeau several years ago by Coach Marty Bell. But before the Green Bay coach could do anything about signing Young he was signed up by Uncle Sam and 1946 will mark the first season since 1942 that he's had a chance to don football togs. During his junior and senior years at SMU, Young was rated the top blocking back in the southwest section of the country. He is fast and powerful and rated a good defensive performer. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall, weighs 195 pounds and is 26 years old. His home is Stanford, Tex., in the same area that has sent numerous stars to professional football. At present, Young is studying for his degree in law at Southern Methodist but he'll be on hand when the Packers open drills in August for their 11-game National league campaign. Young was in service 42 months.
OLDS JOINS PACKERS
MAY 15 (Green Bay) - The trickle of signed contracts for 1946 continues to fill the official file of Coach Curly Lambeau. The Green Bay Packer coach announced today that fullback Eddie Olds had joined the roster, bringing the number signed and sealed for the Bays' 26th NFL play to 32. Olds played his undergraduate football at Michigan State college at Lansing. He went there after stardom at Ishpeming High school. He is a native of the upper peninsula town and is now residing there after a tour of duty with the infantry, much of it in Japan. While in service Olds played with two other players signed for next season, backs Herman Rohrig, a Green Bay veteran, and Cliff Aberson, a Chicago lad who never played college football but for whom big things in the passing game are predicted by all the coaches who have seen him in action...DOUBLE AT RIGHT HALF: The trio played together at Keesler Field, Miss. His coach at Keesler Field, now an assistant mentor at Texas Tech, described Olds as an excellent blocker, a good defensive player and a better than average drop kicker. He weighs 190 pounds and has the legs a fullback needs to drive through the line. He can also double at right halfback. After playing at Keesler Field, he went overseas and had charge of the infantry athletic program in Japan. He recently received his honorable discharge.
MRS. FRITSCH WISHES HER SON HAD REMAINED WITH BAY ELEVEN
MAY 16 (Green Bay) - Mrs. John Fritsch, mother of former Packer Ted Fritsch, feels "just terrible about it." The "it" in this case is the jumping of the Green Bay fullback to the Cleveland Browns of the new All-America conference, rival of the NFL. Reached by telephone at her home in Spencer, Wis., today, Mrs. Fritsch said she wants Ted to "stick with Curly". She knew nothing of her son's moves until it came out in the papers and it was just as much a surprise to her as it was to Coach Lambeau. Mrs. Fritsch said that Ted was working with a construction concern in Hazelton, N.D., but is expected to return to Spence May 19. She judged from the tone of his letter that he planned to stop work with the construction firm. He had been truing out with several baseball teams, including Rochester, N.Y., earlier this spring. Mrs. Fritsch announced that she intends to "have a long talk with Ted when he returns." She declined to say just what the subject of her chat would be but admitted that "we probably will speak about football". Mr. John Fritsch was not available for comment but "he feels the same as I do about it," Ted's mother said. Mrs. Fritsch said she and her husband never miss a game Ted plays in the midwest...PACKER COACH MUM: It has been three weeks since announcement of Fritsch's move was made by the Cleveland club and so far Lambeau is keeping mum on the subject. The Packers pilot is welcoming a meeting with the former Stevens Point star. Fritsch is due to return to Spencer his weekend. Under National league rules, Fritsch is still "in" the veteran circuit even though he signed the Cleveland contract. As soon as he takes the field with the Browns, however, he will be automatically barred from the National loop for five years. Fritsch was bothered by an ailment in his side throughout his playing days here which made it necessary for Coach Lambeau to provide him with frequent relief. He underwent an operation after last season and may have found a cure.
TULSA FULLBACK SIGNS CONTRACT WITH PACKERS
MAY 18 (Green Bay) - The University of Tulsa will have enough alumni around Green Bay next fall to start at least s small chapter, it was indicated today, when Coach Curly Lambeau announced that fullback Allen Smith, regular on the Tulsa Orange and Sugar Bowl teams, had signed a contract for the 1946 season. He is the fourth Tulsa boy on the roster and the 33rd in all. Coach Lambeau got a line on the crashing fullback from two Packers, ends Clyde Goodnight and Nolan Luhn, and also from the coaching staff at the Oklahoma school. Both Packers wings have high esteem for Smith's ability - and they should know because they played with him two seasons. The fourth Tulsan under contract is rookie guard Wilder Collins. Smith is the fifth fullback to be signed by the Bays. He is 24 years old, weighs 210 pounds and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. He will graduate from Tulsa within a few weeks, after which he plans to return to his Dayton, Tex., home to prepare for the opening of practice here early in August.
3 MORE PACKERS SIGNED; ROSTER UP TO 36
MAY 21 (Green Bay) - A lineman of three years experience, another who got his baptism last season, and a halfback who joined the team in mid-1945 today had signed contracts with the Green Bay Packers, Coach Curly Lambeau announced. They are guard Glen Sorenson, tackle Ed Neal and halfback Russ Mosely. With the latest additions to the roster beginning it up to 36, it appears more than likely that the largest number of candidates in history will be out in August. Sorenson joined the Bays in 1943 after he had dropped out of Utah State when the school decided to scuttle intercollegiate football for the duration. He was an all-Border conference selection in his junior year; placed on the national all-Sigma Chi team in 1942. His home is Salt Lake City. As a Packer, Sorenson has done much of the team's kicking off and on several occasions booted the uprights from 60 yards out, much to the delight of the fans. He plays left guard and started there several time during both the 1944 and 1945 seasons. Sorenson is 25 years old, weighs about 210 and is 6 feet 1 inch tall. He broke into the scoring column with a single point after touchdown, scored against the Chicago Cardinals in a contest at City stadium during the 1944 season. Big Ed Neal caught the eye of Packer fans upon his arrival here last August, probably as much for his size as anything. It wasn't long before other members of the squad were beginning to find that his 285 pounds was good hard muscle that he had toughened up working for an oil field equipment company in Texas. Neal is 6 feet 4 inches tall and fast for his size. As a matter of fact, he played fullback in high school and at Tulane university at New Orleans, where he was also the school's undefeated heavyweight wrestling champion. He also held the Texas heavyweight AAU boxing championship for a time before his retirement from the ring. Coach Lambeau said he would used Neal principally on defense this year because of his tremendous power. He plays the right side of the line. Neal, now at his home in Wichita Falls, Tex., was with the Philadelphia Eagles for a short while several seasons ago. Mosely joined the Packers last October, following his discharge from the Army Air corps, where he was a pilot. He saw action in several games but was at a disadvantage because of his late start. A left halfback, Mosely is a fair passer and a good runner and should fit into the Green Bay picture next fall. He weighs about 190 pounds and is just under six feet tall. He played college football at Alabama before entering service.
PACKERS TAKE OPTION ON LODGE
MAY 22 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packer corporation has taken an option to purchase Rockwood Lodge 15 miles northeast of Green Bay, L.H. Joannes, president of the Packers, announced today. The lodge will be used as living quarters, and possibly as a training site, for the Packers with the 1946 season. Decision as to the purchase of the lodge will be made at a meeting of the Packer board at the Northland hotel Friday noon. It was decided to take an option on the purchase at a recent meeting of the executive committee composed of Joannes, A.B. Turnbull, F.J. Bero, E.L. Lambeau, E.R. Fischer, H.G. Wintgens, F.J. Jonet, Gerald F. Clifford and Fred Leicht. Joannes announced that purchase of the lodge is being considered in view of the housing shortage. The entire team would be quartered at the lodge as well as wives of the players, excepting those with homes in Green Bay. The lodge will be remodeled considerably inside to make more sleeping rooms. The lodge also has a large dining room and shower facilities.
WILDUNG, GOPHER TACKLE, JOINS PACKERS
MAY 23 (Green Bay) - Dick Wildung, whose reputation as the greatest tackle in Minnesota football history has never been seriously questioned, today returned his 1946 signed contract to the Green Bay Packers according to announcement by Coach Curly Lambeau. He is the eighth tackle to join this year's squad and the 37th player under contract. The Packers' first choice in the April, 1943 draft, Wildung put away his football togs after his graduation in June of that year to join the United States Navy. He received his honorable discharge in May and is now at his home in Luverne, Minn., a small town he made famous through his exploits for the Golden Gophers. Wildung was named to the All Big Ten conference first team in 1941 and 1942 and was named in both his junior and senior years at Minnesota to virtually every All-American squad even though the Gophers of 1942 did not have a too impressive record. He is 6 feet 2 inches tall and weighs 220 pounds and plays the left tackle spot, where he gained fame as an expert diagnostic of opponents' plays. He played two seasons at Minnesota with two other All-American stars, both of whom will be on hand in August when the Packers open drills for their 26th NFL season. Halfback Bruce Smith, captain of the undefeated 1941 Gophers, and tackle Urban Odson were his teammates. Odson, the Bays' No. 1 draft choice in 1941, plays right tackle. Smith is a left halfback. The trio stood out when Minnesota elevens under Coach Bernie Bierman were trampling opposition to win two national championships in a row and post a record of 17 consecutive victories. Besides being an expert on defense, Wildung starred on offense, an unusual fete for a lineman. He frequently received mention for being one of the first Gophers down under punts to lay the receiver low with vicious tackles. Coach Lambeau predicts a great future in the professional game for the Minnesota lad even though he has been away from the gridiron for some time. An officer in the Navy, Wildung spent most of his time aboard ship in the Southwest Pacific. He kept in touch with Packer headquarters during the war, always indicating that he would sign as soon as he was placed on inactive duty. Wildung informed the Packer coach that he had received a series of impressive offers from the Los Angeles Dons of the new All-America conference but that he preferred to play with a team in the National league "because of its stability". The fact that both Smith and Odson had already signed to play with the Bays also caused him to favor entering the professional game here.
PACKER NOTES
MAY 23 (Wisconsin State Journal) - Don Hutson, famous end of the Green Bay Packers, predicted failure for the All-America Conference in a recent radio interview. He said the new professional football circuit didn't have enough money back of it. That irked Jimmy Powers, sports editor of the New York Daily News, a paper that is owned by relatives of the Chicago paper which took such a prominent part in organizing the All-America Conference. "Hutson told the folks a big fib when he said the All-America Conference would flop because it didn't have enough money behind it," wrote Powers. "Any one of three owners in the All-America Conference could buy the whole town of Green Bay." Powers' "any one of three owners" would probably run out of money before they had bought even a small section of Green Bay. New York sportswriters' ideas of real estate values must still be influenced by the fact that all of Manhattan Island was originally purchased for $24.
ROCKWOOD LODGE IS BOUGHT BY PACKERS TO HOUSE PLAYERS
MAY 24 (Green Bay) - Rockwood Lodge, a 53-acre site 15 miles northeast of Green Bay, today became the property of the Green Bay Packer corporation. The corporation's board of directors voted to purchase the land and clubhouse at a meeting at the Northland hotel this noon for the purpose of housing the Green Bay Packers football team. The squad will also use the site for training. Built in 1937 by the Norbertine Fathers, Rockwood Lodge was purchased from Frank De Meuse and Harry Daul, present co-owners.
PACKERS IN EXHIBITION WITH EAGLES; TWO SIGN
MAY 24 (Green Bay) - The Packers neared the 40 mark in signing of talent both old and new today when Coach Curly Lambeau announced that a pair of wings, one from Georgia and the other from Iowa, had signed contracts, bringing the squad up to 39 and with good indications that other contracts will be returned with the necessary signatures within a few days. At the same time, the Packer coach announced that all arrangements had been completed with the Philadelphia Eagles for an exhibition game in Milwaukee the night of Sept. 6. This gives the Bays three night exhibition contests, the other two being against the Washington Redskins in Denver, Colo., Sept. 10 and against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds on Sept. 20. Practice for the exhibitions and 11 NFL championship contests will begin Aug. 12, giving the Packers exactly three weeks to get in shape before the Philadelphia game. The league schedule opens at City stadium against the Chicago Bears Sept.. 29. The new contract signers are Henry C. Miller of Iowa and Don Wells of Georgia. Both come here highly recommended by Bay talent scouts. They'll be among 50 or 60 candidates on hand when drills open, the largest crop of men on hands at the start in the 27-year history of the Green Bay eleven. Miller lives at Iowa City with his wife and one child. He was recently discharged from service of several years duration. He played three seasons for the Hawkeyes before entering the Army. He is 26 years old, weighs 219 pounds and is 6 feet 4 inches tall. Two Packers veterans, Joe Laws and Charley Tollefson, know Miller's ability and feel that he can make the grade here. Wells played the 1941 seasons at Wake Forest college, where he was rated one of the outstanding ends in the school's history despite the fact that he was a freshman. In 1943, he transferred to the University of Georgia, where he played end for one season and then was transferred to tackle for his last two seasons. Wells told Lambeau that he prefers to play a wing and he will be used at that position here, the coach said. Wells finished his intercollegiate competition last New Years' day in the Oil Bowl game. He is 25 years old, weighs 210 and is 6 feet 2 inches tall. He lived at Athens, Ga., a short distance away from the home of Packer blocking back Ken Keuper. The Packer coach said that veteran blocking back Larry Craig will be in Green Bay in the near future, probably to talk over prospects for next fall. Craig is farming in South Carolina and wired the coach that he "has a matter or two" he would like to talk over. It is likely that the veteran "path clearer" for ball carriers will sign for another season.
ROCKWOOD LODGE NEW GRID HOME OF GREEN BAY PACKERS
MAY 25 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers have a home of their own - the first of its kind in the 25-year football history of Curly Lambeau and his stalwarts. Located 15 miles northeast of Green Bay, the new residence is the former Rockwood lodge - a 53-acre site purchased by the Packer corporation at a meeting of the board of directors Friday afternoon. Purchase of the home was made chiefly for two reasons: (1) To solve the critical housing situation which directors fear will last three or four years. (2) To give future Packer teams a new and better environment. Regardless of the housing condition next fall or in later years, Lambeau plans to make the lodge a "permanent home" of the Packers. By home, the Packer coach explains that the team will do everything at the lodge except play exhibition or league games. Every member of the club - except those who have homes in Green Bay - will be quartered in the lodge building. Arrangements even will be made for players who bring their wives from out of town for the season...MEALS IN MAIN ROOM: A regulation size football field will be laid out in front of the clubhouse for daily practice sessions, and the T-shaped building will have every convenience. The players will take their meals in the main room - forming the vertical line of the "T" - which also will be used for chalk talks, movies, lounging, club meetings and skull drills. Considerable remodeling will be done to make more rooms on the second floor of the horizontal part of the "T". On the main floor of this section will be a large dressing room - formerly the bar room - shower rooms, the kitchen, equipment rooms and some living quarters. A great exponent of spirit, Lambeau believed he will get the "absolute maximum" from his players as the result of their new environment since the athletes will start reporting as early as Aug. 1 by which time the area will be ready for use. When NFL action starts, the squad will be cut to the loop's player limit of 33 - a number that can be easily accommodated. Actually, Rockwood Lodge is the Packers' second home - the first being City stadium where the big Bays go on public display. The team will travel to and from games by bus, although the showers in the clubhouse under the grandstand will be used after contests. The lodge has nine bedrooms now and one or two more will be constructed. There are four large rooms in which double-decker beds will be used to house most of the players. Several single rooms will be allotted to players with wives. In most casts, the building is fully equipped with such items as furniture, silverware, large kitchen stoves, refrigerators, dishes and some beds. Pure well water is also available. Purchase of the lodge fulfilled a dream of many years for Lambeau. "I've always had my mind on a training table combined with training headquarters for Packer players and Rockwood lodge is a natural," he
This first history of the team was written by the veteran Chicago sportswriter - Arch Ward - who created both the Baseball All-Star Game and the football College All-Star Game. One reviewer has commented that this is “a mostly anecdotal history that hangs a great deal of legend and myth on a framework of facts.” (CREDIT: Packerville, USA)
Amazon listing (if any copies become available)
commented. He reported that advantages of such a setup as Rockwood lodge were pounded home to him when he visited country clubs in the east on league jaunts with the Packers.
MRS. CURLY LAMBEAU PLANS TO DO INTERIOR DECORATING AT LODGE
MAY 25 (Green Bay) - Mrs. Earl L. Lambeau had two homes on her hands today. Besides the family residence on the bay shore, the wife of the Green Bay Packer coach will be honorary overseer of Rockwood Lodge - new domicile of the Packers. In addition, the attractive Californian will do the interior decorating at Packer Lodge - at her own request. Mrs. Lambeau took one look at the inside of the Lodge building Friday and decided that "I have an interior, decorating job on my hands." Husband Lambeau quickly signed her to a contract - 41st of the season - but explained that she'll have to work "free of charge". She sighed after threatening to join "that other league". Mrs. Lambeau is particularly interested in the lodge's main room where the coach and players will eat, lounge, hold chalk talks and watch movies....The Packers will get a new type of exercise at their lodge. There are nearly 200 steps on four flights of stairs from the bay shore up to the level of the lodge. After swimming, fishing or boating, the players will walk up these steps if they wish to make dinner...In order to conserve space in the lodge, especially at the start of the season, Coach Lambeau will have no particular room for an office. Most of his "business" will be done on the practice field or in the main lounge room...That old question - "Will Don Hutson play this fall?" - was asked Lambeau at the luncheon preceding the Friday board meeting. The coach shuddered and answered, "I don't know - for sure."...Lambeau today expressed appreciation of the "cooperation" of former co-owners Frank DeMeuse and Harry Daul of Rockwood lodge in selling the site to the Packer corporation. He called the sale and terms a "civic gesture"...The business meeting at which Rockwood lodge was purchased lasted exactly 32 minutes. Lambeau explained the whole setup in informal fashion and the directors asked questions.
ROY MCKAY SIGNS 1946 PACKER CONTRACT
MAY 25 (Green Bay) - Green Bay Packers fans who want to know who returned a signed contract today need only to recall a Sunday afternoon of last October when a young left halfback unwound his throwing arm and pitched four touchdown passes in a single quarter to set some kind of mark for the NFL. In case there are some who find it difficult to recall the name, a little help is offered herewith. Coach Curly Lambeau announced that the halfback, Roy D. McKay of Texas, not only returned his signed contract but that McKay telegraphed that "I will return early hit year to get a head start". This will be McKay's third season with the Packers. He joined the team in 1944 following a brilliant career at the University of Texas. Early in his first season, however, he sustained a knee injury in an exhibition game out east and spent most of the year on the bench as the Packers rolled to their sixth world championship. Last season, the willowy Texan turned up in good shape after plenty of tough work on his ranch near Kerrville, Tex., and he divided the passing duties with Irv Comp most of the season. But it was in the Detroit game in Milwaukee, second of the regular season, that he teamed with Don Hutson to provide the fans with an exhibition not soon to be forgotten. The first quarter was scoreless. Detroit scored within five seconds of the start of the second period and then McKay put his pitching arm to work. He tossed on the first down after the kickoff to Hutson, the play carrying 59 yards. Shortly after he pitched another one to Hutson for 49 yards. The Lions were rapidly becoming demoralized. Two-thirds of the way through the second period McKay again dropped back and Hutson gathered in the ball for a touchdown, the play carrying 17 yards. With 35 seconds left in the half, the same play clicked again, this time for six yards. The game ended 57-21...EXCELLENT PUNTER TOO: Besides punting, McKay is an excellent punter. He led the league last season with an average distance of 41.2 yards on 44 attempts, the longest carrying 73 yards against the Chicago Cardinals here Oct. 26. His punting caused many old-time Packer fans to recall the days of Verne Lewellen, long regarded as the best all-time punter in the professional circuit. McKay is 6 feet tall, weighs 197 pounds and is 26 years old. He was the Packers' second choice in the 1943 league draft and played with the College All-Stars that year as well in 1944. While at Texas he was named on several All-American teams and had the best passing average in the southwest. He is the fifth left halfback under contract for this year and the 13th backfielder on a roster that now numbers 40.
PACKERS BOOK EAGLES HERE
MAY 25 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers will meet the Philadelphia Eagles in an exhibition game at night at State Fair park in Milwaukee Friday September 6, Coach E.L. (Curly) Lambeau of the Packers announced here Friday night. The game will open Green Bay's exhibition schedule of three games. On September 10 the Packers will play Washington in Denver, and on September 20 will meet the New York Giants in New York. Lambeau has picked August 12 as the first day of practice. He expects a squad of 50 to 60 candidates. Thirty-nine players now are under contract. Latest additions to the squad are a pair of ends, Henry Miller, formerly of the University of Iowa, and Don Wells of the University of Georgia.
CLARKE HINKLE FINISHED WITH PRO GAME
MAY 25 (Neenah) - Clarke Hinkle, former star fullback of the Green Bay Packers who was discharged from the United States Coast Guard recently, arrived here today to return to his job with the Kimberly-Clark corporation. he said he was "all washed up" with professional football.
TED FRITSCH VISITS LAMBEAU HERE TODAY
MAY 27 (Green Bay) - Ted Fritsch, former Green Bay Packer fullback who recently signed to play with the Cleveland Browns of the All-America conference, was in Green Bay today for a conference with Coach E.L. (Curly) Lambeau. Both the player and coach refused to comment on the subject of the conversation.
LEFT END GREEN BAY PACKERS 41ST TO SIGN CONTRACT; LAMBEAU OFF ON SCOUTING TOUR
MAY 28 (Green Bay) - The fifth rookie end to sign a 1946 Green Bay Packer contract was listed on the rapidly growing roster by Coach Curly Lambeau late Monday before he left on another scouting jaunt. When the coach returns the roster will be even larger, but No. 41 on the list is Granivelle P. Harrison, who played his college football at Mississippi State. The latest addition is from Tyronza, Ark., a couple of hops and a skip from where the most famous left end in professional football history resided when he was a lad. The latter, of course, being Don Hutson. Harrison also plays the left side of the line and had considerable post-college experience while serving in the Army. Finishing his three-year career with Mississippi in the Orange Bowl game of New Year's day in 1942, Harrison was inducted into the armed forces before another football season rolled around. He played with various service teams in this country and then was sent overseas where he was a regular on the Oise (France) All-Stars. The All-Stars had their ups and downs but in 1945 won the European theater service football championship. Shortly after, Harrison received his honorable discharge and returned to his Arkansas home. He is 26 years old, weighs 215 pounds and is 6 feet 3 inches tall. During his playing days in the south, he gained wide recognition as a smart defensive performer as well as being an excellent pass receiver. The Packers now have eight ends under contract. When Lambeau returns from his tour, he'll move into high gear for the Aug. 12 opening practice, three weeks before the Packers get their first taste of competition in an exhibition against the Philadelphia Eagles in a starlight contest at State Fair park. The game is scheduled Sept. 6. Besides preparing for opening of drills, the Bay coach will oversee readying of the Packers' new training site at Rockwood lodge on the bay shore 15 miles northeast of the city. The squad as now constituted includes a liberal sprinkling of veterans and a crop of rookies that appear, on paper at last, to be as strong as anything lined up by Lambeau in recent years. Several other veterans remain to be head from and and the Bays also have the line out for a dozen or so yearlings who have been recommended for tryouts. Before practice opens the squad will be beyond the 50 mark, Lambeau indicated.
