Today's Tidbit... Gerald Ford Coulda Been A Packer

Football Archaeology has covered the new exhibit at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., All American: The Power of Sports, which displays many artifacts related to the ability of sports to unite people across many boundaries.

Among the items in the exhibit is a letter from Curly Lambeau of the Green Bay Packers to a graduating senior from the University of Michigan, Gerald Ford. As mentioned in the letter, Lambeau scouted Ford when he played in the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco on New Year’s Day, 1935. The two talked then, and Lambeau followed up with a letter offering Ford $110 per game ($1,540 for the 14-game season).

Curley Lambeau’s offer to Gerald Ford (Housed at the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor)

The Detroit Lions also offered Ford, but he chose instead to coach boxing and football at Yale while also applying to their law school, where he was admitted several years later.

Gerald R. Ford, Jr. and fellow football coaches James DeAngelis and Ivan Williamson getting ready for practice at Yale University. (Housed at the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor)

We will never know what might have been had Ford chosen to play for the greatest franchise in professional football.

You can find more information about the National Archives exhibit at the link above. Alternatively, if you want to explore items in the National Archives Catalog, click here to find Lambeau’s letter to Ford. From there, the catalog is your oyster.

---

Subscribe for free and never miss a story. If you are a regular reader, consider becoming a paying subscriber to support my work.