When Jerry Kramer took his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame on a warm August weekend in Canton, Ohio, Packers fans celebrated in a better-late-than-never spirit and basked in the warm feeling of a decades old wrong being righted. It took a lot of lobbying and letter writing for Kramer to finally pull on the gold Haggar jacket. Many of the people who helped push Kramer’s candidacy across the goal line via social media and other channels decided it was time to relax until the next Packers player in line—likely Charles Woodson—receives the sport’s ultimate honor. But what if Kramer wasn’t the only Green Bay player excluded from the hallowed Hall of Fame? What about Verne Lewellen? “To me it’s an absolute sham that Lewellen isn’t in the Hall of Fame,” Packers historian Cliff Christl said. “He is a guy, maybe even more than Jerry Kramer, who was screwed.”
In a nine-year career that began in 1924, Lewellen established himself as one of the top backs and punters in the game. The 6’1”, 185 pounder played 105 games, starting in 71 (63 at halfback). Although the NFL didn’t record official statistics until his final season, Lewellen scored more touchdowns (37) than any player in his era and was second in scoring with 307 points. Don Hutson, a Hall of Famer and Packers legend, broke Lewellen’s touchdown record in 1941.
In an era when scores of 7–0 were common and field-goal kicking was unreliable, Lewellen led the Packers in scoring every year from 1926 to 1930. Based on reconstruction of play-by-play sheets, Lewellen rushed 708 times for 2,410 yards and 37 touchdowns, which were outstanding marks for the time. He also caught 83 passes for 12 touchdowns and, despite never being a primary passer in Lambeau’s offense, threw for 2,076 yards.
As impressive as those numbers are, Lewellen’s prowess in the kicking game was a critical ingredient of the Packers’ first three championship teams. “He was a hell of a back certainly, but his punting was critical because back in those games field position was everything,” Christl said, adding that Lewellen was also regarded as an above-average defensive player.
Playing in Curly Lambeau’s “Notre Dame Box” offense, Lewellen was often called to quick kick on early downs and showed a knack for pinning opponents deep in their territory. In 1928 he was unofficially credited with 136 punts, while his teammate Harry O’Boyle led the league with three field goals. “No one who ever saw Lewellen kick could ever forget him,” Arthur Daley wrote in The New York Times in 1962. “He was the finest punter these eyes ever saw.”
In a 1929 victory against the New York Giants that helped the Packers to their first NFL title, Packers quarterback Red Dunn was injured. Lewellen moved from halfback to quarterback, played the full 60 minutes, and was regarded as the hero of a 20–6 triumph that dazzled New York sportswriters. “Had they given out Most Valuable Player awards at the time, he’d have won it,” Christl said.
Lewellen’s vital contributions to the Packers’ early championship teams were just part of his intriguing story. Born September 29, 1901, outside of Lincoln, Nebraska, he was a four-sport star at Lincoln High School, where he led the school to two track championships, back-to-back unbeaten basketball seasons, and was a good enough pitcher that the Pittsburgh Pirates gave him a tryout before arm issues pushed him in another direction.
As a standout at the University of Nebraska, Lewellen was best known as a captain of the Cornhuskers team that defeated Notre Dame 14–7, handing the legendary “Four Horsemen” their only loss. His punts that day traveled 69, 65, 47, 52, and 50 yards, earning him the nickname “Long Distance Lew.”
Lewellen caught the attention of one of the Horsemen—Green Bay native Jim Crowley. A Notre Dame junior at the time, Crowley, who had played for Curly Lambeau at East High School, recommended Lewellen to his former coach. Since the NFL had not instituted a draft, Lambeau worked to outbid the Milwaukee Badgers and Kansas City Blues. Lewellen, who signed with Green Bay on July 31, 1924, later said that he was leaning toward joining some former Nebraska teammates in Milwaukee, but he had graduated with a law degree, and Lambeau promised to find him a job with a Green Bay firm.
At a time when almost all players held offseason jobs—Lambeau himself was an insurance agent for Massachusetts Mutual—Lewellen found a very high-profile side gig midway through his playing career: he was elected Brown County district attorney, beating out his teammate, Marquette graduate LaVern Dilweg, for the post. Lewellen held the post until 1932.
After retiring as a player, Lewellen continued his law practice and also kept ties with the sport and the Packers. In 1941 he coached the Long Island Indians to the American Association Championship. Lewellen joined the Packers executive committee and board of directors from 1950 until December of 1953, when he was named general manager, a post he held until Vince Lombardi’s arrival in 1959. With Lombardi running the football side, Lewellen became the team’s business manager until he retired in 1967.
When Lewellen was not selected with Lambeau, Don Hutson, Johnny “Blood” McNally, Cal Hubbard, and 13 other members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963, Blood called it a terrible oversight. “Verne Lewellen should have been in there in front of me and Hubbard,” Blood said.
Milwaukee Journal sportswriter Oliver Kuechle, who followed the Packers from their infancy through the 1960s, referred to Lewellen as “one of the orphans of pro football” because of the snub. To this day, he remains one of the best players who isn’t in the Hall of Fame.