HAZLETON, N.D., 500 STRONG, HAS FIVE CHURCHES - FRITSCH
MAY 28 (Green Bay) - Hazelton, N.D., has only 500 residents. Yet, it has five churches - one for each 100 persons. A Mr. Theodore P. Fritsch, contractor from Spencer, Wis., presented these facts to friends during a visit to Green Bay Monday. And, there is no question but what the above statement is quite unusual in view of the fact that by the same proportion Green Bay should have something like 500 churches - which is a lot of churches in any league. More alarming still is another fact - that said statements were made by a football player who generally doesn't talk about churches and such like. But Monday the big fullback just wasn't saying much - about football. He was in Green Bay for social reasons and a brief chat with Packer coach Curly Lambeau. For the record, Fritsch is a former Packer fullback. He stepped over to the Cleveland club of "that other league" about four weeks ago...WORK AT MOSINEE: Fritsch worked for a construction firm in Hazelton building that town's fifth church most of the spring. He played a little semi-pro baseball in Rochester, Minn., and now expects to work at the paper mill in Mosinee. During the winter, Fritsch served as a trainer for the Oshkosh All-Stars professional basketball team during the tournament at Chicago. Fritsch is heavier than usual, weighing 225 pounds. As far as the future is concerned, Fritsch isn't saying a word. And the subject of the player-coach talk Monday is strictly off the record. Fritsch had hoped to chat with Clarke Hinkle, former Packer fullback, who was due in Green Bay Monday. Mr. and Mrs. Hinkle are coming up from Neenah for a few days' visit. Hinkle,. who was recently discharged from the service, has given up professional football.
HINKLE FIND THINGS TOUGH IN CIVILIAN CIRCLES; NO COMPLAINTS
MAY 29 (Green Bay) - This is the day Clarke Hinkle's troubles begin - for this is the day the former Green Bay Packers fullback officials becomes a civilian. By his own admission, the former Coast Guard lieutenant commander is in the same rough spot every other servicemen is in when he gets a discharge these days. Of course, Hinkle isn't complaining about this strange civilianhood but he admits that things are tough. "We don't have a place to live and we don't have a car and the prospects of getting them are terrible," he said. Today marks the end of his terminal leave, setting him free from the Coast Guard after four years and one week of service. Hinkle visited Green Bay with his wife Tuesday for the first time since shortly after the Packer-Bear playoff in Chicago in 1941. The only other connection he had with the Packers or Green Bay since then was in the fall of 1942 when he saw the Packer-Giant game in New York and spoke over the radio. In regard to playing football this season, Hinkle is positively not going to play. Clarke put it this way, "I'm 36 now. So why should I play?" The former all-National leaguer is with the Kimberly-Clark corporation in Neenah at present, but he admitted that he's open to any "good" offer in any football field except playing. Hinkle went into the Coast Guard as a lieutenant (jg) and advanced steadily. He saw considerable overseas action, being on convoy duty to North Africa and serving as an air-sear rescuer off Newfoundland. He landed at Pearl Harbor, due for action in the Pacific, on V-J day. During his early Coast Guard training, Hinkle coached the Coast Guard Academy backfield in New London, Conn., and found time to play five games with the pro Electric Boat Diesel team in New London. This playing career was cut short when a higher-ranking officer discovered that the guy carrying the ball for most of Diesel's points was Lieutenant (jg) Hinkle. He was immediately "removed" from action. Hinkle had hoped to see Coach Curly Lambeau and his former teammate, Don Hutson, Tuesday but both were out of the city. Lambeau had already left on a scouting tour and Hutson was in Milwaukee. Hinkle, who stands second in the list of all-time Packer scorers with 390 points in 10 seasons, came back with a deep tan accomplished in the Pacific and California.
LAMBEAU 'RUNNING FAST'
MAY 30 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau is running a good country mile ahead of himself this season in the business of signing athletes. To date, the Packer pilot has announced that a total of 41 players have signed - a big figure when you compare it with figures in May or June several years ago. In 1945, Lambeau had only 14 players signed at the end of May. In 1944, the first signature in was that of a coach, George (Brute) Trafton, and that came on June 10. In 1943, no contract signers were announced until late in July when passer Irv Comp, a 4-F at the time, came through with his signature. The year 1942 saw Ted Fritsch signing first - on June 6. In 1941, 10 Packers had been signed by May 15.
FULLBACK WALTER SCHLINKMAN, NO. 1 CHOICE IN 1944 DRAFT, SIGNS WITH GREEN BAY PACKERS
JUN 1 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers had another good rookie backfield plum in the fold today with the announcement by Coach Curly Lambeau that fullback Walter Schlinkman of Texas Tech had signed for 1946. The rapidly growing roster of the Bays is now up to 42 and Schlinkman is the 15th backfielder to come to terms. Schlinkman was the Packers' No. 1 NFL draft choice in the spring of 1944. However, he decided to forego football last season to return to Texas Tech to complete his work for a bachelor's degree in physical education. He received the degree at the school's graduation ceremonies Friday. The type of fullback who should fit well into the Green Bay system, Schlinkman won four letters in football and four in track at Tech. In track he was not a weight man, as might be supposed, but a sprinter and he ripped off the 100-yard dash in 10 seconds flat. He is a fair punter and passer and plays defensive right halfback...PLAYED AGAINST BAYS: Now 24 years old, Schlinkman played against the Bays in the 1945 All-Star game. He finished his college competition in the annual East-West game last New Year's day. He was named to the Little All-American eleven in 1944 and 1945, the All-Border conference team in both years and the outstanding southwest section fullback last year. He is 24 years old, weighs 195 pound and is 5 feet 8 1/2 inches tall. His home is Dumas, Tex. With Schlinkman's contract in, the Packers now have three first draft choices on 1946's roster. The other two are tackles Urban Odson, named in 1942, and Dick Wildung, chosen in 1943. Both are from Minnesota and starred on the famous Golden Gopher teams that won 17 successive games. The captain of the team was halfback Bruce Smith, who'll be on hands here when practice starts Aug. 12.
PACKERS LOOKING FOR FURNISHED APARTMENT FOR BACK AND FAMILY
JUN 3 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers are apartment hunting. Despite acquisition of Rockwood lodge to house their players, the Packers find it necessary - for the moment at least - to call upon the Green Bay citizenry to open their doors. Here's the story: A lad by the name of Ken Keuper, a blocking back from Georgia, is coming to town this week with his wife and three-month-old baby. Ken has a job here but no place to live - a familiar tune if we ever heard one. The Keupers and the Packers are looking for an unfurnished apartment at least until Aug. 1 or later when they can move into Rockwood lodge, remodeling of which won't be completed until that time. Coach Curly Lambeau, now on a scouting tour out west, called his Green Bay office Saturday afternoon and put out an immediate SOS when he learned that three unfurnished apartment - promised the Packers recently - were not available. Lambeau pointed out that Keuper probably will live in Green Bay the year-round, meaning that if something is available he may live in the city instead of Rockwood lodge even during the season. With 50 to 60 players expected for the opening workout on Aug 12., the Packers probably will need a bit more room in Green Bay to house players during the first three weeks. Between 40 and 45 players will be housed at Rockwood but when the National league season starts the roster will be reduced to 33 - making it possible to house all of the players at Rockwood. Call Adams 334, Lambeau's office, if you can provide an unfurnished apartment...SIGNEE: Lambeau announced by long distance from Los Angeles Saturday afternoon that Walter Cruice, former Northwestern university football captain, had been signed to handle promotion for the Packers next season.
PREGULMAN INKS PACKER CONTRACT
JUN 4 (Green Bay) - Center Marvin Pregulman, former University of Michigan football star, announced at his home in Lansing, Mich., today that he has signed a contract for 1946 with the Green Bay Packers. The Green Bay roster now is up to 42, two men short of four full squads and the possibility was good that other contracts will be in within the next couple of days. Pregulman recently visited Coach Curly Lambeau here but no announcement was made then that he had signed a contract with the Bays. He was recently discharged from service. His career in the armed forces began shortly after he was named the No. 1 NFL draft choice of the Packers in April, 1944...WAS ALL-AMERICAN CHOICE: In his last year at Michigan, Pregulman was named to several All-America teams along with the second draft choice of the Bays in 1944, halfback Tom Kuzma of Michigan. Kuzma was stricken with tuberculosis and only recently was released from a sanatorium, his playing days over. Pregulman, who set a brilliant defensive standard for the Wolverines, can also play either guard or tackle, although he favors the pivot spot, where the Packers now have a single veteran - Charley Brock - and four rookies lined up for the 1946 campaign. The others are Buddy Greenwood of Baylor, Tom Hand of Iowa, Andy Kosmac of Louisiana State and Pregulman. Since the end of the war, the Packers have obtained the services of four of their No. 1 draft choices since 1941. Last week they announced fullback Walter Schlinkman of Texas Tech has signed. He was No. 1 in 1945. Previously the great tackle combination at Minnesota when the Gophers won two straight national championships were also signed. The tackles, both No. 1 choices, were Urban Odson of 1942 and Dick Wildung of 1943.
JOINS PROMOTION, TICKET DIVISION OF PACKER CORPORATION
JUN 11 (Green Bay) - Addition of Wally Cruice, one-time Northwestern university backfield star, to the promotion and ticket sales staff of the Green Bay Packers was announced formally today. Cruice will work out of the offices of the Packers in the Legion building here and also in Milwaukee, where the Packers have two games scheduled next season. A former Milwaukee Washington High school ace, Cruice recently was discharged from the Navy following four years of service, 1942-46. He was stationed at Great Lakes, where he was backfield coach of the potent Bluejackets in 1942 and 1943 and did promotion and advance publicity. He was also officer of the basketball and baseball teams...COACHED AT FLEET CITY: Transferred to the Atlantic Fleet amphibious force in 1944, Cruice was communications officer for about a year when he was sent to Fleet City, Shoemacker, Calif. He handled the backfield for the Fleet City team that won 13 games and tied one in 1945 and won the service championship. He also did promotion and publicity for the Bluejackets. One of the great all-time stars at Northwestern, Cruice captained the 1935 Wildcat team, when he was an all-Big Ten conference selection. He played in the East-West game in 1936, and was a member of the 1936 Chicago All-Star team and the New York Tribune-Herald All-Star team in the same year. Drafted by the Packers in 1936, he passed up a chance to play here because of Chicago interests and played two seasons with the Chicago Gunners...WAS WILDCAT MENTOR: Cruice coached the Northwestern freshman squad in 1936 and 1937 and then left football for a time to join the advertising and promotion staff of Standard Oil company, a position he held until shortly before entering the Navy. While in high school, Cruice won the state title at 440 yards.
GUARD BILL KUUSISTO IS SET FOR 6TH BAY SEASON
JUN 12 (Green Bay) - Guard Bill Kuusisto, who keeps in shape for the professional football season by scrambling the ears of wrestling opponents from December to July, today returned his 1946 Green Bay Packer contract. He is the eighth guard to sign for the next campaign and the
44th player on the Bays' roster which will be well beyond the 50 mark before practice opens Aug. 12. A veteran of five years in the NFL, Kuusisto plays the left guard spot where he has been marked by opponents as a steady defensive players. Early in his career here, following two years of stardom at Minnesota, Kuussito gained a starting berth and with few exceptions has managed to hold the nod as a starter...ALL-BIG TEN SELECTION: Kuusisto is 28 years old, weighs about 230 pounds and is 6 feet tall. During the winter he tours the circuit west of Minneapolis, where he lives during the offseason, and he has gained considerable fame for his grappling work. At Minnesota he played both guard and tackle and was an all-Big Ten selection in 1939. Kuusisto was one of the quartet of ex-Gopher stars who got their start in football at Marshall High school in Minneapolis, then went to Minnesota and finally joined the Packers. The others are halfback Andy Uram and the Svendsen brothers, George and Bud, both centers. Just about the time Kuusisto was finishing his college career at Minnesota, several other "youngsters" were coming up to write football history for the Gophers. There was halfback Bruce Smith, who captained the 1941 team, and the two All-American tackles, Urban Odson and Dick Wildung. All three have signed contracts for this year...FOUR GUARDS ARE VETERANS: Four of the eight guards now signed are veterans. Besides Kuusisto, there are Russ Letlow, Charley Tollefson and Glen Sorenson. The tackle corps signed also is evenly divided between veterans and rookies. Veterans are Bill Lee, Bubo Barnett, Tiny Croft, Paul Lipscomb and Ed Neal. The last four played here in 1945. Lee is returning to the squad after a three-year hitch in the Navy. As the roster now stands, it appears that Coach Curly Lambeau has sufficient material on hand to start practice tomorrow if he would care to. However, several other veterans and a handful of rookies are expected to return contracts in the near future to make the squad the largest in the 27-year history of the team. Signed are 15 backs, five centers, and eight each of tackles, guards and ends.
PACKER DRAFTEE DECIDED TO TRY BASEBALL INSTEAD
JUN 12 (Ann Arbor, MI) - Bob Nussbaumer, 22-year old University of Michigan football and baseball player from Oak Park, Ill., said today he has signed a contract with the Philadelphia Phillies at a bonus of $15,080. Nussbaumer said he would report to the Phillies June 23 for duty with the Utica, N.Y., Class A farm club. A centerfielder, he batted .385 this year with Michigan and will compete in the All-Star college game at Boston Friday. Nussbaumer was an all-state football player at Oak Park High school and a speedy halfback for Michigan in 1942, 1943 and 1945. He said he had received cash bonus offers from four other major league teams. Nussbaumer was drawn by the Green Bay Packers in the professional football draft this year but rejected the gridiron in favor of baseball. He will not graduate this semester but planned to return in the fall to complete work for his degree. A Marine dischargee, he has a year of football eligibility remaining.
MR. AND MRS. ANDY KOSMAC ARRIVES; HUBBY FIRST 'DRAFTEE; IN CAMP
JUN 20 (Green Bay) - Mr. and Mrs. Andrew J. Kosmac, freshly married and fortified with a pair of B.C. degrees in agriculture, have moved to Green Bay. The couple graduated recently from Louisiana State university at Baton Rouge, and then set off to Extension, La., her home, to get married. They went out east to visit Plains, Ga., the place Kosmac calls home. From Plains, the Kosmacs boarded a train and headed for Green Bay, arriving here Wednesday after being held up by a tornado which, incidentally, didn't bother Andrew because he slept through it somewhere in southern Michigan. Why did they come to Green Bay? It was this way: Kosmac, a young man of 25 and carrying 210 pounds on a 6-foot, 1-inch frame, was selected by the Green Bay Packers on the 1946 draft, and he's the first draftee to report here this season. Kosmac plans to work in Green Bay before changing employment Aug. 10. A center or blocking back, Kosmac was selected by Coach Curly Lambeau as a center. He played that position and captained the 1945 Louisiana State team which used the T-formation. Before he went into service in 1942, Louisiana State applied the single wing and Kosmac operated as a blocking back...RAN CENTURY IN 10.8:: Kosmac, who calls himself a White Russian, was the fastest man in the Louisiana State line. Using the 100-yard dash as a measure, Kosmac ran the distance in 10.8 seconds - fully equipped. Kosmac is a veteran of 20 months' service in the U.S. Marine Corps, and received a medical discharge in 1945. About Mrs. Kosmac? She was reared on a 14,000-acre plantation in Louisiana. Her father has 500 head of cattle and several thousand acres in cotton. And Andy added: "Her degree in agriculture really came easy!"...LOBBY TALK: There was a lot of football talent, mostly proven, in the lobby of the Astor hotel Wednesday when the Kosmacs came in with center (Capt.) Charley Brock. Waiting with a 300-pound greeting was Tiny Croft, the tackle, and it wasn't long before Assistant Coach Don Hutson ambled over from across the street, at the yell of Packer scout Bob Conrad, to meet Kosmac. A bit later, Ken (Red) Keuper, the Georgia Tech back, strolled in. Kosmac and Hutson had quite a chat and it was the first time Andy had ever met the nation's all-everything end. Keuper is living at 600 Ethyl street with his wife and child until grid practice starts, when he'll move out to Rockwood lodge.
ERNIE SMITH NEW PACKER SCOUT ON WEST COAST; PREGULAMAN IN STAR TILT?...HUTSON GETS MUMPS
JUN 26 (Green Bay) - Ernie Smith, a tackle who rates the Green Bay Packer all-time scoring list, is back on the Packer payroll - in the role of a scout. Coach Curly Lambeau wired today from the west coast that Smith will operate as a Packer scout on the west coast. Smith was discharged from the Army last month after serving four and a half years. Lambeau met him while scouting for talent on the west coast two weeks ago. Smith, who started his Packer playing career in 1935, is the second non-player to sign with the Bays this season. The other is Wally Cruice who will do promotional work in Green Bay and Milwaukee. The big bald tackle never scored a touchdown for the Packers but used his big right toe to good advantage in the point after touchdown and field goal department. He booted PATs and seven field goals for a total of 66 points. He is 17th on the all-time scoring list. Addition of Smith and Cruice gives the Packers 46 signees, 44 of whom are gridders. Latest to sign was Bill Kuusisto, left guard, who will be starting his sixth season...RUMOR FOUNDRY: That little bird who flies around with little bits of news has this to say: Mervin Pregulman, new Green Bay Packer center, will play with the Chicago All-Stars against Cleveland at Chicago in August. Pregulman, ex-Michigan great, who can double at guard or tackle, was first on the Packer draft list in 1944. Members of the Star outfit are now being announced. Latest announcees are Bill Daley, Minnesota, and Elroy Hirsch, Wisconsin. Incidentally, Dick Wildung, also of the Packers, probably will get a bid for the Star team too...THE MUMPS: Don Hutson, assistant Packer coach, shot a 40-41-81 at Oneida Golf and Riding club last Saturday and then went home with the mumps, and it appears that those child's diseases, which evaded him as a lad, are catching up with him. Measles, chicken pox and whooping cough are next. Don came out for the first time today...SCORING: Speaking about scoring, etc., above, it may be interesting to know that Glen Sorenson, guard, and Cal Clemens, blocking back, are at the bottom of the Packers' all-time scoring list with one point apiece. Naturally, each made a point after touchdown. Clemens played one season, 1936. Hutson, of course, is the leader with 728 points.
CENTER PREGULMAN, PACKER DRAFT CHOICE, TO PLAY WITH ALL-STARS; BAYS OPEN PRACTICE AUG. 12
JUL 2 (Green Bay) - Center Marv Pregulman of Michigan, the No. 1 choice of the Packers in the National league selection two years ago, has been named to the College All-Star squad which will tangle with the Los Angeles Rams Aug. 23 in Soldier field. Official announcement in Chicago that Pregulman had been selected was made Monday night, confirming a Press-Gazette repot about 10 days ago. Pregulman was one of a pair of centers named to the All-Star squad for the 13th renewal of the football classic. The other pivot chosen is Herb Coleman of Notre Dame. They are in addition to six others named to what may be the most potent All-Star squad put together by Chicago promoters of the spectacle. Selection of Pregulman will prevent him from starting practice with the Packers Aug. 12 for a series of three preseason practice tilts and an 11-game championship schedule. The ex-Wolverine star, however, will be in good shape when reporting here about Aug. 26...PLAY EAGLES IN MILWAUKEE: Shortly after that date the Bays will get their first preseason test against Philadelphia in a night contest at State Fair park Sept. 6. The next exhibition will be Sept. 10 against Washington at Denver and the third against New York at the Polo Grounds Sept. 20. Coach Curly Lambeau is scheduled to return from the west coast later this week to begin final preparations for the opening of practice. Forty-five candidates are already listed on the roster and an additional dozen or so are expected to be lined up before the first whistle blast opens drills. As now constructed, the 1946 Packer squad has a generous sprinkling of rookies, practically all of whom starred during their college days. Some of them, however, have been away from football for a season or two, while wearing the togs of Uncle Sam and they may find it difficult to get into shape for the rough, tough going in the pro league...MUST CUT SQUAD TO 33: It is probable that one of Lambeau's big headaches this season will be to pare the squad to the league player limit of 33 before the season opener at City stadium against the Chicago Bears Sept. 29. The three exhibitions should give the coach a good line on the talent likely to make a go of it in the pro game. Now under contract are 16 backs, five centers, eight guards, eight tackles, and eight ends.
GRID PUBLICITY HEADS TO MEET
JUL 8 (Green Bay) - Public relations representatives of eight clubs in the NFL will gather at the Edison hotel in New York City Tuesday and Wednesday to chart plans for the 1946 season. Arthur J. Daley, sports editor of the Press-Gazette, will represent the Green Bay Packers at the session which will be presided over by George Strickler, the league's publicity chief. The Packers' publicity arm will be extended from coast to coast this season since the Cleveland Rams have been moved to Los Angeles. Other teams to be represented include Washington, New York Giants, Chicago Bears and Cardinals, Pittsburgh, Boston, Detroit and Philadelphia.
CARL MRAZ NAMED TICKET SALE HEAD FOR PACKER CLUB
JUL 11 (Green Bay) - Carl Mraz has been named director of ticket sales for the Green Bay Packers, Inc. He succeeds Ralph C. Smith, who resigned. Mraz has been associated with the ticket sales department for a number of years and is well qualified to take over the assignment. The new ticket boss is a veteran employee of the Kellogg Citizens bank in Green Bay.
EVERY N.L. TOWN IS YOUR HOMETOWN - PRO SLOGAN; WHAT ABOUT DON HUTSON?
JUL 12 (Green Bay) - Publicity agents of eight of the ten clubs in the NFL were home today with a lot of new ideas on "how to win friends and influence people." The lads who upset the ink wells for the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Chicago Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Yanks, Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Detroit Lions met in secret session in the Edison hotel, off the field of the home of the New York Yankees baseballer, in New York City Tuesday and Wednesday. Not represented were the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins, both of whom will hear about the new publicity campaign via letter. The New York gathering, longest of its kind ever held by the league, was in charge of George Strickler, public relations chief for the National league. Bert Bell, former Philadelphia coach and now league commissioner, was the chief speaker at the informal meet. Most of the chatter was just plain "shop talk" and would be boring to recite in this piece. However, there is one point worth bringing home to you Green Bay Packers sisters and brethren. It goes like this: Every league town is your hometown. Those seven words were displayed on a large poster over the head of Strickler. Those words have a particular meaning for the simple reason that one club can't operate without the help of the nine others. In other words, what one club does is the business of every other club in the league as well as every fan in the nine league cities. A spirit of cooperation was pounded home by Bell throughout the meeting. This so-called cooperation, however, must cease on the field - a place where the principals of the circuit engage in the game of football...There was a lot of chatter about the 1946 season, and some of it was
mighty interesting; particularly that old subject about Don Hutson playing again. The Adams Street Merchant, we volunteered, is getting at that age where those corners come up a bit too fast for him to make a turn. This statement was made with the tongue in cheek because nobody knows except probably Lambeau. And don't take too much stock in those so-called "corners" mentioned above. Don hasn't. In answer to the "getting old" quotation, which, incidentally, is getting to be quite funny in view of the fact that Hutson seems to have no age limit, the man from Boston, a Mr. Murray, and Mr. Ennis of Philadelphia, piped: "Are you kidding?" This writer immediately blushed a deep purple because indirectly we were being accused of telling a fib. Ain't it awful. But let's wait and see.
