With 50 days until the Wisconsin Badgers and Notre Dame Fighting Irish knock helmets at Lambeau Field on Labor Day weekend, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame museum has unveiled an exhibit that brings those schools and the Packers together in many ways.
A temporary exhibit, “6 Degrees of Curly Lambeau,” looks at Lambeau’s connections to both Notre Dame and Wisconsin. The show explores his 1918 season at Notre Dame and his relationship with Wisconsin and the many Badgers he recruited to play for the Packers.
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The exhibition includes stories, rare photographs, original books and documents and more. It opens on July 18 and will remain until the summer of 2027, and an even more temporary exhibit will be at the hall of fame from September 2-7, near the Notre Dame-Wisconsin game. That exhibit will feature some of the best artifacts from the Wisconsin and Notre Dame collections.
Lambeau’s connection to Wisconsin was such that he himself had no connection, although it was often said over the years that he was on the Badgers’ new football team. Obviously. Lambeau went to Madison one weekend before football season, but did not attend school or join the football team.
He played one semester on Knute Rockne’s Notre Dame team, where he learned a lot that would contribute to his success with the Packers.
Lambeau credited Rockne with teaching him football
“He gave up [Notre Dame coach] Knute Rockne is very grateful for what he learned there, and understandably so. And ran the box Notre Dame [offense] in 1946 and had a lot of success with it, which was Rockne’s offense,” Packers historian Cliff Christl said.
The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame unveiled a new temporary exhibit, “6 Degrees of Curly Lambeau,” during a ceremony on July 17, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. The show will air in July 2027 and looks at Lambeau’s connections to both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin as well as two Packer-affiliated colleges.
“There’s a Lambeau connection [at Notre Dame]which no one has ever done well. He was only there for three months, a little more, and he dropped out,” Christl said. “But most of the other stories about that connection, and his connection to the UW, are completely false.”
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The hall of fame exhibit addresses those misconceptions.
Packers rosters over the years have included many players who attended the two universities, including halfback Charles “Buckets” Goldenberg of Wisconsin, who Christl said was among the best Packers players never to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and, years later, Notre Dame’s Paul Hornung, who legendary Packers Coach Vince Lombardi once said was the best player.
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The exhibition includes letters from Lambeau to his girlfriend Marguerite Van Kessel, who would become his first wife. Packers Hall of Fame Curator Brent Hensel praised Marguerite’s family for making the books and photos available for research and the exhibit. Lambeau, who gained a reputation in later years for treating facts as unwelcome intrusions, appeared sincere in his letters to Marguerite.
The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame unveiled a new temporary exhibit, “6 Degrees of Curly Lambeau,” during a ceremony on July 17, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. The show will air in July 2027 and looks at Lambeau’s connections to both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin as well as two Packer-affiliated colleges.
Lambeau’s letters to the girl were sincere
“I really like the letters, especially the letters when Curly talks about the game he played when he was at Notre Dame, where they played Michigan Agricultural College, which we now know as Michigan State,” said Hensel.
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Lambeau, who played as a freshman because many of the older players were drafted into World War I, talked about playing in the driving rain and how his face got buried in the mud.
“I will say that he seems very sincere,” said Hensel. “If you look at the characters, maybe he hasn’t gotten to the point where he’s exaggerating or telling a tale like he was in recent years.”
Packers Hall of Fame manager Brent Hensel talks about the new show, “6 Degrees of Curly Lambeau,” during an event on July 17, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. The exhibit will air in July 2027 and looks at Lambeau’s connections to both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin as well as two Packer-affiliated colleges and other colleges.
Among others connected to the show is Jim Crowley, a football star at Green Bay East High School from 1918 to 1921. His coach was Curly Lambeau, a two-time coach of the Packers. Crowley went on to become a member of the “Four Horsemen” backfield at Notre Dame, after which he played two games with the Green Bay Packers and one with the Providence Steamrollers. He then went on to coach at Fordham University, which featured a “Seven Blocks of Granite” offensive line that included guard and tackle Vince Lombardi.
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Thomas “Red” Hearden was on the same East High School team as Crowley, where he, too, was a star. One year younger than Crowley, he was also recommended to Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne by Lambeau. He was a three-year letterman at Notre Dame before returning to Green Bay to play for the Packers. Like Crowley, Hearden’s NFL career was short, just six games, after which he coached high school football at Racine St. Catherine’s and Green Bay East, resulting in a 51-3-2 record. After serving in the US Navy in World War II, he coached the St. Norbert College has a record of 40-14 in seven years, including three undefeated seasons. He joined the Packers coaching staff in 1957, but suffered a stroke.
Visitors to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame view the new exhibit, “6 Degrees of Curly Lambeau,” during a ceremony July 17, 2026, in Green Bay, Wis. The show will air in July 2027 and looks at Lambeau’s connections to both the University of Notre Dame and the University of Wisconsin as well as his connections to two other Packers.
Red Hearden may have Lombardi’s work
“If he hadn’t had a stroke, [former Packers historian] Lee Remmel believes he may be offered to be the Packers’ head coach in 1959, replacing Lombardi, Hensel said.
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The Notre Dame-Wisconsin game is scheduled for Sunday, September 6, 2026, at Lambeau Field. The game was originally scheduled for October 3, 2020, but was postponed due to COVID. Notre Dame will be the home team for the neutral site game. NBC will broadcast the game, which precedes the start of the NFL season.
It will be the second biggest college game at Lambeau, behind the Wisconsin-LSU game in 2016, and the fifth biggest college game of all time. St. Norbert College won three games at this stadium, the last in 1983.
Contact Richard Ryman at rryman@usatodayco.com. Follow him to X with @RichRymanPG and on Instagram at @rrymanPG.
This article first appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette: Packers Hall of Fame exhibit links Lambeau, Wisconsin, Notre Dame
