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| No. 4, 21, 12, 45, 31, 46 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Back /Punter | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1901-09-29)September 29, 1901 Lincoln, Nebraska, U.S. | ||||||||
| Died | April 16, 1980(1980-04-16) (aged 78) Rockville, Maryland, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||||||||
| Weight | 182 lb (83 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Lincoln (NE) | ||||||||
| College | Nebraska | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
Playing | |||||||||
| Green Bay Packers (1924–32) | |||||||||
Operations | |||||||||
| Green Bay Packers (1954–67) | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Executive profile atPro Football Reference | |||||||||
Verne Clark Lewellen (September 29, 1901 – April 16, 1980) was an American professionalfootball player and executive.
In his day, Lawewllen was known as an excellent punter and back for the first three world championGreen Bay Packers teams, who won championships from 1929 to 1931 as the first dynasty of the NFL. While records do not exist in full for his punting, the two-way player Lewellen led the NFL in most career touchdowns from 1929 to 1940, becoming the first player to score 50 career touchdowns. Despite this, he has not been inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame.[1][2][3][4]
Verne Lewellen was born on September 29, 1901, inGarland, Nebraska. A four-sport high school athlete at Lincoln High School inLincoln, Nebraska. Lewellen attendedUniversity of Nebraska, where he captained and quarterbacked the Cornhuskers to a 14–7 defeat of aNotre Dame squad in 1923.[5] Also a pitcher, the Pittsburgh Pirates were ready to sign him until an injury from a train wreck affected his pitching arm.
Jim Crowley - who played against Lewellen in the 1923 Nebraska-Notre Dame matchup - recommended Lewellen toGreen Bay Packers coachCurly Lambeau.[6] Lewellen signed with the team and played most of his nine-year career with the Packers. Lewellen played in 102 games for the Packers from 1924 to 1932 (in 1927, the team "lent" him to the New York Yankees for three end-of-season games) and earned all-league first-team honors from 1926–29.[6]He also was a pivotal part of the Packers three straight league championships in1929,1930, and1931. Lewellen is considered by some football historians as one of the top football players of his era not in thePro Football Hall of Fame. Because games in the early era of professional football were such so low scoring,punters were considered the most valuable players on teams due to their ability to control field position. Verne Lewellen was considered by most around the league to be the premier player at the leagues most important position, consistently flipping field position on opponents. In addition to his elite punting ability, his 35 total touchdowns in the 1920s decade was the most of any player in the entire NFL.[7] His career total of 50 touchdowns remained an NFL record until 1941 when he was passed byDon Hutson. Lewellen's former teammateCharlie Mathys once said that “if he doesn’t get in the Hall of Fame, it’s a joke.” When Lewellen was not announced as one of the 11 players included in the inaugural Hall of Fame class of 1963, his former teammateJohnny “Blood” McNally, who was a member of the inaugural class, claimed that Verne “should have been in there in front of me andCal Hubbard.”[8] Despite playing in an era of extremely low scoring football, Lewellen still sits fifth on the Packers list of all-time rushing touchdown leaders.[9]
In 1950, he joined the Packers as a member of the executive committee, served as the Packers'general manager from 1954 through 1958 and business manager from 1959 to 1967.[6] As General Manager of the Packers, Lewellen had the assistance of talent scount Jack Vainisi (hired in 1950) in finding players to select.[10]
Together, they helped the team draft many notable stars that would eventually help coachVince Lombardi win the franchise fiveNFL Titles, such asBart Starr,Paul Hornung,Ray Nitschke,Forrest Gregg,Jim Taylor,Jerry Kramer,Ron Kramer, andMax McGee.[11]
Completing a law degree fromUniversity of Nebraska College of Law during his professional football career,[5] he ran successfully for Brown County (WI) District Attorney in 1928 against Packer teammateLaVern Dilweg and was re-elected in 1930. He lost the seat in the 1932 election and practiced law until his retirement.[6]
Lewellen died on April 16, 1980, at the age of 78.[8]
He was elected to theWisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1967 and theGreen Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1970.[8] TheProfessional Football Researchers Association named Lewellen to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2009.[12] Lewellen was named a finalist for thePro Football Hall of Fame centennial class of 2020.[13]
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