LAMBEAU'S BACK; PACKERS HUM
JUL 12 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau returned to his Northern building headquarters today following a scouting tour and vacation on the west coast. The Packer pilot plunged into a desk loaded with football data and prepared to clear things away for opening of practice at Rockwood lodge a month from today.
FORMER FULLBACK OF PACKERS JOINS INSURANCE FIRM
JUL 16 (Green Bay) - Clarke Hinkle of professional football fame has decided to quit the sport that brought him national prominence and devote his working hours to a considerably less spectacular business. Hinkle has signed up as an agent of the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance company here. During the war Hinkle served with the Coast Guard, holding the rank of lieutenant commander at the time of his discharge. Only this week Hinkle turned down an offer of a coaching job on the west coast. He also has refused to be temped by suggestions that he might play professional football another season or two. "Football is a grand game," he declared, "but I've decided to go into business and I feel that this is the time to start." He and his wife recently bought a home at 448 N. Ontario street in De Pere.
BILL JOHNSON AGREES TO 1946 PACKER TERMS
JUL 19 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau's late mail Thursday confirmed this message: "I agree with terms set forth by the Green Bay Packers and will report for practice in August." The signature under this short but welcome letter was William R. Johnson. Better known as Bill, right end Johnson is the fifth Minnesota product to register his desires to play with the 1946 Packers. Bill, now living in Minneapolis, will sign his contract when he arrives here. There are a couple, three other Minnesota boys around who may join the Packers but they haven't signed yet, and to mention their names would be a lot of wishful thinking. Johnson, who is no stranger around these woods, is the 46th Packer to add his name to Lambeau's list. The Bays now have nine ends...SHINES ON DEFENSE: Lambeau thinks a a lot of Johnson, who played with the Bays in 1941 after which he entered the Air Corps and later became a pilot. Johnson shines as a defensive end. He's rugged and likes to mix it with opposing blockers. In 1941, the years the Packers won 10 and lost only one game before losing a special Western division playoff, Johnson was used chiefly on defense, although he got many assignments on power plays because of his ability as a blocker. The Packer coach left Thursday evening for a few days in the east and will return Monday. His business is secret, as it should be these days, although he announced before leaving that he expects to interview several players. Lambeau has exactly two dozen days, counting today, before 1946 practice opens at Rockwood lodge Aug. 12, which is the Packers' official opening date. The players are expected to start gathering there shortly after Aug. 1. Tony Canadeo, Charley Brock, Bill Lee and several others have already started exercising at the old practice field near City stadium, while Andy Kosmac, new center, Paul Lipscomb and several others have moved out to Rockwood and are helping Ira Clark get the field in shape...OPEN WITH EXHIBITION: Three weeks after opening of practice the Packers will get their first taste of competition in an exhibition against the Philadelphia Eagles in a night game at State fair park in Milwaukee. The game is scheduled Sept. 6.
PACKER SEASON TICKETS SALE UP 20 PCT. OVER 1945; THERE'S NO TIME TO SQUANDER NOW
JUL 21 (Green Bay) - Forget the heat and baseball a moment, fans! Because this is a yarn about your plans for the Sunday afternoons of Sept. 29, Oct. 20 and Nov. 24. On those afternoons, come rain or shine, the Green Bay Packers will meet the Chicago Bears, Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals, respectively, at City stadium. And since we haven't mentioned what's cooking on those days yet, it must - in the interest of accuracy - be reported that the abovementioned afternoons have been set aside for three games of football, the sport that "has made and is making" Green Bay famous throughout the world. To get to the crux of today's situation, we'll quote Carl Mraz, Packer ticket director, as follows: "Purchases of season tickets for the Packers' three home games are up more than 20 percent over 1945. Thus far, 1,200 reminders (letters or cards) have been sent to 'old' ticket holders. Already, about 750 have been returned. A year ago when the same number of reminders has been sent out, only 550 or 660 had been returned by this date." Mraz, who is being assisted by Don Clancy at the ticket office in the Legion building, reported that the 1,200 reminders represented about 5,600 tickets. The ticket office will be opened about Aug. 1 FOR SEASON TICKET BUSINESS ONLY. No orders for single game tickets will be filled until the end of August, Mraz reported. The director requested that all season ticket holders who received cards or letters should return or mail them to the ticket office not later than Aug. 1. If you are planning a budget, here are the season ticket prices for the only two sections in which the Packer corporation is selling season tickets: Sections E-F, $14.40; Sections D-G, $10.80. Prices for the other sections, seats in which will be sold in "single file" at the end of August are: Sections P-O, $4.80; Sections C-H-L-M-Q-R, $3.60; Sections B-J-K-S, $3.00; Sections A-AA-BB-KK-LL-V-W-X, $2.40; Sections CC-DD-II-JJ, $1.80; Sections EE-FF-GG-HH, $1.20. The ticket office has received a large number of requests for single game tickets but no action will be taken on them until the end of August. Mraz reported that the season ticket business comes first.
ADKINS SET FOR PACKERS
JUL 22 (Green Bay) - Green Bay Packer poundage neared the 10,000 mark today as Coach Curly Lambeau came up with a 215-pound blocking back - all signed and sealed. The gent is Bob Adkins, whose name is familiar in football circles around here because he played some last year and back in 1940 and 1941 before he went into service. Adkins is the 47th Packer in Lambeau's book of contracts and the fourth blocking back. He is one of two veteran BB's, the other being Ken Keuper, the redhead who came to Green Bay about a month ago. Other blocking backs are Jim Hough of Clemson and Horace
Young of SMU. The former Marshall star from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, is the 17th back under contract. He stands an even 6 feet and his weight will drop to about 208 during the season. If you are interested, Adkins is 28 and single. Lambeau now has nearly five tons of players to move about come August 12 when the season starts - 9,400 pounds to be exact figuring each lad for 200 pounds. The weight, on the present 47, is expected to shrink down to about 9,000 pounds about three days after practice starts. Lambeau was back in his office today after a quick trip east for talks with various players and several club officials. Though the Packer coach is quiet on developments over the weekend, this week promises to be a big one along Packer frontage. Besides player contract action, things are starting to pop at Rockwood lodge where the Packers will practice this season.
PACKER LEGION ALL-STAR GRID TILT AT CITY STADIUM AUG. 28
JUL 23 (Green Bay) - This story is about the Packer Legion All-Star Football Game! Sponsored by the Sullivan-Wallen Post No. 11 American Legion, a regulation football game between two powerful, well-balanced Packer teams will be played at City stadium on the night of Wednesday, Aug. 28. Kickoff will be at 8 o'clock. Announcement of the game - the fourth home contest for the Packers - was made today by Walter C. Scherf, general chairman of the contest, who is being assisted by Cletus Chadek, incoming post commander. Arrangements were completed at a meeting with Packer coach Curly Lambeau in his offices this morning. The contest will be played as a benefit for the Legion building fund, and Legion officials are hopeful that the stadium, which has a seating capacity of 23,334, will be filled for the classic event. Here is one point Scherf and Lambeau want to stress: The contest will NOT be a scrimmage; it will be a regulation 60-minute battle, which will determined the futures of 60-odd pro grid veterans and rookies. This means just one thing: That when those clubs are split up about 10 days before the night of Aug. 28, the players from each team will be geared and spirited for this one big night which will be a turning point in most of the careers...BIG PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN: Scherf announced that the Green Bay Legion chapter will go "all out" in promotion of the game. A statewide campaign will be put on, with most emphasis on communities in Northeastern Wisconsin as well as cities like Fond du Lac, Oshkosh, Appleton, Kaukauna, Manitowoc, Sheboygan and many others. Fans from the upper peninsula are also expected to come down for the program. Popular prices will prevail for the contest, with $1.50 being tops for the center sections on each side of the stadium. Seats in sections adjacent to the center units and as far as the zero-yard line will got for an even dollar. All end zone seats have been priced at 50 cents. At a recent meeting of the Legion, it was decided to name the contest the Packer Legion All-Star Game. Though many of the Packers are well known in these parts, there will be approximately 30 newcomers who will be making their debut. For this reason, it was decided to book the contest as an All-Star battle...CAREERS ON BLOCK: Although there will be no championship at stake, Scherf and Lambeau emphasized the fact that nearly all of the players will have their careers on the block. Let's take a few examples to show you why the Legion All-Star game will be a knock-'em-down, drag-'em-out contest. The center position is a good sample, Probably on one sixe will be Charley Brock, all-NFL pivot man. Opposing him and fighting for a chance to remain in the pro ranks will be two All-Americans - Buddy Gatewood of Baylor, and Merv Pregulman of Michigan. The tackles also produce an interesting study and should result in a lot of action on the night of Aug. 28. There are two All-American lads from Minnesota - Dick Wildung and Urban Odson - who may work against such veterans as Bill Lee, Baby Ray and Tiny Croft. However, Lambeau will not pit an entire veteran team against a rookie aggregation but the players will be split up to give each club balance and at the same time produce tough competition. This means that each club will be sprinkled liberally with veterans, although in almost every slot some rookie hot shot will be doing his stuff against a vet. The backfield of the two clubs will warrant plenty of attention from Lambeau and stand to cause a lot of interesting comment from the fans. But how the backs line up will depend a lot on what happens when practice officially starts at Rockwood lodge Aug. 12...RAZOR-SHARP CONDITION: The Packers will be in razor-sharp condition for the contest to be held exactly 16 days after practice opens. However, about 75 percent of the athletes are expected to start working out no later than Aug. 1. Already some of the backs and linemen are exercising at the Rockwood lodge, new home of the Bays...PREGAME CEREMONY: The Legion post is working out plans for a program which will preceded the Packer Legion All-Star game. In addition, all of the players will be introduced in All-Star fashion before the contest...LINEUPS: Lambeau expects to announce the starting lineups about 10 days before game time. It will be the first time the Packer coach will get to see most of his players under fire. Lambeau is sold completely on the game and believes it will make the Packers tougher for the 1946 league season... ENEMIES: For 10 days or two weeks before the night of Aug. 28, the Packers will be "enemies". The two clubs will get separate signals and may even practice on separate lots. And, buddy, all this makes for a lot of competition for the Legion All-Star game.
RUFFA, DUKE GUARD, 48TH TO JOIN PACKERS
JUL 24 (Green Bay) - A former Duke university All-American was added to the Green Bay Packer roster today by Coach Curly Lambeau. He is Tony Ruffa, a 215-pound, 6-foot block of muscle. Ruffa is the 48th player to join the Packer roster. He's coming here as a guard, although he won nationwide collegiate honors at tackle. He can play either guard slot, and, of course, can fill in at tackle. Ruffa closed his college career in 1941, and, like most of this year's outfit, was called into the Army. He's 28 and single and calls Washington, Pa., his hometown. A Chi Phi man, Ruffa also earned two letters in baseball in Duke. Besides being a bear on defense, Ruffa brings with him quite a reputation as an offensive scoring threat. At Duke, Tony scored forty points in his three seasons without carrying the ball over. Needless to explain, Ruffa is an expert at kicking field goals and points after touchdown. And it might be added. Green Bay hasn't had a guard who could consistently click on PATs or FGs since Blonde Paul (Tiny) Engebretsen put his cleats away in 1941. Tiny never scored a touchdown but he kicked 48 points after touchdown and 16 field goals for 96 points - tenth in the Bays' all-time scoring list. Ruffa is no stranger to some of the stars he'll meet around the NFL. Back on Jan. 1, 1941, Tony played with this section of the U.S. in the East-West game in San Francisco and late that summer was named on the College All-Star club. He played with Ed Frutig, former Packer, Norm Standlee and Hugh Gallarneau in the '41 Star tilt. Bill Johnson, newly-signed Packer end, formerly of Minnesota, and Frutig, ex-Michigan, played with Ruffa on the East team...MANY ARE STILL UNSIGNED: With four dozen stars under his belt, Lambeau was still about 12 or 15 players short of his 1946 goal of 60 or more. There are a number of famous Packer names still
missing such as Larry Craig, Baby Ray, Lou Brock, Andy Uram - to mention a few. However, the situation isn't alarming and a mess of contracts are expected in Lambeau's office during the next two weeks. Packer practice is officially scheduled to start two weeks from next Monday at Rockwood lodge, although in another week a large number of early birds are expected to gather at Rockwood in an effort to catch that proverbial worm. The first big test for the Packers will take place at City stadium on the night of Wednesday, Aug. 28, for the Packer Legion All-Star battle. Two picked teams will collide in the contest which will be the highlight of the early-season campaign. After the stadium match, the Packers will launch a three-game exhibition tour...BIG NUMBERS: The Packers now have 17 backs, five centers, nine ends under contract. Who's going to be No. 50? Hope he's a "hot" one, and, just as a thought, why not put No. 50 on his back...MORE SEATS: State Fair park, Milwaukee, home of the Green Bay Packers, have been enlarged by 9,000 sears, making the park's capacity 30,413. New stands seating 900 persons have been erected on the east side and the old east side stands will be placed around both end zones. Add the Milwaukee capacity to that of City stadium (23.335) and you have 53,748. Overflow and "squeezage" at both places could boost that total to 60,000.
PACKER DEALING WITH REDSKINS FOR SERVICE OF FULLBACK HARE
JUL 25 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau labeled false today reports from Washington that the Redskins had sold fullback Cecil Hare to the Green Bay Packers. Lambeau announced that negotiations between the two clubs concerning the sale of Hare are now being conducted. Sale of Hare in a straight cash transaction was reported over the Associated Press wires Wednesday night. Hare, whose home is in Spokane, Wash., joined the Washington club in 1941, after playing his college football with Packer Tony Canadeo at Gonzaga. It was the same year Canadeo came to Green Bay. Hare played on the 1942 Redskin team which won the NFL championship. Rejoining the Redskins last season after a team in the armed forces, Hare was used mostly as a linebacker on defense.
49TH PACKER - CHARLEY FISHER - RUNS AN HOUR EVERY DAY; HE'S SECOND RIGHT HALFBACK TO JOIN OUTFIT
JUL 29 (Green Bay) - A guy who has been running one hour almost every day in the last eight years was No. 49 on the Green Bay roster today. He is Charley Fisher, late of (1) Antigo High school; (2) Tulane university; and (3) the U.S. Army. To say the least, Fisher is the kind of guy Coach Curly Lambeau likes because the Packer mentor is a stickler for proper training and condition. Fisher is a right halfback - a scarcity on the present Packer roster. The only other such "animal" is Herman Rohrig, the veteran Packer from Nebraska. However, Lambeau has six left halfbacks, four blocking backs and six fullbacks to change into a right half if necessary. Fisher played high school ball under George Svendsen, the former Packer center, who took up prep coaching at Antigo when he closed his pro career. He played a couple of years at Tulane before Uncle Sam tabbed him for infantry duty in 1942, and when the war ended he got in some army football licks in Europe. He's been out of the service since last spring. The newcomer weighs 205 pounds and stands an inch under six feet. He can run the 100-yard dash in 10.2 seconds despite the load of a grid uniform. Fisher comes here recommended by Svendson, and a host of Lambeau scouts who saw him play at Tulane. The boy has the natural ability they all report, and with his "special" attitude he should make good in pro football...LAMBEAU STILL AHEAD: Though there are at least 10 or 15 names to be added to the Packer roster during the next 10 days or two weeks, Lambeau is still ahead of himself in preparations for 1946...GRID TEACHERS: Three Packers, Irv Comp, Jimmy Richardson and Russ Letlow, and a former Packer, Buckets Goldenberg, were in charge of a football clinic as part of Milwaukee's Centurama program today. Autographed photos of Curly Lambeau and Don Hutson were given away during the show...DIAMOND GRID: Ted Fritsch, former Packer fullback and late of the Cleveland Browns, is playing baseball on the side in Manitowoc. He dropped into Green Bay over the weekend to jaw with friends...ARRIVALS: Latest arrivals include Buddy Gatewood, the All-American center from Baylor, and tackle Bubo Barnett, also of Baylor. Due in this week is Herman Rohrig, right halfback...WITH BEARS: Don Perkins, former Packer fullback, has signed a Bear contract for 1946. He joined the Chicago outfit last November after his release by Green Bay. Perkins, according to George Halas, will cut the buck as he is fast enough to sweep the ends from the fullback position and is vital to the T formation. But we shall see come Bear-Packer time Sept. 29.
NUSSBAUMER, ACE MICHIGAN BACK, 50TH TO JOIN GREEN BAY PACKERS
JUL 30 (Green Bay) - Bob Nussbaumer, who danced along side of Elroy Hirsch at Michigan in 1943, will bring his light feet to the aid of the Green Bay Packers in 1946. A speed demon and a shifty critter, Nussbaumer is the 50th gent to accept terms with Coach Curly Lambeau's newest addition to the NFL. He has been designated by Lambeau as a right halfback - the third on the 1946 roster. The others are Herman Rohrig and Charley Fisher, the newcomer from Antigo High school and Tulane university. Nussbaumer is the second Michigan ace to join the Packers and the second Bay representative on the College All-Star club which will meet the Los Angeles Rams in Chicago August 23, the other being Merv Pregulman. In short, these two lads will report to the Packers in "game" condition Saturday or Sunday, Aug. 24 or 25, and will be ready for the Packer Legion All-Star game at City stadium Wednesday night, Aug. 28. A native of Oak Park, Ill., Nussbaumer was a member of Michigan's Western conference championship in 1943, which also numbered Bill Daley and Hirsch. Nussbaumer was played at right halfback until Hirsch was injured. Then Bob took the Wisconsin boy's place at left half the remainder of the season. In 1944 and 1945, Nussbaumer played at right half...HOT AGAINST PURDUE: Single and 22, Nussbaumer weighs 175 and stands 5 feet, 11 inches tall. His most spectacular games were against Purdue when he made two touchdowns each in 1944 and 1945. Last season after his return from the marines, Bob caught scoring passes from Pete Elliott for 54 and 51 yards against the Boilermakers. The previous year, Bob slightly upset the Purdues with two scoring gallops, one for 60 yards. His specialty is running reverses and catching passes - a couple of important items in Lambeau's offensive. Oddly enough, Nussbaumer is the 25th rookie to join the club, giving the Packers an even number of rookies and veterans thus far.
BABY RAY SIGNS FOR 9TH PACKER SEASON
JUL 31 (Green Bay) - Old No, 44 was No. 51 on the Green Bay Packers' 1946 roster today. And if you don't know who wears No. 44, you aren't on the Packer beam because big Buford (Baby) Ray has been draping that number around here for the last eight years. All of which makes the former Vanderbilt moose in his ninth season with the Packers. With this big hunk of man in the fold, Coach Curly Lambeau now has nine tackles in the running for the 1946 squad. Only three are rookies, but what rookies. Two are the Minnesota twins - Dick Wildung and Urban Odson - and the third is Tiny McLaughlin of St. Norbert. Veteran tackles besides Ray are Bill Lee, Bubo Barnett, Tiny Croft, Paul Lipscomb and Ed Neal. The tackle position is probably the best fortified of any slot on the 1946 team, with weights as well as experience. The nine gents total slightly over one ton and the six veterans have a total of 22 years of pro experience under their belts. For the benefit of the many newcomers in the city we will recite some Ray statistics: Ray stands six feet, six inches; weighs 250 pounds; is 31 years old; is married (two children); likes hunting and fishing; and loves to play football. Big Bay has been named all-National league tackle several times and last season made the National league's No. 2 squad. Ray is the third tackle to sign, the others being Barnett and Wildung. At right tackle, Lambeau has Odson, Croft, Lipscomb and Neal. McLaughlin played right tackle at St. Norbert but he may be switched to left to balance out the Packer line...BABY RAY STUFF: Back in 1937 when Buford joined the Packers, the big tackle was wanted badly by George Halas, Bear coach, but Lambeau was there "firstest" with a good selling point - the City of Green Bay. Ray never was injured seriously in his 15 years of football, eight with the Bays, four with Vanderbilt and three with Nashville high. And he never played anything but tackle. Ancestors were Scotch and Irish. Ray always claimed he wasn't a big eater, compared to what a lot of comparatively little fellows consume. The big boy is expected to report here next week. He's only been late for practice once and that was in 1942 when he lost his gas ration coupons somewhere in Illinois. The QPA here finally got him loose - or some coupons.
TICKETS GO ON SALE FOR LEGION STAR TILT
AUG 1 (Green Bay) - Tickets for the big Packer Legion All-Star football game at City stadium Wednesday night Aug. 28 went on sale today at the Packer ticket office in the Legion building. The ducats - regulation size just like the game will be - were received from the printers Wednesday and are now being "broken down" into the various sections. E.A. (Spike) Spachmann, director of ticket sales for the contest, announced today that tickets will be sold every afternoon until a week or 10 days before game time when the office will be open for business in the evenings as well. Spachmann is being assisted by Mary Vogels who is now sorting the tickets. Spachmann also announced that holders of season tickets in the E and F sections will be given an opportunity to watch the All-Star fracas from their usual seat. They are being notified by telephone and mail.
KIESLING, 3 MORE PACKERS ARRIVE
AUG 2 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers "intown" roster swelled to 15 players and three coaches today as three gridders and Line Coach Walt Kiesling made their appearance. Kiesling didn't waste any time as he checked in at the Astor hotel and then scooted over to see Coach Curly Lambeau and Assistant Coach Don Hutson. He arrived early this afternoon from St. Paul, Minn., where he lives during the offseason. Players arriving today were right halfback Herman Rohrig, left halfback Cliff Aberson and right end Don Wells. Lambeau, Kiesling and Huston will meet every day before practice opens Monday morning, Aug. 12, to go over 1946 strategy. Lambeau has been spending the past month drawing up plays and defenses for the various opponents - not to mention one or two offensive variations. The 15 lads here now are spending most of their time playing golf, which, Lambeau believes, is an excellent way to get their legs into condition. Several of the boys spend an hour every evening running around City stadium, while some are working out at Rockwood lodge. Players around town besides those mentioned above include Charley Brock, Paul Lipscomb, Ken Keuper, Andy Kosmac, Bill Lee, Stan Kramer, Tony Canadeo, Charley Tollefson, Tiny Croft, Carl Mulleneaux, Roy McKay and Bob Adkins...LEGION GAME: Plans went ahead today for the sale of tickets to the Packer Legion All-Star contest at City stadium Wednesday night, Aug. 28. The ticket office in the Legion building will be open all day (9 to 12 and 1 to 5) until the week of Aug. 12 when the week of Aug. 12 when the hours will be from 9 to 12, 1 to 5 and 7 to 9...GRID FAMILY: Carl Mulleneaux, Packer end, and his three brothers all played football. Carl put in his six years with the Packers, three with Utah State college. Ned played three years with the University of Arizona. C. Lee played three years with Arizona State and 10 years with the Giants, Steelers, Cardinals and Packers, and Robert played three years with Arizona State Teachers. That makes a total of 28 years, not counting prep ball.
PACKERS OBTAIN MITCHELL FOR RIGHT HALF POSITION
AUG 3 (Green Bay) - Tulsa, Okla., one of the most modern cities in this old U.S. has taken another step toward moving to one of the fastest-growing cities in this old U.S. - Green Bay. It developed this morning when the Green Bay Packers signed their fifth gentleman from Tulsa university, and they're all residents of the city. No. 5 is Charley Mitchell, a right halfback. The Chicago Bears must be mentioned in connection with this piece because it was through the Bears that Coach Curly Lambeau was able to add this extra burst of speed to the right halfback position. Mitchell was the property of the Bears but the Packers got him by giving contract rights to Tom Ferris, the former Wisconsin back, to the Bruins. However, it is hereby sadly stated that Ferris is believed to be one of those lads who is interested in jumping to the other side of the fence; namely, the Chicago R----- of the All----- conference. At any rate, the Packers have Mitchell and the Bears don't have Ferris yet, and Lambeau is right proud of the boy who is supposed to be on his way here together with the other Tulsa boys - ends Nolan Luhn, Clyde Goodnight; fullback Allen Smith; and guard Wilder Collins. Mitchell is no stranger to the Packers, He started on the 1945 College All-Star team against Lambeau's unit in Chicago last August. Lambeau fell for the boy right then and there. Charley is cut out for the Packer offensive and defensive methods, having operated from that type of formation with Tulsa. On the other hand, Ferris has some experience with the T at Wisconsin and could help the Bears - if Halas is able to get him. Mitchell stands 6 feet tall and weighs 190, and can run the 100 in 10 seconds. This gives Lambeau speed to burn at right halfback, what with veteran Herman Rohrig back and another 10-second lad, Bob Nussbaumer, under contract. Besides, Mitchell can catch passes like an end, and his pitching arm is said to be something to marvel at. The newcomer is the 52nd to sign thus far this year, and the fourth right back. Besides those mentioned, there is Charley Fisher, former Tulane ace who started his football under George Svendsen at Antigo High school. Things are really expected to pop next week - the last "rest" week before practice opens Aug. 12. Lambeau is expected to come out with a couple of big announcements and come next Saturday night, the 1946 squad will be pretty well intact. The 16th player to arrive, Ed Neal, the Tulane tackle, came in today. Also on hand is Walt Kiesling, line coach, who reported Friday.
50-50 CHANCE ON FRITSCH
AUG 5 (Green Bay) - Ted Fritsch, the all-NFL fullback in 1945, wants to play in Green Bay next fall. Packer Coach Curly Lambeau made that statement today after three-day conferences with the burly back here last week. After the meetings, Fritsch took off for the Cleveland Browns' training camp at Bowling Green, O., and their headquarters in Cleveland in an effort to get out of his contract. Fritsch signed with the Browns of the "other league" last winter, but repeated visits to Green Bay during the last five months have convinced the charging fullback that he should return to the Packers in 1946. Lambeau reported this morning there "there is still a 50-50 chance that Fritsch will return to Green Bay." In a
United Press story from Bowling Green today, it was reported that Fritsch was a week late in reporting to the Browns' training camp. It added that Coach Paul Brown could give no reason for the fullback's late appearance.
TED FRITSCH REPORTS TO CLEVELAND BROWNS
AUG 5 (Milwaukee Journal) - Any hopes that the Green Bay Packers had of luring Ted Fritsch back into their ranks for this season, faded, temporarily, at least, when the big fullback, reported to the Cleveland Browns of the All-America league at their training camp at Bowling Green, Ohio, Monday. Fritsch jumped to the Browns several months ago, receiving a bonus of $4,000, then apparently regretted his move and went back into consultation with Curly Lambeau. He had several talks with Lambeau last week, but left town without making known his decision. Monday he bobbed up with the Browns. The Browns started practice a week ago. Whether he will stick with his new team, however, remains to be seen. His regret upon having left the Packers was genuine. As a dissatisfied player, Fritsch may well try the Browns' patience, and if he does, he may still wind up with Green Bay.
LARRY CRAIG ON WAY TO PACKERVILLE
AUG 6 (Central, SC) - Larry Craig, a gentleman farmer in these parts, has left his country home here for his eighth annual fall vacation in Wisconsin. Mr. Craig expects to spend his time in Green Bay - about 40 miles north of Lake Winnebago, the largest inland body of fresh water in any one state. While in Green Bay, Mr. Craig will conduct business with Mr. E.L. Lambeau in regard to playing football with the local Packers in the NFL. It has been Mr. Craig's procedure in the last seven years to confer with Mr. Lambeau in person on the matter of signing his contract to play football. The Packer coach is awaiting Mr. Craig's arrival because the Packer team starts practice next Monday morning. Mr. Craig, who left here by motor Monday night, is expected to reach Green Bay late Wednesday or early Thursday...At his Green Bay office in the Northern building today, Lambeau had a number of items on the fire but very little was "definite", as it were. There was nothing new on the two fullbacks - Ted Fritsch and Cecil Hare. Fritsch was in Cleveland Monday in an effort to break his contract. Over the weekend, he told Lambeau that he wanted to play with the Packers, the club he started with four years ago after playing college ball at Central Teachers in Stevens Point. Hare was reported sold to the Packers a week ago but Lambeau labeled the report "absolutely false." The Packer coach, however, is conferring with Washington regarding possible sale of Hare...Craig was expected to meet with Lambeau Thursday or Friday and iron out a 1946 contract as well as ink it. Craig likes to wait until he gets to Green Bay before signing. The blocking quarterback scored his first touchdowns against the Bears in Chicago last year...Lambeau reported this morning that Lou Brock, who played right half and once in a while left for six years, has decided to quit professional football. Brock has gone into the real estate business with his brother-in-law in Indiana. It is possible, however, that Brock - come football time - may decide to return. Lou had trouble with his knee the first part of last season and it bothered him almost all year. At present, he is in great shape...Andy Uram, another right halfback who is now a Green Bay businessman, hasn't been heard from, although the ex-Minnesota great is working out regularly at the practice field near City stadium. Uram, however, is generally a late starter (or signer). Andy hasn't played since 1943, the intervening years having been spent in the army. Uram is tied with Bobby Monnett in the No. 8 position on the all-time Packer scoring list, each having 99 points. Uram, who came here in 1939, has 16 touchdowns and one extra point...SHORT BLOCKS: Ernie Pannell, former Packer tackle, is in the oil business in Houston, Tex. And he doesn't play to return to the pro ranks. Bruce Smith, ex-Minnesota and a Packer left halfback, arrived Tuesday together with ends Don Wells of Georgia and Granville Harrison of Mississippi State. Mrs. Sue L. Wallen, assistant manager of the Astor hotel, is putting up extra beds there to house the Packer players until a decision can be made on the Rockwood lodge.
30 PACKERS HERE, READY TO START DRILL MONDAY
AUG 7 (Green Bay) - There were nearly 6,000 pounds of beef - with a little fat - in Green Bay today and another shipment is due Thursday. The poundage represented an even 30 Green Bay Packer football players - more than half of Coach Curly Lambeau's 1946 squad which will launch NFL practice at Rockwood lodge at 10 o'clock Monday morning. The five Tulsa university boys dropped in today plus Bubo Barnett, the big tackle from Baylor. Tulsa representatives were Charlie Mitchell, right half; Allen Smith, fullback; Wilder Collins, right guard; left end Clyde Goodnight and right end Nolan Luhn. The contingent Tuesday included veteran guard Bill Kuusisto; Jimmy Richardson, the midget Marquette left halfback; right guard Al Sparlis of UCLA; blocking back Horace Young of Southern Methodist; and blocking back Jim Hough of Clemson. Other Packers around town include Charley Brock, Paul Lipscomb, Ken Keuper, Andy Kosmac, Bill Lee, Stan Kramer, Tony Canadeo, Charley Tollefson, Tiny Croft, Carl Mulleneaux, Roy McKay and Bob Adkins. Larry Craig, the gentleman farmer from Center, S.C., has not arrived up to noon today but Lambeau is expecting him either tonight or Thursday for a contract chat. Most of the 30 players took off for the practice field near City stadium and others went to Rockwood lodge to iron out winter and summer kinks. A lot of them are playing golf to loosen up their legs. The gridders here now represent a good distribution over the various positions. With the exception of Craig, Lambeau now has all of his blocking backs ready to go. The only left halfbacks missing are Russ Mosley of Alabama and Irv Comp who is expected to drive up from Milwaukee any day now. Andy Uram, the Minnesota star and war veteran, is the only missing right half. Uram hasn't signed yet, but he's been working out on his own. Others missing include fullbacks Bob Forte, Arkansas; Al Zupek, Lawrence; Walt Schlinkman, Texas Tech; Eddie Olds, Michigan; center Buddy Gatewood, Baylor; Tom Hand, Iowa; and Merv Pregulman, Michigan (now with the College All-Stars); guards, Joe Morris, North Texas
Teachers; Jug Bennett, Hardin-Simmons; Glen Sorenson, Utah, and Tony Ruffa, Duke; tackles, Tiny McLaughlin, St. Norbert; Urban Odson, Minnesota; Dick Wildung, Minnesota; ends, Harold Prescot, Hardin-Simmons; Henry Miller, Iowa; Bill Johnson, Minnesota. Bud Jorgenson, veteran Packer trainer, has opened up the dressing rooms at City stadium and also has moved part of his equipment out to Rockwood lodge. Jorgenson will be assisted this fall by Tim O' Brien, who recently finished four years of service in the army. O'Brien had assisted Jorgenson before he went into service. Jorgenson is awaiting arrival of new blue and gold jerseys and shoulder pads. The squad will be equipped with all new "clothes" for the 1946 season...R.M. Tetzlaff of the Sullivan-Wallen post No. 11, American Legion, has been appointed chairman of the ticket sale force committee for the Packer Legion All-Star football classic at City stadium Wednesday night, Aug. 28. Tetzlaff will head a staff of 100 men who will cover the city of Green Bay and cities in the Fox valley and northeastern Wisconsin. Ten key salesman will be appointed at a meeting of the committee last this week...About that Legion Packer All-Star game. here's the point to remember. Proceeds from the game will go into the Legion post's building fund. The Packers will received only enough money to cover expenses...Arnie Herber, the old Packer and later of the New York Giants, doesn't plan to return to the Giants this fall. He is in possession of a Giant contract, however.
PACKERS PUT ROCKWOOD IN SHAPE, 40 PACKERS WILL RESIDE THERE
AUG 8 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers organized a society Wednesday. It is called the E.L. Lambeau chapter, Beautify Your Home. The organization now has 10 members, but this number will be expanded to about 50 before the weekend. It all came about at Rockwood lodge Wednesday afternoon when Coach Curly Lambeau, scout Bob Conrad and 10 Packers decided to make the lodge building ready for use by Monday. Lambeau first conferred with Ira Clark, chief cook and bottle washer and soil expert, and then the players went to work. They swept; they dusted; they moved stuff in here and put it over there; they arranged the bedrooms; they helped in the kitchen; and, in short, they just plain worked for three hours. The result was very satisfying to Lambeau and his 10-man team because that crucial housing situation had been beaten. The lodge building is now ready to house about 40 players. However, there is a catch, as it were. The little things of life are missing; such as coat hangers, chests of drawers, tables, etc. In short, the place has the bare rudiments - beds, sheets, food, etc., but the boys still need something on which to hand their coats, place their shirt and ties. For this reason, Lambeau put out an SOS today for household articles. If you can furnish anything that would brighten up a bedroom, kindly call Adams 334, Curly's office, and a truck will be at your doorstep quicker than you can remember the date of the Packers' first game (Aug. 28, All-Stars at City stadium). The lads who worked so hard Wednesday were Bruce Smith, Stan Kramer, Bob Adkins, Russ Letlow, Ken Keuper, Herman Rohrig, Tex McKay, Paul Lipscomb, Carl Mulleneaux asnd Andy Kosmac. Lambeau reported that the lodge has plenty of food and the players are assured of a "regular training table" - an item the veteran coach has been harping on for over 25 years. The pilot and Clark pronounced the practice field at Rockwood "rather rocky" like the name Rockwood would indicate, and for this eason the team may do some of its drilling near City stadium. However, the entire crew will gather at the lodge at 10 o'clock Monday morning to start workouts...Latest arrivals were blocking back Larry Craig, fullback Fred Olds of Michigan State, left tackle Bob McLaughlin of St. Norbert, veteran left half Irv Comp and rookie Urban Odson, the big tackle from Minnesota. This gives the Packers 34 players in the city and the remainder are expected to come in before Saturday night.
SELL 2,000 TICKETS FOR PACKER LEGION TILT; CARDS, GIANTS LAUNCH PRACTICE IN STATE
AUG 9 (Green Bay) - Slightly over 2,000 tickets have been sold thus far for the Packer Legion All-Star football battle at City stadium Wednesday night, Aug. 28. R.M. Tetzlaff, chairman of the ticket sales force, reported today that "reception from the public has been very good in out first effort." A sales force of 10 key men was organized at a meeting of the Sullivan-Wallen Post No. 11 this week. They will be in charge of about 100 Legion men who will take part in the sales work in Green Bay, northeastern Wisconsin and Fox river valley communities...Along the player line, there was not a thing official today from Coach Curly Lambeau's office. Ted Fritsch, present or former Packer fullback, was supposed to have returned from Cleveland this morning. Fritsch went to Cleveland over the weekend in an effort to snap his 1946 contract with the Browns of the other league. Before leaving, Fritsch has a long conference with Lambeau and the fullback expressed the opinion that he'd like to return to Green Bay...Bay players continued to work at Rockwood lodge Thursday and today, and the building is just about ready for 40 players to move in Saturday night or Sunday morning. Several already have moved there. Practice will start there at 10 o'clock on Monday morning, and Lambeau expects to have about 53 players on hand...Two of the veterans around town, Larry Craig and Andy Uram, have yet to sign. Craig drove up from his home in Central, S.C., Wednesday and is working out on his own, as is Uram, who's in business here.
TED FRITSCH SEEKS CONTRACT RELEASE
AUG 8 (Milwaukee Journal) - Whether Ted Fritsch, backfield mainstay of the Green Bay Packers for several years, will be back with the team when it reports for practice next week was open to new speculation Thursday morning when it was learned that he had left Green Bay Monday with the avowed intention of obtaining a release from his contract with the Cleveland Browns of the new All-America league. In a long talk with Curly Lambeau, coach of the Packers, before leaving, Fritsch declared that he regretted that he had ever jumped Green Bay and that he would immediately go to the camp of the Browns at Bowling Green, Ohio, to obtain his release. He had been supposed to report a week earlier. Confusing reports were around Thursday morning about Fritsch's whereabouts. One had him still in Bowling Green, another back in Green Bay. The Bowling Green report proved correct. "He's still here with us and working out," declared Jim Wallace, publicity director of the Browns, over the telephone, "but whether he intends to stay I don't know. I don't know either whether he has talked to Brown about leaving us." Brown himself could not be reached for comment. In Green Bay, meanwhile, Lambeau still held out high hopes that Fritsch would be back. "He assured me that he would do all he could to be back with us, even said that if he couldn't get his release from the Browns, he would give up football for the year. Until I hear definitely from him one way or the other, I'm holding out hope he will be with us." The matter of a bonus he received from the Browns for signing with them is supposed to be the big stumbling block in any deal by which Fritsch hopes to get his release.
FRITSCH RETURN TO BAYS LIKELY
AUG 10 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers said Saturday that he expected fullback Ted Fritsch in to "talk contract" and indicated that the first deal between the NFL and All-America conference teams was in the making. Fritsch, star Packer fullback for several seasons, jumped to the Cleveland Browns of the AAC several months ago, but asked for release from the Browns contract recently so that he could rejoin the National league club. Lambeau said that he understood Fritsch would be released by the Browns and that as part of the arrangement, the Los Angeles Rams would relinquish any legal rights they have to Chet Adams and Gaylon Smith. Adams and Smith were members of the NFL champion Rams last year when the club represented Cleveland but signed contracts with the Browns for the 1946 season. Lambeau said the Rams wanted the Packers to reimburse them for the loss of Adams and Smith by transferring a Packer "name" player to Los Angeles, but that he had not agreed to do so.
TED FRITSCH REJOINS PACKERS AND SIGNS CONTRACTS
AUG 11 (Green Bay) - Ted Fritsch, star fullback of the Green Bay Packers, who jumped to the Cleveland Browns of the new All-America league several months ago, jumped back to the Green Bay Packers Saturday afternoon. Admitting he had erred in ever leaving the Packers and ignoring his almost fresh contract with Cleveland, Fritsch signed a new two year contract with Green Bay. "I would never have been happy with Cleveland," he said. "They treated me fine, but I just didn't feel right. My place is with Green Bay. I made a mistake." Whether the Browns will bring court action to try to restrain Fritsch from playing with any other club was not known here, but Curly Lambeau refused to be disturbed. "Fritsch was our property from the very beginning," he said. "We started him in pro ball and have had him in all his pro years. In our contract with him, which expired after the 1945 season, we had an option which permitted us to renew the contract if certain stipulations were filled. We filled them. And Fritsch signed." Fritsch's return was not entirely unexpected even if his signing was. He indicated before he left for the camp of the Browns at Bowling Green (Ohio) a week ago that he was leaving with the avowed interest of getting the club to release him. "And if worse comes to worse," he said at that time, "I will quit football. I'll either be with the Packers or no club." Fritsch worked out briefly with the Browns last week, talked things over with Coach Paul Brown and left Bowling Green Saturday morning. Earlier in the day, Brown announced in an
Associated Press story out of Bowling Green, that he would release Fritsch if the Los Angeles Rams would withdraw a suit they have pending against the Browns for the services of tackle Chet Adams and fullback Gaylon Smith. "If the Rams withdraw their suit against us," he was quoted as saying, "we will release Fritsch. Perhaps the Packers can then compensate the Rams with a name player." Adams and Smith both belong to the Rams but jumped to the Cleveland club several weeks ago. The Rams, in turn, brought suit to restrain the two from playing with any other club but Los Angeles. The suit will be heard in Cleveland August 26. Brown's announcement that he would release Fritsch, immediately brought statements from Chili Walsh, business manager of the Rams, Jim Crowley, commissioner of the new All-America league, Lambeau and Bert Bell, commissioner of the National league. Walsh in Los Angeles declared that under no conditions would he enter into a deal such as Brown suggested. "We or no other members of the NFL is making any deal with the All-America conference or any of its members. We are going to proceed with our suit." Crowley in New York declared that before the Cleveland club could send Fritsch back to Green Bay, every other club in the All-America league would have to waive on him. Lambeau in Green Bay flatly declared that he would never send a player to Los Angeles to get Fritsch back. And Bell in Philadelphia said such a deal would be entirely out of the question. "We're not making any deals with the All-America boys at all," Bell said. "We have our own league to worry about without having the All-America bring us any more troubles." With Fritsch back in Green Bay fold and with the next move up to the Browns, Lambeau Saturday night concentrated his attention on the start of practice at the new training lodge 12 miles outside of Green Bay.
FRITSCH QUITS CLEVELAND CAMP; NFL, AA REPORTED IN FIRST DEAL
AUG 10 (Green Bay) -The first deal between the NFL and the new All-America conference was reported by Coach Curly Lambeau, to be in the making today, with fullback Ted Fritsch scheduled to return to the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns to gain full title to two former members of the Los Angeles Rams. Fritsch, star Packer fullback for several season, jumped to the Cleveland Browns of the AAC several months ago but asked for release from the Brown contract recently so that he could rejoin the Packers. Lambeau said Fritsch was returning to Green Bay to talk contract. Lambeau said that he understood Fritsch would be released by the Browns and that as part of the deal, the Los Angeles Rams would relinquish any legal rights to Chet Adams and Gaylon Smith. Adams and Smith were members of the NFL champion Rams last year, when the club represented Cleveland, but signed contracts with the Browns for the 1946 season. Lambeau said the Rams wanted the Packers to reimburse then for the loss of Adams and Smith by transferring a Packer "name" player to Los Angeles, but that he hadn't agreed to do so...From Bowling Green, Ohio, the Associated Press reported that Browns' officials said Fritsch had left the Browns' practice field here and returned to the Packers, adding that if "Green Bay and the Rams fail to fulfill their part of the proposed deal, we will retain title to Fritsch's contract." General Manager-Coach Paul Brown said no communications had been made with the Rams in regard to the deal proposed. "We have been communicating with Green Bay officials on the question of returning Fritsch, and they have tentatively agreed to grant contract rights to one of their players now in service to the Rams. Packers and Rams officials then will be expected to work out their part of the deal," said Brown. The Rams filed suit in Cleveland federal court demanding that the Browns be restrained from holding contract rights to Adams. The Los Angeles club also threatened to sue for rights to Smith, if they won the Adams case, which has not yet come up for a hearing. Adams and Smith, both Cleveland residents, stated they would prefer to remain in Cleveland and would retire from pro football rather than play for the Rams in Los Angeles...Lambeau reported that Fritsch is due in Green Bay today "sometime". The two are expected to go into a contract huddle immediately...The coach announced this morning that two more players has signed 1946 contracts - Larry Craig, blocking back, and Charley Mitchell, right half. Craig has been in town since last Wednesday but came to terms late last night. Mitchell, one of five Tulsa boys, came in the same day...The Packer coach cleared his desk today in preparation for the opening of practice at Rockwood lodge at 10 o'clock Monday morning. About 60 players are expected to report for the first drill. Nearly 50 were in Green Bay and today several more are due Sunday.
PACKERS SIGN HARE, FRITSCH; OPEN 28TH YEAR
AUG 12 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers started doing what come naturally for professional football players today. And Coach Curly Lambeau, Line Coach Walt Kiesling and Assistant Coach Don Hutson were doing the same - Lambeau for his 28th season. It started at 10 o'clock this morning at Rockwood lodge - this opening practice of the Packers' 26th season in the NFL and the 28th as an organized team. It was rather uninteresting compared to what the Packers will do a week from today - scrimmage lightly maybe - but the drill today was merely a chance for the boys to get the kinks out of their systems; get the feel of football shoes and the ball, incidentally; and run through the various formations. Among the 60-odd hopefuls was the NFL's nest fullback - Theodore P. Fritsch of Spencer, Wis., whose name had been tossed between the National loop and the other circuit from coast to coast Saturday afternoon before he finally sat down with Lambeau and inked a 1946 contract. More news developed from the Packer camp today - the signing of another fullback. Cecil Hare is his name and he formerly played with Packer halfback Tony Canadeo at Gonzaga and later with the Washington Redskins. Between Fritsch and Hare, Lambeau has experience, speed and what have you to burn at the fullback slot. Lambeau believes Hare will fit nicely into the Packer scheme of things chiefly because Cecil is particularly fast and played the Notre Dame-Packer system at Gonzaga, which is one reason why he found it difficult at Washington which used the T formation. That Fritsch business? It was far from the mind of Lambeau today as he led his lads to work. Just to refresh your mind, however, we'll recite what broke around the country Sunday - the only day of the week the Press-Gazette does not publish a paper. Let's start from the beginning: Fritsch, who executed a double jump from the Packers to the Cleveland Browns of the other league and back to the National league Packers, had the bigwigs of both circuits talking on Saturday but very little of it was peace talk. In the meantime, Lambeau was quiet; he wasn't even taking any telephone calls from 10 o'clock Saturday morning until about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. The first news came from Cleveland where General Manager-Coach Paul Brown started it by saying his club was in on a triple play deal with the Packers and Rams. The National leagues, including Lambeau and George Strickler, the league's publicity chief, who is on a business visit here, was horrified at the thought of a "deal" involving the rival outfit. "Absolutely out of the question," said Commissioner Bert Bell from New York and Strickler and Lambeau in Green Bay. "Impossible." Chile Walsh, manager of the Rams, said from the west coast (Los Angeles): "We're making no deals." But according to Brown, his club was supposed to have returned Fritsch to the Packers. In return, the Packers were to send a "name" player to the Rams. Cleveland's end of the deal was that, in exchange for the Packers' name player, the Rams were to withdraw their suit for a court order restraining ex-Ram tackle Chet Adams from playing with Cleveland. From New York, the other league's commissioner, Jim Crowley (and a Green Bay boy) apparently wasn't too aghast at the thought of the deal which would have been the first indication of peace between the two loops. He said the Packers could have Fritsch but only after all the other clubs had waived on him. Big Lambeau scoffed at Cleveland's chances of getting the fullback by a court battle. "We had prior claim to Fritsch's services by exercising our option for 1946 through salary advances last winter," Lambeau said. "So Ted was under contract to us when he accepted a bonus and signed with Cleveland," the Curly one said. So there. That should just about clear up the situation on Fritsch. Lambeau has put the Fritsch business in the back of his mind and went to work at full steam this morning. The only "thing" on his player mind was a right halfback - Andy Uram. The former Minnesota and Packer veteran had been working out for two weeks but hadn't signed yet. Among the missing this morning were Merv Pregulman, all-American center from Michigan, and Bob Nussbaumer, the gifted right half (Michigan also), both of whom are working out with the College All-Stars. They'll report to Lambeau on Saturday Aug. 21, the day after the game.
A GOOD GUESS THAT HUTSON WILL PLAY AGAIN
AUG 13 (Milwaukee Sentinel-Lloyd Larson) - In case you've been wondering - as countless fans do at this time of the year - a good guess is that Don Hutson, one of the all time football greats, will suit up for the Green Bay Packers again and be ready to go in when the occasion demands, in spite of his statements to the contrary. One of these seasons, of course, the pass catching wizard from Alabama (by way of Pine Bluff, Ark.) will make his annual retirement stick. He can't go on forever. Even with the most expert care, the old dogs were barking last year. But until a successor or a man capable of duplicating his stuff reasonably well - shows up, Don is likely to punish his winged feet some more. A super man like Hutson is of tremendous help to a team through his mere presence on the field. Hanging over the opposition's head at all times is the threat that he will get in there, grab a pass or two and loosen 'em up thoroughly. It's a type of nuisance value. If there is the slightest chance that they will face the master of the catch and run, other teams will spend considerable time mapping out defenses designed to stop him - time they could devote to other phases of the game if they knew for sure there would be no Hutson problem. And then there's the worry angle, for all foes, seasoned as well as inexperienced, can't afford to relax with Don in the game. You know, defenders aren't at their best when they are tense and brows are wrinkled...NO. 14 MEANS SOMETHING TO FANS: Skip the more or less technical side of the picture, and it's still not hard to build up a case for Hutson as the most vital part of the Packer machine and the entire National league, for that matter. Without question, he's the No. 1 drawing card, which is mighty important to his employers as well as owners of rival clubs. They are in business and are constantly on the lookout for magnetic field operators who attract customers - increase sales, so to speak. Hutson's familiar 14 is one of the most famous numbers in football history. Fans turn out annually to watch us as its wearer glides gracefully over the turf to make impossible catches and turn them into long gains, if not touchdowns. One Hutson feat is enough to give many a ticket buyer full value for every dollar spent. As playing assistant to Head Coach Curly Lambeau the past few years, the man from Alabama has been on the spot, as playing managers and coaches always are. It's a rough and dangerous assignment to demonstrate under battle conditions before the very eyes of the men he teaches and may criticize at times. They are his teammates as well as pupils. Only a super man could handle the job successfully. And that's exactly what Don has done.
PACKERS LAUNCH 1946 PRACTICE; SQUAD LOOKS GOOD TO LAMBEAU
AUG 13 (Green Bay) - The 1946 Green Bay Packers were two days old today, and Coach Curly Lambeau was feeling pretty good about his new addition. The coach took his team out on the practice field near City stadium for the first time this morning and then called the backs into action at the Rockwood lodge field this afternoon. The first day's practice Monday saw 51 lads sweating it off at Rockwood lodge to the tune of about 250 pounds - roughly five apiece. Another two or three pounds were pared off today. Lambeau was enthusiastic at what he saw Monday and today. "It is the best opening practice session we've ever had," he remarked as he chased his boys in for a shower at Rockwood after they had grunted and groaned around the dummies for nearly three hours. Today's session was somewhat difference. There was a bit more seriousness as the lads were divided into groups, and the fight was on for what us scribes like to call "starting positions". It is too early naturally to talk of that but it won't be long before Lambeau splits his squad into two pieces for a big Packer Legion All-Star classic at City stadium Aug. 28, two weeks from tomorrow night. There were 51 players out for the drill Monday and the same number came out today. Among the missing were tackle Baby Ray, who is somewhere on his way to Green Bay; right guard Joe Morris, who is trying to get a leave of absence from his job with the Shell Oil company in Houston; blocking back Bob Nussbaumer and center Merv Pregulman, Michigan, both of whom are drilling with the College All-Stars in Chicago; Buddy Gatewood, All-American, who will leave Baylor university Wednesday; and right end Bill Johnson, Minnesota, who is supposed to be on his way. Of the 57 players Lambeau has under contract, 27 are veterans and 30 are rookies. There are only two veterans unsigned as players. One is Andy Uram, the right halfback Green Bay businessman. The other is a very famous Adams street merchant who now is assistant coach of the Packers. Need we say more? Lambeau's veterans are fairly well distributed. Let's take the various positions: END - Clyde Goodnight, Tulsa, is the only veteran back at left end, and the two "un-pro" newcomers are Stan Kramer, the Sturgeon Bay lad who saw a lot of action at Fleet City, and Granville Harrison, Mississippi state. At right end, Lambeau has veterans Carl Mulleneaux, Nolan Luhn and Bill Johnson. The hot rookie prospects are Harold Prescott, Henry Miller and Don Wells. TACKLES - Baby Ray and Tiny Croft are listed as the veteran left tackles. Bob McLaughlin, the rookie from St. Norbert, and All-American Dick Wildung from Minnesota will be the two vet's opponents. At right tackle, the veterans have an edge with Bill Lee, Paul Lipscomb and Ed Neal returning. Urban Odson, Wildung's mate at Minnesota, is the "foe". GUARDS - On the right side of the line, Glen Sorenson, the Utah boy, and Bubo Barnett of Baylor will return with their experience. Opposing them will be Al Sparlis, UCLA, Jug Bennett, Hardin-Simmons, Al Caniglia, Iowa, and Joe Morris, N. Texas Teacher. On the left side Lambeau has plenty of experience in Charley Tollefson, Russ Letlow and Bill Kuusisto. The new hot shots are Tony Ruffa, the Duke All-American, and Wilder Collins of Tulsa. CENTERS: Charley Brock is the "only" veteran returning, and the big kid from Nebraska looks as tough as ever. Fighting for a chance against Brock will be Buddy Gatewood, Baylor; Tom Hand, Iowa; Andy Kosmac, Louisiana State; and Pregulman. BLOCKING BACKS - Larry Craig, Bob Adkins and Ken Keuper head the list of vets for this position, and the two youngsters, Jim Hough of Clemson and Horace Young of SMU, like will have a tough job. LEFT HALFBACKS - This is Lambeau's key position because it involves the coach's chief weapon - a passer. There are five veterans - Tony Canadeo, Irv Comp, Roy McKay, Bruce Smith and Russ Mosley. Smith played five games last year, arriving late after a stretch in the Navy. The rookies are Bob Forte of Arkansas, Jimmy Richardson of Marquette and Cliff Aberson, Chicago. RIGHT HALFBACKS - Missing from this bunch is, of course, Uram. Lambeau at present has two veterans, Herman Rohrig and Charley Mitchell, and a pair of rookies, Charley Fisher and Nussbaumer. Mitchell played with the Bears last season and knows the pro score. FULLBACKS - This position is headed by the National league's best at that slot in 1945 - Ted Fritsch. Opposing Fritsch will be Cecil Hare, formerly of Washington, and rookie Walter Schlinkman. Other rookies include Al Zupek, Lawrence, Fred Olds, Michigan State college, John Kabat, ETO Service team, and Allen Smith, Tulsa...Among the visitors at the Packers' first drill was Johnny Blood, the old Packer halfback, who says he "just wanted to be around." Blood, now with a Kenosha knitting concern, reports that he'd like to get back into coaching in 1947 - prep, college or pro...The five new cottage homes for Packers who have children have been named after famous Packer players and the organization's first president, A.N. Turnbull. The players include Verne Lewellen, Clarke Hinkle, Johnny Blood and Don Hutson. Thus far four Packer families are ready to move into the cottage homes. They are Mr. and Mrs. Wildung, Mr. and Mrs. Kuusisto, Mr. and Mrs. Odson, and Mr. and Mrs. Lipscomb. The fifth home may got to Mr. and Mrs. Baby Ray, if the little woman and children come with him. He's due late today or Wednesday. Other players with their wives (no children) who have rooms in the main building are Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Smith and Mr. and Mrs. Buddy Gatewood. Incidentally, Mrs. Herman Rohrig may come with her child later.
PACKERS GO 5.3 TONS...ODSON SLEEPS
AUG 14 (Green Bay) - Curly Lambeau of the Packers has the biggest baby in the world on his hands. It's the 1946 Packer team, weighs 10,704 1/2 pounds - a little better than 5.3 tons. The average is roughly 214 pounds apiece for 50 players. Lads not included in the list are Bob Forte, Bill Johnson, Baby Ray, Merv Pregulman, Bob Nussbaumer and Buddy Gatewood, none of whom have arrived yet. That weight total is strictly stripped, although several more modest men carried towels to the scales. Tiny Croft is the heavies - 306 pounds, followed by Ed Neal, 276; Urban Odson, 270; and Wilder Collins, 246 1/2. Lightest gent is Jimmy Richardson, who goes a mere 161. That makes Croft almost twice as heavy as Richardson. A lot of southern boys came to Green Bay underweight because of excessive heat down there and they'll put on weight, while many others from the cooler sections of the country arrived overweight, and naturally they'll lost some of those pounds.
HUSTON AND KIESLING TO LEAD STAR SQUADS
AUG 14 (Green Bay) - Don Hutson vs. Walt Kiesling with Curly Lambeau as scout! That just about gives you an inkling of today's announcement on the big Packer Legion All-Star football classic at City stadium two weeks from tonight (Aug. 28). Hutson, assistant Packer coach, will pilot the Army team and Kiesling, line mentor, will handle the Navy team. The two clubs will be known as Hutson's Army and Kiesling's Navy. Lambeau will sweat the contest out in a special booth in the press box at City stadium. He'll be equipped with (1) a pad; (2) a pencil; and (3) a telephone. Lambeau today reported that five full teams will take the field for the battle. Hutson will have 2 1/2 teams and, of course, Kiesling will have the same. Starting next week, when the Bays put on the pads for the first time, Hutson and Kiesling will start "divvying up" for the regulation, sixty minute battle. The squads will be well-balanced to give rookies an opportunity to mix it with veterans and to make for a close, evenly-matched contest. Hutson and Kiesling will select five or six players every day until about a week before the game when the two coaches will start issuing their own plays. Proceeds of the game, sponsored by the Sullivan-Walden Post No. 11 of the American Legion will go into the post's building fund. Upwards of 20,000 persons from Green Bay and the surrounding communities are expected to attend. The prices: $1.50, $1 and 50 cents...The Packers got through their second practice with no injuries Tuesday, but a number of the boys are bothered with the usual early-season soreness - especially in the legs. Bob Forte, rookie halfback from Arkansas, was sent to the hospital with a sore throat...Lambeau announced today that the Packers will practice every morning at 9:30 in the field near City stadium. The boys will then go out to Rockwood for a light lunch and resume sessions there starting at 2 o'clock in the afternoon...Big Baby Ray was still among the missing today, and Lambeau has wired his home. The huge tackle was supposed to have left three days ago. Others due to arrive soon are Bill Johnson, Minnesota end; center Buddy Gatewood of Baylor; and guard Joe Morris of North Texas Teachers...Lambeau isn't in any hurry to start scrimmaging. He just doesn't believe in an early scrimmage. "We'd just be inviting serious injuries because it takes quite a while for the boys to get into proper condition." The first scrimmage probably will be held sometime next week...Next Sunday
afternoon, the Packers will dress up for their annual Picture day. The Press-Gazette photographer will be on hand to get the boys in their game uniforms. Also on hand will be an Associated Press photographer and several others.
PACKERS HOLD ANNUAL TRACK MEET; SMITH FASTEST OF BACKS
AUG 15 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers held their annual track meet Wednesday. There weren't any stop watches or cinders, but the distance was about one hundred yards. Some of the results were surprising to Coach Curly Lambeau and others were as expected. Starting with Lambeau's keys - the halfbacks - who are supposed to be the fastest men on the team, it is reported that Bruce Smith, the Minnesota product, was first. The ex-Minnesota guy who ran rings around Big Ten opponents back in 1941 wasn't hardly pushed. Second among the halfbacks was Russ Mosley, the sophomore from Alabama. The closest race of the day involved the fullbacks, with veteran Ted Fritsch finishing first. Close behind were Cecil Hare, the ex-Gonzaga and Washington lad, and Walt Schlinkman, freshman from Texas Tech. Larry Craig, the farmer from S.C., finished first among the blocking backs, but the redhead from Georgia, Ken Keuper, ran a close second. Clyde Goodnight of Tulsa broke the imaginary tape to take first prize among the ends. No. 2 and 3 men were both rookies - Don Wells of Georgia and Harold Prescott of Hardin-Simmons. Big Ed Neal, the strong boy from Tulane, paced the tackles, followed by Dick Wildung, rookie from Minnesota, and veteran Paul Lipscomb of Tennessee. Jug Bennett, the Hardin-Simmons gent, was first among the guards. Running a close second was Charley Tollefson, veteran Iowa lad. Charley Brock won the race among the centers, but Tom Hand of Iowa and rookie Andy Kosmac were not far back. Another highlight of Wednesday's drill was the punting of Roy McKay, the gentleman cowboy from Texas. McKay blasted away for roughly 60 and 70-yard punts on a consistent basis, and the "puncher" may get a lot of action in that department. There was plenty of passing, too, but there was no measure stick by which to judge the boys like distance in punting. Smith got off some pretty passes and so did Tony Canadeo, the veteran. Smith showed plenty of natural ability for passing, though he got little of it at Minnesota where Bernie Bierman stressed running and power rather than passing. Which, incidentally, is one reason that Bernie rarely develops a top-notch thrower. Cliff Aberson, the Chicago youngster who played with the Fleet City team, surprised the boys with his all-around ability, especially as a runner. He was immediately stamped as a "good prospect" among the new kids. Aberson never played college ball, though he opposed pros and collegians alike in Service action...Baby Ray, veteran left tackle, came in Wednesday night and took his first workout this morning. He showed up in good shape despite a long drive from his home in Nashville. Center Buddy Gatewood of Baylor is due in tonight.
LEAVE IT TO THE KIDS, THEY SEE PLENTY DURING PACKER PRACTICE
AUG 16 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers worked hard Thursday, and the kids along the sidelines had a lot of fun. The statements have no particular connection, but youngsters have a peculiar knack of making so-called "bright sayings" that are often more true than funny. One little lad about 13 years of age could not understand what Hutson was doing way back there? "He hasn't even caught the ball yet and they're not even throwing it to him." In answer to this lad, who probably was wearing diapers when Don caught his first pass for Green Bay, it is reported that Hutson is now assistant coach of the Packers and he really isn't supposed to catch passes until he decided to become a player. He was standing back there with Line Coach Walt Kiesling observing the Packers on defense. Baby Ray, out for the first time Thursday, and Jimmy Richardson, the tiny mite from Marquette, gave the kids something to yell about just before the drill closed at the city practice field. Richardson had just taken a punt and Ray, feeling like he did when he came here eight years ago, decided to try and catch Jimmy. Big Baby lumbered down the field with outstretched arms and stayed with a foot of the speedy Richardson for about 40 yards. Lambeau moved his boys out to Rockwood lodge for lunch and another long session Thursday afternoon...The Packers came up with their 56th players - Bill (Moon) Mullen, a 6-3, 225 pound right tackle who signed his contract Thursday afternoon. Mullen is a product of Villanova where he played in 1939, 40 and 41. He went into the Navy later in 1941 and came out as a lieutenant commander in 1945 after seeing action in the Pacific. Mullen was in the same P-T squadron with former Bays Ernie Pannell and Bernie Crimmins, and he was recommended to Lambeau by them. Pannell is in the oil business in Texas and Crimmins is backfield coach at Notre Dame. Who will do the field goal and point after touchdown kicking this fall? Lambeau isn't sure, but chances are the three lads who spent a half hour at that job Thursday will get many assignments. They were fullback Ted Fritsch, left guard Tony Ruffa and right guard Glen Sorenson. Fritsch has been kicking field goals since he came here in 1941, while Sorenson has been doing most of the kicking off. Ruffa, a rookie, kicked 44 points after touchdown in his three seasons with Duke university where he gained All-American honors in 1942...For a brief spell Thursday, Lambeau worked an offensive backfield composed of Roy McKay, Bruce Smith, Irv Comp and Cliff Aberson at left half, Horace Young, Ken Keuper and Jim Hough at blocking back; Charley Mitchell at right half; and Freddie Olds and Al Zupek at fullback. A defensive team had Cecil Hare and Charley Fisher as linebackers; Tony Canadeo as halfback; and Russ Mosley playing safety. They worked behind a center-less line composed of left end Stan Kramer, left tackle Dick Wildung, left guard Bill Kuusisto; (no center); right guard Jug Bennett; right tackle Paul Lipscomb; and right end Nolan Luhn...Two veterans and two rookies came up with injuries on Thursday. Irv Comp, left half, has a sprained right ankle; Herman Rohrig, the right half, has trouble with his archest; tackle Dick Wildung has a hamstring pull; and tackle Urban Odson, Wildung's running mate at Minnesota, has a pulled muscle in his left. Left half Bob Forte is still in the hospital with a sore throat.
PACKERS GIVEN HEAVY CLOTHES
AUG 17 (Green Bay) - The 1946 Green Bay Packers - just six days old - got their first set of heavy clothes today. This means that Coach Curly Lambeau's 57 chunks of assorted meat are starting to play rough. They can bounce against each other; push each other; and even tackle like they will and should - for keeps. Lambeau made up his mind about the rough stuff after Friday's drills. Though it's fairly early for Lambeau-coached players to muss each other up, the Packer coach feels the boys are ready. And rough stuff today means a spirited scrimmage early next week. The Packers came out of Friday's drill with nine assorted injuries, none of which are in the serious class. Worst of the bunch was passer Irv Comp's ankle sprain, though it hasn't been keeping him off his feet. The big Milwaukeean still works with the offensive backs on passing, but he's taking it easy on running. Right half Herman Rohrig wasn't in uniform again Friday, being sidelined with an injured arch. Left half Bob Forte of Arkansas put on a suit for the first time today after being hospitalized with a sore throat. Other injuries: Bruce Smith, groin pull; Dick Wildung, hamstring pull; Russ Mosley, "strawberry" on his right knee; Cecil Hare, charley horse; and Granville Harrison, leg bruise. Lambeau and his staff, Walt Kiesling and Don Hutson, are anxious to see their crew under fire - that is, with the pads on. Which is the principal reason why the early rough stuff is scheduled. Then too, there are 57 players locking horns for positions - more than ever before.
Lambeau was a bit disappointed in the turn of things Friday morning as his athletes continually missed signals. He immediately scheduled another long workout and a signal quiz at Rockwood lodge in the afternoon. There was one bright light Friday - Buddy Gatewood, the Baylor All-American who was out for the first time. Gatewood impressed everybody including veteran Charley Brock, who may be pushed by the youngster who was late in arriving because he had to finish summer school at Baylor. The Packer squad is just about complete. Bill Johnson, the Minnesota veteran who played here back in 1941, may not report pending word on his job in Minneapolis. Johnson is a right end, the position at which veterans Carl Mullneaux and Nolan Luhn are the leading candidates. Ace rookies are Harold Prescott, Henry Miller and Don Wells...A rough workout is scheduled for Sunday afternoon, but the Sabbath day morning has been set aside for picture taking. Pictures will be taken for publicity throughout the NFL...On the business side of the Packers, it is reported that stockholders of the Green Bay Packers, Inc., will meet in the assembly room of the Brown county courthouse at 8 o'clock Monday night. A board of directors for the ensuing year will be selected, and Coach Lambeau will outline his plans for 1946.
LAMBEAU DISPLEASED WITH FIRST SCRIMMAGE; LIKES HIS FULLBACKS
AUG 19 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers took life easy Sunday, posing for pictures, hunting for grasshopper, fishing, swimming and getting a tan. All this took place at their new home - Rockwood lodge. It was something of a reward for a stiff scrimmage - first of the season - Saturday, although Coach Curly Lambeau couldn't admit Sunday that he was pleased with the drill. Regardless, the boys were due for a rest and Lambeau gave it to them. The big pilot was feeling good about something, though. And that was the fullback position where, he said, "we've got more speed than we've ever had." He mentioned three lads - Cecil Hare, Ted Fritsch and Walt Schlinkman. Fritsch, of course, is the 1945 all-National league fullback, while Hare got his pro dunking with Washington in 1941 after playing college ball with Packer Tony Canadeo at Gonzaga. Schlinkman is a rookie from Texas Tech. All three of these lads can run like halfbacks and are capable of such in an open field. Three changes, or rather switches, were made in the Packer lineup on Saturday. Andy Kosmac, the Louisiana State strong boy, was moved from center to blocking back, which is a position he played with LSU; Russ Mosley, the sophomore from Alabama, jumped from left to right half; and Wilder Collins, a rookie right guard from Tulsa, was moved to right tackle. The purpose for this is to balance out some of the various positions. With Mosley moving to right half, it appears that Minnesota Andy Uram, the Broadway Merchant, may not be coming back this fall. Uram, a six-year veteran, hasn't played since 1942 when he went into service...On the lighter side of the week, it is reported that Giant Ed Neal, Kosman and several other the-hand-is-quicker-than-the-eye boys hunted grasshoppers between pictures Saturday. They will use them for fishing off a pier near the lodge. And they make better bait than worms, the boys claim. Shortly before lunchtime, the grasshopper catchers had 30 of the "animals" in a bottle...Among the construction projects going on at Rockwood is a longer pier. Labor leaders are end Carl Mulleneaux and center Tom Hand. The pier is being extended about 20 feet. Purpose of this is to make it possible for the boys to do their fishing and sleep at the same time. Some of them are using it for diving purposes, while it serves as a "port" for the many row boats. Incidentally, while on the subject it can be revealed the big Neal, almost 290 pounds, almost sunk a rowboat the other day...This was the first year since 1935 that Don Hutson wasn't shot in action by Press-Gazette photographer Clarence Bredell. The "former" Packer player and now assistant coach was in in his civilian clothes. But it can be added that papers throughout the country have plenty of pictures of Don - just in case. Speaking of pictures, Don was reminded of a story. It was in San Francisco some years ago when Arnie Herber was pegging passes to Hutson. A green photographer who didn't know a football from a pea was assigned to get some pictures for his paper. The picture man insisted on having Hutson throwing and Herber catching. Arnie and Don argued long, but finally gave in. The next day a Frisco paper came out with the pictures - Hutson to Herber...The Packers held a second scrimmage at the City stadium drill area this morning and the backs were to get a quiz session at Rockwood lodge this afternoon. Lambeau is rushing right along, getting his lads ready for the Army-Navy All-Star game, sponsored by the Sullivan-Wallen post, American Legion, at City stadium Wednesday night, Aug. 28.
LEFT HALFBACKS SPLIT FOR ALL-STAR GAME CLASSIC HERE AUG. 28
AUG 20 (Green Bay) - The lid came off today on what you might expect for the big Legion Army-Navy All-Star football game at City stadium a week from tomorrow - Aug. 28. It popped in the form of an announcement from Coach Curly Lambeau that his Packer left halfbacks have been split up for the game. Lambeau didn't place the men on a particular team, but they'll be opponents. On one squad will be Tony Canadeo, Roy McKay and Cliff Aberson, while Irv Comp, Bruce Smith and Bob Forte will work on the other. Assistant Coach Don Hutson is coaching the Army club and line coach Walt Kiesling will handle the Navy crew. Lambeau will scout the game from the press box. The division of left backs, a critical position in the Packers' offensive gives both All-Star teams power in running and passing. Each team has two veterans, Canadeo-McKay and Comp-Smith, to work with rookies Aberson and Forte. One of the more promising looking prospects, Aberson never played college ball but got a mixture of collegiate and pro experience while working with the powerhouse Fleet City eleven in service. Forte hails from the University of Arkansas and, incidentally, looked good in scrimmage Monday after getting a late start due to a sore throat. Lambeau announced today that the rest of the Packer team, 56 strong, will be divided up for the classic game sometime Wednesday. The squad will get a rough scrimmage in the practice field near City stadium Wednesday morning. The Packers went through a rugged session Monday, and several "casualties" were reported, although none were serious. Fullback Allen Smith, one of the five Tulsa boys, was knocked cold in a mixup back of the line but was quickly revived. To a laymen looking at the Monday session, it would appear that the Bay offense was having a rough time because the defensive team was continually breaking through and smearing passers, kickers and runner. However, it was explained that the defensive team was aware of all of the offensive signals and was ready and waiting for whatever was to come up. Nevertheless, Lambeau was not very happy about the procedure since the offensive team, with perfect blocking, should have gained with some consistency. Lambeau, unlike his optimistic self, isn't boasting too much about his 1946 team. Though he has many bright spots, there are some sections that need polish. Then too, the lads haven't been digesting their signals well enough to suit Lambeau...The squad was without Jimmy Richardson, the speed demon from Marquette, today. He started working out with the Chicago Cardinals at Waukesha where Coach Jimmy Conzelman is expected to use him at the T. Richardson left Monday night after a "deal" had been completed by the two teams. Lambeau reported that "Jimmy is too light for our system but should be a great help to the Cardinals." The Packer tailback usually runs about 190 pounds, while Richardson scaled only 161. Richardson hasn't played since 1941, although he got back into condition in a hurry after serving in the Army...The Packers learned today that Tom Farris, former Green Bay property, will understudy Sid Luckman on the Bear team. Farris was sent to the Bears in a straight swap that brought Charley Mitchell, a member of the 1945 College All-Stars, to Green Bay. The deal is expected to strengthen both clubs, since Farris can operate in the T and Mitchell can work in the Notre Dame-Packer system. However, there was some doubt at the time the Press-Gazette announced the trade several weeks ago whether or not Farris would report to the Bears. He had been interested in jumping to the other circuit...Among the visitors to Green Bay the other day was Bear Bryant,
coach at the University of Kentucky and a former teammate of Don Hutson at Alabama. Hutson and Bryant played opposite ends. Bryant and Hutson spent several days together. Bryant is probably one of the most successful coaches in the country. He started as an assistant at Alabama, then moved to Vanderbilt and later piloted North Carolina Pre-Flight. He coached in 1945 at the University of Maryland, but a good offer drew him to Kentucky, after Maryland students publicly demanded at a mass meeting that he be retained.
TULSA PACKER ENDS GRID CAREER
AUG 21 (Green Bay) - Allen Smith, keen-looking back with the Green Bay Packers, is through with football. One of the five Tulsa boys on Coach Curly Lambeau's squad, Smith decided to quit the game after a long chat with Lambeau Tuesday night. It's this way: Smith has a skin growth from his elbow to a spot about eight inches below the pit of his right arm, making it impossible for him to raise his arm higher than his shoulder. What's worse, the skin seems to be growing "away" from his body. Lambeau was unaware of the boy's handicap until this week, and the Packer coach immediately asked Smith to quit football "for your own good, son." Though Smith wasn't bothered during his college career, there is a possibility that he could be injured permanently in the tough pro game. Ripping of the loose skin tissue could result in amputation of his arm, Lambeau leaned. Smith was scalded by hot water when he was one year old and since that time the skin grew in the "web" fashion from his elbow to just below the pit of his arm. Smith was in the fight with veteran Ted Fritsch, Cecil Hare of Gonzaga and Walt Schlinkman of Texas Tech for the fullback position, and the lead might have seen plenty of action this year. Smith came here together with the other Tulsa boys two weeks ago...The team went through one of those half-and-half scrimmages - push and block but no tackling - Tuesday at the city practice field in the morning and then worked on the technicalities of the game at Rockwood lodge in the afternoon. A stiff scrimmage was held this morning. The only change saw veteran left guard Russ Letlow moved to the right guard slot, leaving Charles Tollefson, Bill Kuusisto, Tony Ruffa and Wilder Collins to fight it out among themselves. The move put Letlow, a seven year man, in with veterans Glen Sorenson and Bubo Barnett. Rookies fighting for right guard include Al Sparlis, UCLA; Jug Bennett, Hardin-Simmons; Al Cainglia, Iowa; and Joe Morris, N. Texas Teachers...Hutson's Army and Navy teams were to be selected this afternoon for the big Packer Legion All-Star classic at City stadium a week from tonight - Aug. 28. Fans got an inkling of what to expect Tuesday when Lambeau split up his important left halfbacks for the contest. On one team will be Tony Canadeo, Roy McKay and Cliff Aberson, the rookie from Chicago, while the other team will have Irv Comp, Bruce Smith and Bob Forte. With passing experts on each team, a wide open contest is expected since all four will be fighting for berth on the 1946 squad that will represent Green Bay in the NFL. And, buddy, the guy with the best throwing arm will be the No. 1 man...Only two members of the 1946 Packers will be used sparingly in the All-Star game here a week from tonight. They are center Marv Pregulman and right half Bob Nussbaumer, both of Michigan, both of whom will play with the College All-Stars against the Los Angeles Rams in Chicago Friday night. The two boys will probably report to Lambeau Saturday or Sunday after the Chicago affair and will get their first taste of Packer signals Monday morning. Unless they digest the plays rapidly, they'll see little action. However the two gents will be in great shape and they will be assigned to one or both teams.
PACKER LEGION FRACAS REALLY IS AN ALL- SERVICEMEN'S BATTLE
AUG 21 (Green Bay) - All-Service is really the word for the Army-Navy All-Star football classic at City stadium a week from tonight. Roughly eight-five percent of the Green Bay Packers, who will be split up for the test, are ex-servicemen. And the Sullivan-Wallen Post No. 11, American Legion - sponsor of the game - has a right to howl because nearly all of the Packer-Servicemen are Legion members or are about to be. Twenty-two of the Packers "competed" with the Army during World War II and a surprising large number - 17- operated with the Navy. The rest are scattered among the Marines, Coast Guard and Air Corps. Though the boys won't be split up according to service, it would be impossible to do so and still field two complete terms. However, Coach Curly Lambeau is balancing off the squad to give each team an even amount of power at each position. The teams were to be picked this afternoon. As a reminder, it can be pointed out that the Packers won't get a dime for their services next Wednesday night. Proceeds, minus the necessary expenses to the Packer corporation, will go into the Legion building fund. The show is being produced and sponsored by the Legion. The Packers are the actors.
PACKERS SCRIMMAGE TO 12-12 TIE
AUG 22 (Green Bay) - Competition for positions on the 1946 Green Bay Packer team is stiffer this season than it ever was before. The reasons: (1) There are more players, 56, than ever before reported; and (2) the 30 rookies look mighty good and may give the 26 veterans a run for their money. All this came out of the two-hour scrimmage Coach Curly Lambeau held for his lads on Wednesday morning. It was something of a tipoff on what to expect for the Legion's Army-Navy Al-Star classic at City stadium next Wednesday night. The scrimmage was one of two remaining before the Star battle. Lambeau will drive his boys through another body contact session Sunday. Announcement of the division of the players for the Star game, scheduled for today, was to be made by Lambeau this afternoon and will be announced Friday. The Packers worked under game conditions Wednesday, with Drum Beater Bob Conrad acting as head linesman; Assistant Coach Don Hutson, referee; and Line Coach Walt Kiesling, umpire. The players were switched from side to side to give Lambeau an opportunity to see them against the various players. No changes will be made once the Army and Navy teams are selected for the Star tilt, Lambeau reported. The contest game will go 60 minutes like any regulation game. Getting back to the scrimmage, it is hereby made public that the two teams battled to a 12-12 tie. One wore blue jerseys and the other dirty white. Ted Fritsch, ace fullback, scored two of the touchdowns for the Blues - one on a 60-yard run off tackle and the other on a "short" scamper of about 20 yards. Near the end, Fritsch went in for one play for the Whites and they scored a touchdown, with right half Russ Mosley going over from
about 20 yards out. A moment later, Tony Canadeo cut around right end for 15 yards and the tying score. Actually, the Blues won because Fritsch kicked two extra points but somehow the PAT's were forgotten after the later touchdowns. So, let's make it a tie and everybody will be happy. Anyway, the three coaches didn't go into any wild fits of joy after the contest. Their only comment: "The blocking was not good enough." Among the bright spots were Cliff Aberson, the Chicago rookie, and Dick Wildung, not-so-big tackle from Minnesota. Wildung, who reminds a lot of the oldtimers of Mike Michalske, was all over and in everybody's hair. Aberson threw several good passes and showed plenty poise. Other eye openers included Fritsch, Larry Craig and Baby Ray. And for a man who has been around a long, long time, guard Russ Letlow did a lot of good work...ADKINS TO GUARD: The biggest and boldest move Wednesday saw Bob Adkins, crack blocking back, playing at right guard. Lambeau reported that the boys can run fast, hit hard and will bolster the guard slot. The only "loss" out of the day's work involved Walt Schlinkman, the Texas Tech back, who lost a couple of his front teeth in a pile-up around the line. A search of the area failed to produce the missing molars...Among the many people coming to Green Bay Wednesday was one Bob Flowers, who formerly played a lot of center with the Packers. The ex from Texas isn't signed yet, though he conferred with Lambeau for a bit Wednesday afternoon.
PICK GRIDDERS FOR STAR BATTLES
AUG 23 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau gave each of his assistants, Don Hutson and Walt Kiesling, a football team today and maybe history in the process. The Packer pilot parceled out 13 players to each coach in the first move toward filling out the Army and Navy rosters for the Packer Legion All-Star grid classic at City stadium next Wednesday night. And it was the first time in the memory of Green Bay men that Coach Lambeau ever gave out his "starting lineup" nearly a week before a game. Of course, Lambeau will not be coaching. He'll be scouting the game with a pad, pencil and telephone from his booth in the press box. The remainder of the players - about 15 more for each club - will be announced Saturday or Monday. Hutson will pilot the Army team and Kiesling is the Navy's crew chief. Let's take Kiesling's club first: On the left side of Walt's line will be Ace Prescott, Hardin-Simmons at end; Baby Ray at tackle; and Bill Kuusisto at guard. The center will be rookie Buddy Gatewood, sharp-looking lad from Baylor. On the right side will be three veterans - Carl Mulleneaux at end; Paul Lipscomb at tackle; Russ Letlow at guard. Walt's backfield has Ken Keuper at blocking quarter; Russ Mosley at right half; Cecil Hare at fullback; and Tony Canadeo, Roy McKay and Bob Forte at left halfback. The left halfback position is the only one in which Lambeau named more than one player. Hutson's starting Army team is all veteran except at tackles where the two Minnesota flashlights - Dick Wildung on the left side and Urban Odson at the right - will perform. The rest of the line includes Clyde Goodnight at left end; Charley Tollefson at left guard; Charley Brock at center; Bob Adkins at right guard (formerly a blocking back); Nolan Luhn at blocking quarter; Herman Rohrig at right half; Ted Fritsch at halfback; and Bruce Smith, Irv Comp and Cliff Aberson at left half. That line - where experts claim 75 percent of a game takes place - is the bright spot for the classic because in three of the positions crack rookies will be working against veterans. At center, for instance, polished Brock takes on Gatewood, an All-American who looked mighty good in drills thus far. The big battle takes place at tackle where Wildung meets Lipscomb and Odson tangles with Ray. For a time at the ends, Prescott and Luhn, a couple of lanky hotshots will collide. With the exception of the left halfbacks, the starting backfields will be all veterans. However, one of the boys - Hare - is a newcomer to Packer football, though he's put in three years with Washington. All six of the left halfbacks mentioned are fighting for the top two or three positions on the 1946 team, Veterans are Comp and Smith of Army and Canadeo and McKay of Navy. Aberson is the Army rookie ace and Forte will back up the Nacy pair. All six can pass, although Smith is getting his first real taste of passing this season. The Minnesota boy may surprise a lot of people with his throwing arm, chiefly because he gained fame as a runner at Minnesota and looked good in the five games he played last season, arriving later after getting a Navy discharge...The Packers took things rather easy on Thursday and today compared to the rugged scrimmage held Wednesday. The team is in charge of Hutson and Kiesling during the absence of Lambeau who is in Chicago attending a meeting of the NFL. He'll take in the All-Star show tonight. A stiff scrimmage is scheduled for Sunday morning - the last before the game Aug. 28...Thursday afternoon Kiesling gave his guards an extra session of tackling on the new tackling dummy at Rockwood lodge, but it didn't last long. Jug Bennett, Hardin-Simmons rookie, gave the dummy a mighty tackle and down it came. A rubber connection keeping the drum place had been snapped...Trainer Bud Jorgenson reports little in the way of injuries, and the coaching staff is keeping its collective finger crossed. The only "injury" is a troublesome knee nerve for Moon Mullins, new tackle...The 1946 team will be complete Saturday when center Merv Pregulman and right back Bob Nussbaumer report. They will play with the College All-Stars in Chicago tonight...Bob Flowers, veteran Bay center, worked out with the squad Thursday after arriving Wednesday. Flowers, a Texas Tech star, played two seasons here but was undecided about this year until about a week ago. He has yet to sign a contract.
JUDGE DENIES CLEVELAND BROWNS' REQUEST FOR FINAL HEARING
AUG 23 (Cleveland) - Federal Judge Emerich B. Freed yesterday overruled a motion by attorneys of the All- American conference Cleveland Browns, asking that final hearing in the suit of the National league champion Los Angeles Rams against the Browns and tackle Chet Adams be advanced to next Tuesday. A petition filed by the Rams for a preliminary injunction to restrain Adams, a former Rams' star who leaped to the All-America conference club, from playing with the Browns, was rescheduled for a hearing Tuesday. The initial Ram suit, tentatively scheduled for a hearing in December, was filed after Adams signed a contract with the Browns. Officials of the local club made the first player deal "peace gesture" toward the senior loop this month by proposing a three-cornered trade involving Adams. The proposed deal stipulated that fullback Ted Fritsch, who signed with the Browns, would be returned to the Green Bay Packers, who would offer a player to the Rams in exchange for withdrawal of their suit against Adams. The proposition was rejected by Packers and Rams officials.
PACKERS SELL PAIR OF BACKS TO CARDINALS
AUG 24 (Waukesha) - Two backfield men - Jimmy Richardson, formerly of Marquette, and Jim Strasbaugh of Ohio State - reported at the Chicago Cardinals camp today. Jimmy Conzelman, coach of the NFL team, said the pair had been purchased from Green Bay. The price was not announced.
PACKERS LOOK GOOD IN SHOW AGAINST RAMS
AUG 24 (Green Bay) - Coach Curly Lambeau displayed two moods today about the All-Star game in Chicago Friday night. The Packer pilot was happy about the performance of his two All-Stars - Merv Pregulman, a center, and right half Bob Nussbaumer, but he was unhappy at the way the Stars took a NFL team, the Los Angeles Rams, apart. Being a National leaguer from the old school, Lambeau pulled for the Rams throughout even though Los Angeles can safely be called the Bays' No. 2 enemy, the first being those Chicago Bears. Pergulman, the Michigan All-American, kicked off twice for the Stars and conducted himself like a good pro, Lambeau reported, adding that Nussbaumer looked good when he was in. And the contest afforded the coach a good opportunity to scout the Rams, although "they were far from being at their peak," he said...The Packers held a light scrimmage Friday under the direction of Line Coach Walt Kiesling and Assistant Coach Don Hutson, and another workout was held today. A lengthy scrimmage will be held at the practice field near City stadium Sunday morning when the final selections may be made for the Army and Navy teams playing in the Legion All-Star classic at City stadium next Wednesday night...Two unsigned players are working out with the Packers - center Bob Flowers and blocking back Vic Spadaccini. Flowers came in early this week but has yet to come to terms. Spadaccini, former Washington Redskin, reported Friday and is expected to meet with Lambeau over the weekend...Tom Hand, the Iowa center, was moved to left guard in the latest move to bolster the guard spots. The center position is pretty well packed with veteran Charley Brock and rookie Buddy Gatewood. And don't forget Flowers, if he signs. The Packers usually carry three centers during the league season. The biggest change thus far was switching blocking back Bob Adkins to right guard. Adkins never played guard in college but the boy is fast and can hit hard. In scrimmages to date Adkins showed little reconversion troubles...A bright spot in Friday's workout was Walt Schlinkman, the rookie fullback from Texas Tech. Schlinkman is battling with pro veterans Ted Fritsch and Cecil Hare. The bright light in the line continued to shine on Dick Wildung, the Minnesota All-American Wildung, who is small for a tackle, has been giving his buddies a terrific going over. Wildung, incidentally, will get his best test Wednesday night when he lines up against Navy Paul Lipscomb, a Packer veteran. Urban Odson, Dick's running mate at Minnesota, will do the same for the Army team, and will play opposite Baby Ray. Though the selection hasn't
been made yet, chances are Schlinkman will join up with Cecil Hare on the Navy eleven at fullback. Fritsch already has been picked to play with the Army squad...Trainer Bud Jorgenson hasn't been very busy these days, and everybody is happy. Only two minor injuries confront him at the moment, and both are knee ailments. The victims are tackle Moon Mullins and end Ace Prescott...Pittsburgh's Steeler, who meet the Packers at City stadium Oct. 20, played the first exhibition of the season Friday night, and the Packers were interested in the result which saw the Steelers rolling over Scranton of the new America Professional Football association, 47-0. A highlight was Bill Dudley's 45-yard run for a touchdown in the first five minutes of play. The Scranton club is a farm unit of Pittsburgh.
PACKERS SHARPEN TEETH FOR STAR BATTLE
AUG 26 (Green Bay) - Something is coming to a hard mighty soon among the Green Bay Packers. And from this corner it looks as if that proverbial "head" will pop at City stadium Wednesday night when the Packers gather for that Army-Navy All-Star football classic. The pot started to boil at the city practice Sunday morning when Coach Curly Lambeau chased his charges through a long scrimmage. The rugged battle resulted in two players going to the hospital and a number of injuries. Why all this rough stuff now? This may be the answer: Lambeau has 57 players this year - more than he's ever had before. Thirty of those lads are rookies, and, buddy, they want to stay in pro football. So, the new kids are going all-out in impressing Lambeau and his assistants, Don Hutson and Walt Kiesling. That's just what they did in Sunday's scrimmage and they'll continue their performance in the Wednesday night All-Star collision. Boys like ends Ace Prescott, Stan Kramer; tackles Dick Wildung and Urban Odson; center Buddy Gatewood; blocking back Andy Kosmac - just to mention a few - are leaving no stone unturned in their scramble to unseat the veterans. For instance, Ted Fritsch, the all-league fullback, and veteran blocking back Larry Craig didn't perform the way you'd expect them to in Sunday's workout. Why? They are some pretty hot rookies in Lambeau's wigwam and they can tackle, block and run sometimes better than the vets. Anyhow, the Wednesday night show looms as a honey for the simple reason that the kids may make the vets step for their positions, and by the same score the veterans, with all those fans looking on, aren't going to sit back and yell uncle...KEUPER, TOLLEFSON HURT: Most seriously hurt was Ken Keuper, the Georgia blocking back, who wrenched his knee and is resting today at St. Vincent hospital. Tackle Charley Tollefson also went to the hospital with a neck injury but came out today. Left halfback Bob Forte, the Arkansas rookie, is bothered with bad tonsils and the debate is on whether or not to have them yanked out. Forte has looked good as a passer thus far, even though he had missed the first four days of practice this season with a sore throat...Another development over the weekend was the signing of Bob Flowers, the Texas Tech ace, to a Packer contract. Flowers had been working out with the club for four days and came to terms Saturday. Flowers is playing his third year after an intermission for duty with Uncle Sam. Vic Spadaccini, a blocking back who formerly played with the ex-Cleveland Rams, is working out with the Packers but has not signed...Though the Packers "lost" two men over the weekend, they gained two - right halfback Bob Nussbaumer and center Merv Pregulman, the lads who performed for the College All-Stars against the Los Angeles Rams last Friday night. Both came in Sunday and took their first workouts today...Incidentally one of the few bright spots in Sunday's program was the running of Bruce Smith, the Minnesota gentleman who left that school in 1941 with all the running honors a young man could ever expect to get in college ball. Smith showed some of the speed and shiftiness that brought him All-American ratings twice. He'll perform with Hutson's Army club Wednesday night.
PACKERS PLAY ON WEDNESDAY
AUG 27 (Green Bay) - All roads will lead to the City stadium here Wednesday night for the Packer-Legion football game which is scheduled to get underway at 8 p.m. It will be the first pigskin contest in this neck of the woods this year and gridiron fans for miles around will be on hand to get their first look at the 1946 edition of Coach Lambeau's aggregation. It will be a regulation fracas between the Army and Navy squads. The Packer contingent of players has been split up and every candidate will get a chance to display his football wares on the chalk-marked field. Walt Kiesling and Don Hutson, Packer assistant coaches, have been gunning up their outfits for the fracas and quite a keen rivalry is developing among the players, all of whom are eagerly awaiting the kickoff. Business continues brisk along the ticket sales front, but there are still plenty of choice reservations available and late-comers can be assured of good seats even though they just arrive as the 8 p.m. zero hour arrives.
PACKER BOARD IS REELECTED
AUG 27 (Green Bay) - The board of directors of Green Bay Packers, Inc., was reelected at the annual meeting of stockholders at the courthouse Monday night. The directors are Milan J. Boex, H.J. Bero, E.D. Bedore, G.W. Calhoun, Gerald F. Clifford, E.L. Lambeau, Fred Leicht, Harvey Lhost, Charles Mathys, John Moffatt, Fred L. Cobb, E.H. Fischer, L.H. Joannes, Leslie J. Kelly, Dr. W.W. Kelly, A.E. Schumacher, J.E. Paeps, Ed Schuster, G.A. Reimer, A.B. Turnbull, H.J. Wintjens. A meeting of the board of directors was adjourned until Thursday night when the group will meet at Rockwood lodge to elect officers...JOANNES PRESIDES: The stockholders' session was presided over by Packer president L.H. Joannes. Secretary-Treasurer F.J. Jonet gave a financial report and Coach Lambeau spoke informally on 1946 prospects. The financial condition of the corporation was deemed "satisfactory" after reading of receipts and disbursements. Lambeau gave a brief resume of the various positions and expressed the opinion that the 1946 teams will do more running than previous clubs which featured passing.
HUTSON'S ARMY MIGHT MAKE NAVY 11 SEASICK
AUG 27 (Green Bay) - On paper, Don Hutson's Army platoon should whip Walt Kiesling's Navy crew at City stadium Wednesday night. But what takes place on the field is something different again, so let's proceed with the pregame buildup cautiously. And we haven't tried to predict a winner since a couple of Infantry elevens clashed back in Salzburg, Austria a year ago. This corner was 40 points off in that game, so keep the tongue in cheek while reading. Anyhow, Hutson's outfit has only 26 players as compared to Kiesling's 29, but the names of the Hutson mortar boys are fancier than Kiesling's deckhands. So, therefore, we are installing Army over Navy. Of course, we could be prejudiced somewhat, but let's just call it fear of seasickness. Getting back to Wednesday night's show, etc., it is further reported that Hutson's officers and enlisted men include 11 guys with hash marks - veteran to you non-GIs, while Kiesling's rowboat boys have 15 old salts on their vessel. What about Coach Curly Lambeau? The General of the Packers' combined Ground and Water Forces will sweat it out with the rest of the Bay brass in the press box, although Curly will be fortified with a telephone and pencil and pad. He'll have direct connection with the maneuvers and, if you've ever been in the Army, the "four-star gent may give a few orders if things don't go right on the battlefield."...ROOKIES TO GO OVER TOP: Hutson can launch a veteran projectile at every position except tackle where he has five rookies to send over the top - Dick Wildung and Bob McLaughlin at left and Urban Odson, Wilder Collins and Moon Mullen at right. The veterans Hutson is expected to start are Clyde Goodnight and Nolan Luhn at left ends; Charley Tollefson and Bob Adkins at left and right guards; Charley Brock at center; Larry Craig at blocking quarter; Irv Comp at left half; Herman Rohrig at right half; and Ted Fritsch at full. Backing up Hutson's front line are such rear echelon performers as left halfbacks Bruce Smith and Cliff Aberson; blocking back Andy Kosmac; right halfbacks Bob Nussbaumer and Charley Fisher; and fullbacks Al Zupek and Eddie Olds...KEUPER IN SICK BAY: Kiesling's paddler are without veterans only at left end where Harold (Ace) Prescott and Sturgeon Bay's Stan Kramer will row and at blocking quarterback where Horace Young and Jim Hough are employed. Ken Keuper, sophomore Georgia sailor, was to toil with Young and Hough but Ken is in the sick bay with a knee injury, the result of Sunday's scrimmage. Kiesling is expected to start a number of rookies even though he has veterans in all but the two positions mentioned above. At center, Buddy Gatewood, the good looking Charley Brock type of operator, is due to start with Bob Flowers ready for relief. At right guard, Al Sparlis, the highly-decorated Air corps ace, is scheduled to tee off, backed up by Jug Bennett, Bubo Barnett, Merv Pregulman and Tony Ruffa...HARE STARTS AT FULLBACK: Cecil Hare, who is in his first year with the Bays though he saw considerable action with Washington for his pro experience, will start at fullback, with Walt Schlinkman backing him up. Veteran Packers signed up for the Navy include Baby Ray at left tackle; Bill Kuusisto at left guard; Paul Lipscomb at right tackle; Carl Mulleneaux at right end; Russ Mosley at right half; and Tony Canadeo at left half...Trainer Bud Jorgenson's injury list grew to an even dozen Monday after results of Sunday's election had been tabulated. Most serious was Keuper's knee injury which may sideline him from two to four weeks. Of the injuries, however, Keuper is the only one who will not see action Wednesday night. The 11 other injured lads
up for the Navy include Baby Ray at left tackle; Bill Kuusisto at left guard; Paul Lipscomb at right tackle; Carl Mulleneaux at right end; Russ Mosley at right half; and Tony Canadeo at left half...Trainer Bud Jorgenson's injury list grew to an even dozen Monday after results of Sunday's election had been tabulated. Most serious was Keuper's knee injury which may sideline him from two to four weeks. Of the injuries, however, Keuper is the only one who will not see action Wednesday night. The 11 other injured lads and the parts of their respective bodies that are ailing are Charley Tollefson, neck; Clyde Goodnight, ribs; Ace Prescott, knee; Carl Mulleneaux, knee; Jim Hough, ankle; Bob Forte, throat; Tom Hand, knee; Granville Harrison, wrist; Nolan Luhn, knee; Eddie Olds, charley horse; and Al Sparlis, leg (hamstring pull)...You'll notice that Merv Pregulman, the Michigan center, is listed as a guard in the Army-Navy lineups. Coach Lambeau plans to use him as a guard on offense and a backer-upper (as center) on defense...The Army-Navy game took a strange "official" twist today when a change in officials was announced. D.R. McMasters, former East High grid coach who will officiate in that other league this fall, will replace Art Denny of Lawrence college as field judge. Other officials include Referee Bernard Dalring; umpire Bernie Heselton; and head linesman Clarke Hinkle.
RICHARDSON TO START
AUG 27 (Waukesha) - Five former Marquette and Wisconsin football players will be in the lineup Thursday night when the Chicago Cardinals play their first intra-squad game. Jimmy Richardson, former Marquette halfback and Green Bay Packer, was named to the starting backfield for one of the squads.
CROWLEY REFERS TO GREEN BAY'S SUCCESS IN REVIEWING AA LOOP
AUG 27 (New York) - I have been asked how long I think it will take before the new All-America Football conference is solid enough to rate recognition as a major league. It's a fair question. In my mind, though, we were a cinch to succeed long before I was appointed commissioner late in 1944. There had been problems, barriers, and disappointments before then, there have been some since, and there will still be more. But, as our opening game approaches, I am more convinced than ever that we will have a well-organized and permanent addition to the major professional sports picture. The casual fan may take more convincing, since some of the basic things that make us sound haven't been blazoned across the nation's sports pages. The turnout for our Miami game at Cleveland the night of Sept. 6 should provide the public with part of the answer. The Cleveland Browns, in our opening game, will practically equal the home attendance mark of the NFL championship Rams for an entire season. Yet the word keeps coming back to me that Cleveland isn't a good football town and that Miami and Buffalo of the AAC are "minor league." As an old Green Bay, Wis., boy, I can't help getting a chuckle out of such reports. The Green Bay Packers have done all right for a quarter of a century. Some 52 cities, towns and hamlets have been represented in the NFL's 25-year history, but Green Bay is going better than ever. Maybe we'll lose a club here and there, shift a franchise here and there, but I can't see why it should necessarily be Miami with four times Green Bay's population or Buffalo with ten times as many people who will have to move over. There are many reasons why they, and the conference, should succeed: As a result of the postwar boom which has seen baseball attendance records shattered, advance ticket sales have also set new high marks, both in the NFL and in cities vacated by NFL teams and now occupied by our clubs. Cleveland and Brooklyn are far ahead of their NFL counterparts for any given season in the past. New York and Chicago each has more than $100,000 in the bank right now. I'm not being smug when I say the NFL made some mistakes in the past 25 years. But we have the benefit of their experience, and we are trying to avoid the same pitfalls. We have signed the best players we could get, by paying more than the NFL ever paid in the past. We have top coaches in Dr. Mal Stevens of the Brooklyn Dodgers, Red Dawson of the Buffalo Bisons, Dick Hanley of the Chicago Rockets, Paul Brown of the Cleveland Browns, Dudley DeGroot of the Los Angeles Dons, Jack Meagher of the Miami Seahawks, Ray Flaherty of the New York Yankees and Buck Shaw of the San Francisco 49ers. I'm glad I'm not coaching against that lineup: the competition will be rugged! The spirit of cooperation between our clubs is best shown by our double round-robin schedule which provides for each team to meet each other team home and home. Each city in the conference will get to see Sinkwich, Dobbs, Juzwilk, Hirsch, Hillenbrand, Standlee, Kimbrough, Koslowski, Graham, "Special Delivery" Jones and dozens of other top name stars.
GREEN BAY PACKERS CLASH TONIGHT IN INTER-SQUAD GAME
AUG 28 (Green Bay) - Those loyal Green Bay fans will pack City stadium tonight to have their first 1946 look under game conditions at the Packers in an intra-squad contest for the American Legion. The biggest Packer squad - and one which Coach Curly Lambeau thinks is pretty potent - will be divided into "Army" and "Navy" sections under assistant coaches Don Hutson and Walt Kiesling. Strength has been apportioned evenly and the battle is to be strictly on the level with a number of newcomers staking their chances of sticking with the club on their performances. Lambeau has 57 men on his squad, including 30 recruits, leaving him a big job of trimming before the Packers clash at Green Bay September 29 with their favorite foemen, the Chicago Bears.
PACKER ARMY FACES PACKER NAVY IN 'NATURAL' HERE TONIGHT
AUG 28 (Green Bay) - Football makes its 1846 debut in Green Bay tonight - a month ahead of schedule - when two Green Bay Packer teams clash in the first annual Legion Army-Navy All-Star game at City stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 o'clock. On one side will be Don Hutson's Army eleven, 26 strong, and on the other side will be Walt Kiesling's Navy team, charged with 29 gridders most of whom are rookies. In the middle will be Head Coach Curly Lambeau, who will scout the game from the press box. With perfect football weather forecast, one of the largest crowds ever to witness an exhibition contest here is expected. But don't let that frighten you because there'll be plenty of seats priced at 50 cents, $1 and $1.50. And it's strictly a benefit program with proceeds going into the building fund of the Sullivan-Wallen post No. 11, American Legion. The Packers will get only expense money. The game shaped up as a natural. We were convinced of that after last Sunday's scrimmage when players of the two clubs just about "killed" one another trying to impress Curly and earn a chance to remain in pro football. Two went to the hospital and a dozen went on the injured list. Things will be rougher out at City stadium tonight, especially with all the critical home folks (and state fans, too) looking on. And just as a prediction, the squads are evenly balanced enough to produce one of those thrilling see-saw battles. What's more, there is plenty at stake. Lambeau has 56 kids under his wing, and 30 of them are rookies who want to remain in pro football. Tonight they'll be out to prove to Lambeau, the veterans and the fans that they deserve a seat on the Packer bandwagon. There'll be little more than football out at City stadium tonight, too. Russ Leddy, who is the entertainment chairman who will act as the master of ceremonies, will introduce the Packers in true All-Star fashion. Shortly before game time, the stadium will be blackened, and a huge spotlight will be directed at a spot in the center of the field where the players will run when they are presented. There'll be another spotlight directed at Old Glory during the singing of the National Anthem by Lt D.D. Olsen, Green Bay Marine. Also before the kickoff the Packer band will be on parade and a color guard will be presented. Between halves, Leddy will present circus acts from the big time, including teeter board and tumbling feats. As a highlight the state championship Legion Drum corps of Appleton will give a colorful drill. Getting back to football, it is announced that Kiesling's Navy team was weakened somewhat at left halfback when passer and runner Bob Forte of Arkansas went to the hospital Tuesday for a tonsillectomy. This leaves Tony Canadeo and Roy McKay to handle the Navy passing. Hutson's Army left halfback workers are Bruce Smith, Irv Comp and Cliff Aberson. Incidentally, it will be the fans' first look at Aberson, whose passing has been outstanding in the practices thus far. The Chicagoan throws like a strong armed outfielder in baseball, and, oddly enough, he formerly played centerfield for Janesville in the State League in 1941 and 42. Leading off for Army in the backfield will be Larry Craig at blocking back; Herman Rohrig at right half; and Ted Fritsch at full. Against this group for Navy will be Horace Young, SMU ace, at blocking back; Russ Mosley at right half; and Cecil Hare at full. Two veterans, Clyde Goodnight and Nolan Luhn, will work the ends for Army against Navy's Ace Prescott and Carl Mulleneaux. Army tackle starters will be the Minnesota standouts, Dick Wildung and Urban Odson, against Baby Ray and Paul Lipscomb. The Army club will wear blue uniforms and the Navy will sport white. Programs with the number of all of the
players will be available at the stadium.
BAY PACKERS 'SOUPED UP' FOR STAR TILT
AUG 28 (Green Bay) - The Packers are all souped up for tonight's game. That may sound like strange chatter at this stage of the season (the Bear game is a month from tomorrow) but the boys are arguing like blazes after working out under the lights at City stadium Tuesday night. They weren't "mad" at each other but just jabbering back and forth about "who's going to win tomorrow night", and "just who is the favorite". The point, fans, is that the players apparently are going into tonight's game with their respective teeth clenched and that's important whether you pay 50 cents or $1.50 or get in free. Because from this side of the Cocktail it looks like a real battle. The Army team, which was rated favorite over Walt Kiesling's Navy Tuesday night by the Undersignee, acted just like any squad that gets a favorite's rating. The players moaned and howled and what not. Just to prove that they need "help" one of the ringleaders of Army - Charley Brock - and some of his cronies did this: Took Don Hutson's jersey, pads, football shoes and other gear and placed it on Don's hook in the coach's room before last night's workout. The assistant Packer coach and pilot of Army walked into the room and his eyes came face to face with that big No. 14 on the jersey. "Holy smokes, did somebody forge a player contract on me?" he exclaimed. Anyhow, the Army lads were just being "perlite" about requesting that Don help them out. They were even "perliter" after the workout when they tried to (and did) give Hutson a cold bath via the water bucket method. Most amazing was the fact that the trick almost backfired as Head Coach Curly Lambeau unexpectedly walked into the shower room first. But even if Curly had been dipped there would have been little embarrassment because the "big boy" was in a good mood last night. For why? Because tonight he'll get a chance to see just what his 1946 aspirants can do. And, buddy, Lambeau is willing to learn all about his boys even though it is a month before Bear time.
ARMY PACKERS BEATS NAVY, 14-10, BEFORE 14,000
AUG 29 (Green Bay) - It was a happy night for everybody concerned at City stadium Wednesday night. Here's why: (1) The Green Bay Packers, split up into Army and Navy teams, put on a super intra-squad exhibition with Don Hutson's Soldiers nosing out Walt Kiesling's Navy, 14-10; (2) the Sullivan-Walden post, American Legion - sponsor of the show - has roughly $7,000 in the sock toward its building fund; and (3) approximately 14,000 fans seemed to be thoroughly delighted with the proceedings. The paid attendance was 12,347 but the Legion was big hearted and invited hundreds of orphans, junior Legion ball players and
many others from Green Bay, Appleton and surrounding communities. Some of the figures used here are just estimates. It will be impossible to make an exact report until figures from nearby community sales offices are in, all bills totaled, and the federal tax computed. The contest definitely called for a repeat in 1947, and that's exactly what the Legion post and the Packers intend to do. The game itself was a thriller and it had all the earmarks of a league contest, although the huge mob found it hard which club to back. Generally, however, the feeling was for the underdog Navy club which threatened to win in the last minute. Head Coach Curly Lambeau, who watched the game from his booth in the press box, was delighted with everything and definitely surprised at the large crowd. The big pilot, however, confronted with a problem today - just who much be cut off. He'll carry as many players as he can for the next three exhibition games but come Bear time (September 29) the squad must be cut to 33 players...MCKAY BOOTS FIELD GOAL: Getting back to the game, the two clubs battled to a scoreless tie in the first quarter but Roy McKay booted the Navy into a short-lived 3-0 lead early in the second quarter with a 12-yard field goal. A moment later, Irv Comp wheeled a 45-yard pass to Herman Rohrig for an Army touchdown, and Ted Fritsch converted. Both clubs tallied in the third period, with Army drawing first blood on a 16-yard right end run by Bruce Smith, and Fritsch added the point. Navy came back fast, however, to score on a 17-yard pass play from McKay to Carl Mulleneaux in the end zone. McKay kicked the extra point. Most surprising of the night to many a fan was the sharp running attack which is further explained in the paragraphs following. The Army, for instance, picked up 345 yards rushing and most of that was produced by Bruce Smith, the star from Minnesota, and veteran Irv Comp. Tony Canadeo and Roy McKay got off some sweet runs for Navy, while Cliff Aberson, the rookie throwing sensation, proved that he can also run. In total yardage, Army outgained Navy, 471 to 335. Navy had an edge in passing, 183 to 137...CANADEO MAKES LONG RUN: After an exchange of punts in which Navy gathered up the first first down of the game. Canadeo brought the crowd to its feet for the first time with a 37 yard dash off right tackle to the Army's 42 for the first dent in the Army territory. The attack soon fizzled as the Army line smothered Canadeo in two pass attempts and Cecil Hare was held to two yards off right guard. Canadeo punted down to Herman Rohrig on the 10 and raced back to the 16. Army couldn't do anything so fullback Fritsch set the Sailors back with a 77-yard punt that went into the end zone. Again the teams exchanged punts before Navy got the ball on its own 20 as the first quarter ended. Russ Mosley peeled off 18 yards from right half to the 38 and McKay sailed a 10-yarder down the middle to Charley Mitchell for an even 10 and another first down...KRAMER TAKES PASS: McKay opened up again with a long shot to Stan Kramer, the Sturgeon Bay freshman, who took a pass to his right and raced to Army's 20 before Rohrig rushed in and stopped him, the play covering 32 yards. McKay faked a pass and made 10 off right end and another first down on Army's 10. Mckay and Walt Schlinkman picked up six yards on three tries and the only alternative was a try for field goal which McKay produced from the 12 to give Navy a 3-0 edge. Army, with Bob Nussbaumer's lugging, took McKay's kickoff on the five and never stopped going until the Soldiers went into a 7-3 lead. With good blocking Fritsch hit left end for nine and Irv Comp wheeled a long one to Nussbaumer for 12 and a first down on the 46. Comp wheeled a long one to Luhn to the Navy 36 and the ex-Army boys in the stands started to howl. Bob Flowers deflected Comp's pass but on the next play Nussbaumer showed his stuff for 11 yards inside right tackle and a first down on the Navy 25...ROHRIG ABOUT-FACES, SCORES: Army stalled at this point but the gods smiled on Don Hutson's outfit as Comp, chased back by Navy's line to the 45, pegged a long shot into Rohrig's arms in front of the goal posts on the three. Rohrig, an old Army captain, did an about face to score. Fritsch kicked the goal and the favorites were in front, 7-3. Fans got their first look at Cliff Aberson, the slingshot Packer pitcher, shortly after the next kickoff, and he didn't disappoint. While Army was rolling up three first downs, Aberson tossed one pass to Charley Fisher for 11 yards and on another play, Cliff sizzled off tackle for 26 yards but the play was called back as Army was found guilty of holding. The half ended with Army punting to Mosely and Canadeo racing back on the first play for 30 yards to the 50 when the horn sounded. Thief Charley Brock stole the ball as Canadeo went down but the policeman already had blown his whistle...FRITSCH, SMITH COMBING: Army scored in exactly four minutes to take a 14-3 lead after getting the ball on the kickoff, and Fritsch and Smith did the "ball" work - for which they were rewarded with a long rest. The Soldiers started from their own 20, from where Fritsch made one. Smith added 16 off left end; and the Minnesota flash showed his passing arm and Fritsch his receiving and running for a net gain of 31 yards and another first down on the Navy 32. Two plays later, Smith circled around right end, sidestepped half the Navy squad and went over standing up. Fritsch kicked the extra point. Navy charged back to the Army 46 on a pass from McKay to Kramer but the Sturgeon Bay end fumbled and Al Caniglia and Charley Brock smothered the ball for Army. Navy got back into position again when a gang of sailors recovered a fumble on the Army 48. Cowboy McKay completed three out of four passes to narrow the count to 14-10 near the end of the third period. The first throw went to Mosley for 22 yards; the next to Kramer for 10; and the payoff to Mulleneaux in the end zone. McKay booted the extra point. Army immediately went into touchdown action but a fumble again wrecked its chances. Comp raced 55 yards for the longest run on the night to the Navy 35 on a sweet cutback over right tackle as the third quarter ended. Comp and Rohrig brought the ball down to the 21 in two plays but Rohrig fumbled and Walt Schlinkman recovered to cut off the threat as the fourth quarter ended...FIRST LATERAL OF NIGHT: Navy couldn't advance so Canadeo punted to Bob Nussbaumer who returned to the Army 37 from the 30. Smith and Zupek combined for a first down on the Army 48 and then Smith uncorked the first lateral of the night, the ball going to Nussbaumer on a play that netted 28 yards and a first down on the Navy 24. Army stalled in four shots and Navy took over on its own 22 to start a drive that almost produced a touchdown just before the horn sounded to end the game. Canadeo and Mulleneaux did most of the damage combining on two pass plays that netted 71 yards, the second of which put the ball on Army's 3 with only one minute left. Cecil Hare couldn't budge the Army's line in two plays and Canadeo stopped the clock with three seconds left on an incomplete pass. On the last play of the game, McKay gained a yard.
FINDS DOUBTING THOMASES WERE FOOLED AT CITY STADIUM
AUG 29 (Green Bay) - The doubting Thomases - and there were a few, it must be admitted - who went to the Packer All-Star game last night at City stadium expecting to see a contest where they would be a little good-natured shoving here and there had the surprise of their lives. Members of both the Army and Navy teams were playing for keeps because they had their warning from Coach Curly Lambeau. The gridders knew all along that their work in the game would, to a great extent, determine how long they would be listed on the official roster, and they played accordingly. There was no tomfoolery and the crowd, of amazing size considering that it was an intrasquad game, sensed this early. They joined in the spirit of the occasion, chose sides and yelled for their favorites. From the start, when the Navy underdog team had the Army on the defensive, each squad put forth its best efforts. The action reached a high point in the final minute, when everyone in the stands was on his feet as though the league championship depended on whether the Navy would push the ball over from the two-yard line...ABERSON A FAVORITE?: Coach Curly Lambeau expressed satisfaction with the squads after the game although he was reluctant to single out any one player for special praise. The fans are doing that today and it appears that as if one of their favorites this year is going to be rookie Cliff Aberson, the Chicago lad who never played college football. Aberson proved he can throw a football and threw in a couple of lengthy dashes for good measure. The running of halfbacks Bruce Smith and Tony Canadeo brought cheers as did Smith's 77-yard punt that put Navy in a hole early. Irv Comp's pass to Rohrig clicked beautifully, recalling to mind a similar play that scored a touchdown for Green Bay in the All-Star game a year ago, except that Rohrig passed to Roy McKay from 20 yards out then. Carl Mulleneaux's catch of McKay's pass in the end zone was well executed...WHERE IS THE BALL: The game gave advance notice that the Packers' running game this season will be considerably more potent than it has been for several years and that the runs will be reeled off a formation that may have not only the opposing team but also the customers guessing as to the whereabouts of the ball. The fans got their money's worth Wednesday night...Injuries put fullback Ted Fritsch and guards Russ
Letlow and Al Caniglia out of action. None of the hurts is serious, however. Incidentally, many of the fans saw a resemblance between Caniglia and Buckets Goldenberg, who retired last year after 13 years in the pro game. Caniglia also wore No. 43, Buckets' number...The between-halves show was excellent. The professional tumbling and teeter board acts kept the crowd interested throughout. The eye-catcher was the youthful tumbler, who attempted several difficult feats. The fact that he failed didn't detract the crowd's applause. The Sons of the American Legion drum and bugle corps from Appleton, in natty uniforms, proved another entertainment highlight. The corps has 17 GIs. The Packer Lumberjack band, under Wilner Burke's direction, did its usual fine job...Two ex-Packers, Clarke Hinkle and Mike Michalske, were introduced by Master of Ceremonies Russ Leddy. Veteran Jim Coffeen handled the play-by-play description. Only scout reported in the stands was ex-Packer line coach Red Smith, now with the New York Giants. Smith said the Giants were "loaded" this year. The Packers meet the Giants in an exhibition Sept. 20...Players reported the field in excellent shape. The Navy team looked with disfavor on the white uniforms. They claimed the suits were jinxed. Last time they were worn was at Cleveland last year. The Packers lost, 20-7. Only four players on the roster who didn't see action were blocking back Ken Keuper, end Clyde Goodnight, Bob Forte and Ace Prescott. All are injured. The squad had today off. Work resumes Friday for the Sept. 6 exhibition against Philadelphia at State Fair park in Milwaukee.
BEARS GAME SOLD OUT; CORPORATION OFFICES REELECTED; WAIVERS ASKED ON NINE PACKERS
AUG 30 (Green Bay) - Three important news items came out of Camp Green Bay Packer today. They are: (1) Election of officers for Green Bay Packer, Inc., (2) announcement of a complete sellout for the Bear-Packer game here Sept. 29; and (3) asking of waivers on nine players. All of the officers were reelected for the ensuing term at a meeting of the board of directors at Rockwood lodge Thursday night. The officers are: Lee H. Joannes, president; E.L. Lambeau, vice-president and general manager; F.J. Jonet, secretary-treasurer. George W. Calhoun will continue as director of public relations. The executive board, also reelected, has the following members: H.J. Bero, Gerald F. Clifford, E.R. Fischer, Lee H. Joannes, F.J. Jonet, Fred Leicht, E.L. Lambeau, A.B. Turnbull and H.J. Wintgens. Joannes is starting his 16th year as president of the Packers, having taken over in 1930, while Jonet is opening his 13th year as secretary-treasurer...Regarding the Bear game tickets, the corporation announced that "there isn't a single seat left." This fact was realized last week when the last of the ducats were snapped up. The ticket office in the Legion building is open every day, however, for the sale of tickets to the two other home games - Oct. 20 against Pittsburgh and Nov. 24 against Chicago's Cardinals. The sale for these two contests has been "very good" and fans are urged to get their tickets now. Tickets are also available at the office for the exhibition against Philadelphia at Milwaukee a week from tonight as well as league games in Milwaukee - Oct. 6 against Los Angeles and Oct. 27 against Detroit...Regarding players, Lambeau announced that waivers have been asked around the National league on nine players - fullback Eddie Olds; center Tony Ruffa; blocking back Horace Young; right half Charley Fischer; guard Al Caniglia; tackle Bob McLaughlin; tackle Bill Mullen; end Hank Miller; and blocking back Andy Kosmac. Lambeau reported that some of them may play with San Diego, the Packer farm club. In that case, they would return to Green Bay for another tryout next fall. The Packer squad has now been reduced to 46 players, the number Lambeau is expected to carry for the three exhibition games. However, the squad must be reduced to 33 for league action.
TOMMY FARRIS LOOKS LIKE FUTURE BEARS STAR
AUG 30 (Chicago) - Followers of the Chicago Bears are quite likely to watch Tom Farris, former Wisconsin captain and quarterback, call the shots for the club during the greater part of Sunday's game with the New York Giants at Wrigley Field. It is generally conceded the Bears are three deep with talented and seasoned stars in every position but the quarterback post. Sid Luckman, one of the greatest field generals modern football has developed, is the Bears' No. 1 signal-caller. But, if Sidney is injured somewhere along the heavy schedule that confronts the team, the Bears will be in trouble, unless Farris proves up. The ex-Badger outgeneraled and outpassed Luckman in a varsity-freshman skirmish last Sunday, which the freshman won 19-7. Owner-Coach George S. Halas was highly pleased by the kid's performance. The Giants game is a charity exhibition. Naturally, Halas would like to win it, but these games are designed primarily to give coaches an opportunity to watch the reactions of their new men in game competition. For that reason Farris figures to play most of the game. He is a Chicago lead, a former Englewood high school player. Harry Stuhldreher, head coach at Wisconsin characterized Farris as "the best quarterback I ever coached", when he was a senior at Wisconsin in 1941. He played in the 1943 All-Star game while in the Coast Guard. He was not discharged from the service until early this year and will make his pro debut Sunday. Halas had to do some fancy maneuvering to acquire Farris' service. He was drafted by Green Bay in 1942. Tom wanted to play with the Bears and refused to report to the Packers. Instead, he signed with the Chicago Rockets and reported to the California training camp. Head Coach Dick Hanley of the Rockets was not impressed by Farris and neither were any of the other All-America Conference coaches. Hanley released Farris and all of the league's teams waived on him. When Halas found out about this he traded halfback Charley Mitchell to the Packers for the right to negotiate for Farris' services. Then he signed him. It will be interesting to watch Farris' play with the Bears this season. Before it is over everyone will know whether Halas, or Hanley made a "bum guess". It is a matter of record that Halas hasn't made many of them in judging the ability or lack of it in a football player.
BEAR GAME AT GREEN BAY A SELLOUT; CUT OFF 9 PLAYERS
AUG 31 (Manitowoc Herald Times) - Manitowoc fans who have not secured their tickets for the Bear-Packer game at City stadium in Green Bay Sunday September 29 might just as well resign themselves to the fact that they will have to get the game on the radio. It was announced at Green Bay yesterday by the Packer management that the Bear game is a complete sellout. "There isn't a single ticket left," the announcement said. The ticket office in the Legion building at Green Bay is open every day, however, for the sale of tickets to the two other home games - October 20 against Pittsburgh and November 24 against Chicago's Cardinals. Tickets are still available for the exhibition game at Milwaukee next Friday against the Philadelphia Eagles as well as the league games in Milwaukee - October 6 against Los Angeles and October 27 against Detroit. Coach Curly Lambeau has started to cut down the Packer roster. Waivers have been asked around the National league on nine players - fullback Eddie Olds; center Tony Ruffa; blocking back Horace Young; right half Charley Fischer; guard Al Caniglia; tackle Bob McLaughlin; tackle Bill Mullen; end Hank Miller; and blocking back Andy Kosman. Lambeau reported that some of them may play with San Diego, the Packers' farm club. In that case, they would return to Green Bay for another tryout next fall. The Packer squad has now been reduced to 46 players, the number Lambeau is expected to carry for the three exhibition games. However the squad must be cut to 33 for league action. The Packer corporation re-elected old officers for the year at a meeting this week at Rockwood lodge. The officers are Lee H. Joannes, president; E.L. Lambeau, vice-president and general manager; F.J. Jonet, secretary-treasurer; George W. Calhoun will continue as director of public relations. The executive board, also re-elected, has the following members: H.J. Bero, Gerald F. Clifford, E.R. Fischer, Lee H. Joannes, F.J. Jonet, Fred Leicht, E.L. Lambeau, A.B. Turnbull and H.J. Wintgens. Joannes is starting his 16th season as president of the Packers.
SPADACCINI SIGNED BY PACKER 11
AUG 31 (Green Bay) - The Green Bay Packers got one headache off their mind today with the announcement that blocking back Vic Spadaccini had signed a 1946 contract. Spadaccini always had caused Green Bay trouble when he played with the old Cleveland Rams, and Lambeau was glad to see him in a Green Bay uniform. The former Minnesota star, who has been around pro circles for five years before the war, stands 5-11 and weighs 210 pounds. He'll be used as a blocking back. Spadaccini is particularly valuable with blocking back Ken Keuper on the injury list. Keuper is in the hospital with a knee hurt that may keep him sidelined from two to four weeks. Chief of the blocking backs is Larry Craig, the gentleman farmer from Central, S.C., who is starting his eighth season with the Packers. Craig got in a number of good blocks in the Army-Navy classic Wednesday night, proving that he may have a good year...The Packers got out their heavy pads today and resumed preparations for the exhibition with the Philadelphia Eagles at Milwaukee next Friday night. Lambeau reported that there won't be any more scrimmages before the exhibition contest, although the boys will be getting some contact work today and Monday. However, they'll be heavily padded and nobody should get hurt...Veteran guard Russ Letlow worked out lightly Friday for the first time since the All-Star show when he injured his ankle. Ace Prescott, the promising looking end who rested an injured leg during the game, is rounding into shape as is end Clyde Goodnight, who has been bothered with bruised ribs...Herman Rohrig, the Packes' right halfback, worked in the "T" slot Friday and today as the Packers used the Philadelphia Eagles' offensive T-formation. The drill was held chiefly to work out a defense against the Eagles' maneuvers. With the Eagles, Roy Zimmerman played the important quarterback hole just back of the center. Chief troublemaker with Philadelphia is, of course, Steve Van Buren, the polished left halfback who scored 18 touchdowns last season to break Don Hutson's record of 17. Van Buren does everything with a ball, and the Eagles' attack is constructed around him. At right half, Philadelphia's big threat is Jack Hinkle, and the veteran fullback is Joe Muha. Reports from Philly reveal that the Eagles will be stronger in every department except the ends where there is considerable room for improvement. Coach Greasy Neale is now training his Eagles at their new camp at Sarnac Lake, N.Y.
PASSING MAY TAKE BACK SEAT IN PACKER OFFENSE
AUG 31 (Green Bay) - The Packers will do a lot of running this fall. Coach Curly Lambeau says so himself. And that's revolutionary in this town where the forward pass - at least the professional kind - got its start. Though you saw some slick throwing during the Army-Navy classic last Wednesday night, the Packer pilot
expects to stick pretty much to the ground. Of course, Lambeau is subject to change as his passers develop but for this moment at least it looks as if his attack will be built strictly on speed afoot from the left and right halfback and fullback slots. However, Lambeau is a firm believer in the old saw about the shortest distance between two points being a straight line. And for further explanation, a pass doesn't have to side-step or "run" to one side or the other; it just goes straight. Much will depend on how his passers develop. His present crop of left halfback throwers can be termed "good". But there are no Arnie Herbers or Cecil Isbells among them. Lambeau has the makings of a Herber or an Isbell in Cliff Aberson, the rookie sensation who never played college ball. There is only one other player who ever pegged a ball like Aberson. His name is Sammy Baugh. Aberson throws 'em long or short with one snap of the wrist. Whether Cliff cuts the buck in the pro league is something else again and, of course, we'll have to wait. At the head of the passing list are Irv Comp, Tony Canadeo and Roy McKay, all pretty fair flingers, and all stood out as flashy runners Wednesday night. Coach Lambeau is experimenting with shifty runner Bruce Smith as a passer. Smith's chief weapon, however, is on the ground (his feet) but he's getting a daily pitching workout. Bob Forte, the other left half, who is now convalescing after a tonsillectomy, also can throw a good pass, though, like Smith, he came here as a runner.
LAMBEAU CONFIDENT AND WHY NOT? BUT -
SEPT 1 (Milwaukee Journal) - Of course, the Packers will be up there again this fall. Aren't they always up there? This probably is not the soundest manner of approach in speculation of what the season now unfolding may hold for Green Bay, but it certainly has its points. Really, now - aren't the Packers always up there? It goes without saying that Curly Lambeau thinks they will do. The big Belgian, who conceived the idea of a professional football team for his proud little town before most of the boys he now coaches were even born, is one of football's unshakable and perennial optimists. Of course, the Packers will be up there again - and he puts it in a very matter of fact way. Why shouldn't they be? Year after year about this time he speaks of his squad with all of the enthusiasm and superlatives of a circus press agent, and he is doing it again. "The best we've ever had," "We've got the stuff", "Only a wrong attitude can beat us" roll off his tongue like so much honey - and the rabid love it. And, really, hasn't he got something when he speaks as he does? Aren't the Packers always up there?...HOLD YOUR HATS, BOYS, THERE IS TROUBLE AHEAD: So much for this manner of approach. It may not be the best, but in light of what the Packers have done year after year, it does have its points. But how about the outlook in a colder light - how about the material? Is it really as good as Lambeau in his enthusiasm describes it? Is it really, as he says, "the best we've ever had". This reporter long ago learned, or should have learned, not to dispute Lambeau's August enthusiasm. He has been wrong and Lambeau has been right. But hold your hats, boys, here we go again with one man's idea of the Packers of '46 - and may the idea be wrong - there is trouble ahead. This looks like a good Packer squad. It is fairly well balanced and has certain very strong spots - center, the tackles, fullback, the halfbacks and blocking backs. But as yet there isn't a Hutson even distantly in sight to catch passes or more than a rough approach to an Isbell or Herber to thrown them. It is a good squad, but in a year like this, with the league loaded with material at it has never been before, it may take more than a good squad to be up in the thick of the fight - unless the wizardry of Lambeau can make up the difference...NEW MEN A SOURCE OF MUCH OPTIMISM: The appraisal of the squad falls into three parts. First, there are the veterans of last year, who make up the nucleus, next are the returned veterans of other years now out of the service and third are the new men. The veterans of last year offer a pretty fair nucleus - Clyde Goodnight, Paul Lipscomb, Baby Ray, Tiny Croft and Bill Neal at tackles; Charley Tollefson, Bill Kuusisto and Glen Sorenson at guards; Charley Brock and Chet Flowers at center; Tex McKay, Bruce Smith, Irv Comp and Russ Mosley as running backs, left or right; Ted Fritsch at fullback, and he has never looked better, and Larry Craig and Ken Keuper at blocking back. The returned veterans of other years help a lot, but are not exactly numerous - Carl Mulleneaux at end, Bill Lee at tackle, Russ Letlow at guard, Tony Canadeo and Herman Rohrig at left and right half, respectively, and Bob Adkins at blocking back. The new men offer most of the real hope and they are as fine a bunch as the Packers have probably ever had. But to keep the record straight, there isn't a club in the league which doesn't point with great hope to its new men and which can't match or just about match Lambeau's. At Green Bay there are Stan Kramer of Fleet City, Don Wells of Georgia, Granville Harrison of Mississippi State and Ace Prescott of Hardin-Simmons at ends; Urban Odson and Dick Wildung of Minnesota at tackles, and the latter may well become one of the outstanding tackles in the NFL; Al Sparlis of UCLA and Bubo Barnett of Baylor at guards; Buddy Gatewood of Baylor and Merv Pregulman of Michigan at center, and there isn't a team in the league with better centers; Cliff Aberson of Keesler Field, Bob Forte of Arkansas and Bob Nussbaumer of Michigan as running halfbacks; Walter Schlinkman of Texas Tech, Cecil Hare, late of Washington, and Al Zupek of Lawrence at fullback, and Andy Kosmac of LSU at blocking back. There are some others, but these in the three weeks of work so far have looked best...NO ISBELL OR HUTSON IS YET IN SIGHT: It is a good squad and it will give a good account of itself. But whether it will rank alongside such powerhouses as the Chicago Bears, the Philadelphia Eagles (who, by the way, will play an exhibition game with the Packers at State Fair park Friday night), the New York Giants and the defending Cleveland Rams - and you can discount their showing in the all-star game - is something else. Lambeau thinks it will, and that should be enough. But if it does, in this little book it will be because Lambeau has squeezed everything it has dry. There are certain definite problems aside from the absence of a Hutson or an Isbell. The guards and ends definitely need help. Some of the veterans must still show they can come back after two or three years' absence in the service. A field general must be found - and the choice seems to lie among Rohrig, Canadeo and McKay. Some of the new men, who have given promise in practice, must still prove themselves under fire. They are problems and real problems, which Lambeau recognizes, but which in August he refuses to become disturbed about. On the brighter side, and on this Lambeau likes to dwell, the Packers do not have to take a back seat to any of them at center, with Brock, Gatewood, who has showed all the fine reactions which have made Brock such a great center; Pregulman, who will probably be used as a guard on offense and a center on defense, and the rugged Flowers. Nor do they have to yield anything to any of the others at tackle, despite the extravagant claims of other coaches on what they have. Wildung may well become the toast of National league linemen, Odson has size, 265 pounds, and all-American reputation, and Lee, Lipscomb, Ray, Croft and Neal all have experience. At fullback, Fritsch, Schlinkman and Hare will give the Packers as a good as three as any club has, at halfbacks the capable veterans Canadeo, McKay, Smith, Comp and Rohrig with the support of such newcomers as Nussbaumer and Aberson certainly hold promise and at blocking back Craig and Keuper will hold up their end. Comp has looked sharper than he has in some time, Smith and Canadeo are running hard, Rohrig gives right half some strength than it has had in some time and Aberson a boy without college experience, may be the answer to a top flight and consistent passer. He has been especially effective so far on the long ones which Lambeau likes so well...ENDS AND GUARDS DO NEED HELP: Lambeau has tried desperately to plug the holes at the ends and guards. Goodnight and Luhn, the holdover wings, must have help, and it must come largely from the new men - Wells, Harrison, Prescott and Kramer - and the veteran Mullenueax, who has been out for some time. They have looked good, but they have still to prove themselves. The same is true at the guards, where Tollefson, Kuusisto and Sorenson need assistance. Adkins, shifted over from blocking back, will mean something and so will Letlow, a willing worker, and smart. Whether Sparlis and Barrett will do remains to be seen. The whole picture has its bright side, but it also has its doubtful side. Maybe this will be the year, as Lambeau says, maybe not. Either way, though, there is always the first approach. Aren't the Packers always up there?
PACKERS OPPOSE PHILADELPHIA AT STATE FAIR PARK ON FRIDAY NIGHT
SEPT 3 (Green Bay) - Curly Lambeau takes his Green Bay Packers to Milwaukee's State Fair park Friday night for an exhibition test with the highly-rated Philadelphia Eagles. It will be the first of three exhibition tests for the Green Bays before they swing into NFL play at City stadium Sunday afternoon, Sept. 29. After the Milwaukee show, the Packers take a jaunt down to Denver for an exhibition even with the Washington Redskins a week from tonight. Then the Packers will return to Green Bay to warm up for the big charity with the New York Giants in New York on Sept. 20. Close to 75,000 persons are expected to witness the New York classic which is getting wide billing throughout the east. It will be an important test, too, for the Packers since the Chicago Bears bowled over the Giants, 19-0, in Chicago last Sunday. Though it doesn't go into the standing, the game will provide something of a measure stick on which to gauge the strength of the two Western powers - Green Bay and the Bears. For the moment, however, Lambeau and the Packers have their work (the Eagles) cut out for them. The contest looms as an important one for the simple reason that Philadelphia is "supposed to be" much stronger than in former years. The Packers, on the other hand, are something of a question mark, although they displayed power during the Army-Navy intra-squad collision at City stadium last Wednesday night...The Green Bay took a rest Sunday, but Labor day was just another Labor day for Lambeau and his charges, and the players spent the morning working on offense for Friday night and a defense to use against the Eagles' tricky T formation. Herman Rohrig continued in the role of the Eagles' T quarter and did most of the passing while Lambeau shifted his defensive backs around trying to find the swiftest pass-breaking-up combination...Word from Sarnac Lake, N.Y., where the Eagles are training reveals that some experts are grooming the Philadelphia club as one of the teams to whip for the Eastern division title. Among the Eagle troublemakers is Roy Zimmerman, one of three signal callers. Starting his fourth season with the Eagles, he is an accomplished passer, punter and placekicker. Last season he completed 67 out of 132 pass attempts for nine touchdowns, punted 47 times for an average of 37.8 yards, and scored 47 points for his team. In addition, he led the league in interceptions, returning seven for 90 yards. Backing up Zimmerman is Steve Van Buren, the Golden Boy of the Louisiana Bayous. Last season Steve set a new league record when he scored 18 touchdowns and kicked two extra points for a total of 110 points. His average gain on the ground was 5.8 yards...The Green Bay Packers had good representation at the Bear-Giant fracas in Chicago on Sunday, but the "official" worker was Don Huston, the assistant Packer coach, who was honored as one of 11 all-time All-Americans. Hutson was announced as "the greatest offensive end ever to wear a football uniform." His mate at the other end was Gen. John Kilpatrick, Yales, 1909-10. Other All-Americans were: tackles - Wilbur Henry, Washington and Jefferson, 1919, and Duke Slater, Iowa, 1922; guards - Jack Cannon, Notre Dame, 1929, and W.W. (Pudge) Heffelfinger, Yale, 1889-91; center - Clyde Turner, Hardin-Simmons, 1939; quarterback - Jim Thorpe, Carlisle, 1912; halfbacks - Red Grange, Illinois, 1923-25, and Willie Heston, 1903-04, Michigan; fullback - Bronko Nagurski, Minnesota, 1929.
PACKER NOTES
SEPT 3 (Milwaukee Journal) - Whatever the Green Bay Packers do this season, it will once more be largely because of what they achieve with passes. "Eat up the yards quickly. "Strike from anywhere." "Jam the ball down the other side's throats." It was always thus with them and it will probably always be. More than any other team in the league, they have built their reputation in the air - on Curly Lambeau's conception of this kind of attack, on the overall strategy which has always regarded the pass as the chief weapon of attack, and on the individual brilliance of the passers and receivers. A graph of Green Bay's seasons clearly parallels the graph of Green Bay's passing successes. Dunn to Dilweg, Nash, Blood or Lewellen in the late twenties and early thirties. Herber to Dilweg, Gantenbein, Hinkle or Hutson in the middle thirties. And Isbell to Hutson, Hinkle Jacunski and Mulleneaux in the late thirties and early forties. There were Green Bay's greatest passing combinations and these, too, Green Bay's greatest teams...LAMBEAU OPTIMISTIC: And this year? Well that's just it. Lambeau, with characteristic early season enthusiasm, believe he has something again. At least he flatly declares he has the best passing since Isbell's time. It is no secret that since Isbell left to go into coaching, the Packers have not infrequently stumbled