For die-hard Packers fans, few things are sweeter than watching their heroes defeat the Chicago Bears. The 1929 Packers accomplished the feat three times, including a 25–0 shutout on December 8 at Wrigley Field that clinched the National Professional Football championship. Because the league, which was only 10 years old, did not have playoffs or a title game in place, the Packers were declared champions by virtue of their record.
A season that began with signings of future Hall of Famers Johnny “Blood” McNally, Cal Hubbard, and “Iron Mike” Michalske also featured the final playing appearance by coach and franchise founder Curly Lambeau. Carl Lidberg scored the game’s first touchdown on a 12-yard run in the first quarter and intercepted a pair of passes to lead Green Bay (12–0–1). The Packers were the first team in league history to go through a season without a loss.
Lidberg’s touchdown—set up by a Chicago fumble—came behind blocks from Jug Earpe, Jim Bowdoin, and Mike Michalske. Lidberg bowled over Paddy Driscoll en route to pay dirt. Eddie Kotal, a former standout at Lawrence University, caught a pair of touchdown passes—one from Red Dunn and the other from Verne Lewellen—to increase the margin. Kotal, whose fumble recovery set up the first score, made a one-handed grab on a pass from Dunn and ran away from Red Grange en route to a score.
The Packers’ defense suffocated Chicago, limiting Grange and the Bears to one first down on the ground and allowing only one drive beyond the Green Bay 35-yard line. The Packers amassed 14 first downs; Chicago had five. The Packers completed 7-of-18 passes for 111 yards. The Bears were 5-for-20 for 64 yards with four interceptions.
The Packers, who celebrated their championship before a crowd of about 5,000 fans, won their three games against the Bears by a combined score of 62–0. Green Bay allowed just 22 points and recorded eight shutouts in 13 league games. The Packers also scored 127 of their 198 points in the second half. Upon returning to Green Bay the day after their championship, the Packers received a raucous welcome. A crowd of 20,000 greeted the team at Chicago and North Western Railroad Depot. The Green Bay Press-Gazette described the gathering of “milling, cheering, and hilarious fans who are intent upon bestowing the felicitations of the city upon their heroes.”
As the train pulled into the stations, whistles, car horns, and fire alarms were no match for the roar of the fans. Players were whisked through in busses, sleighs, and water wagons for a parade through the downtown business district. A night later the party continued at a citywide banquet. Players were presented with watches and cash awards of $220 apiece paid for by a public championship fund drive that began after the signature victory of the season.
That signature victory occurred on November 24, 1929. The Packers traveled to the Polo Grounds in New York and beat the Giants 20–6. In the wake of that game, team president W.W. Kelly sent a telegram, saying: “We made them look like amateurs,” Kelly wired. “There was nothing to it. We could not be stopped.”
Hundreds of Packers fans sent congratulatory telegrams to the team in New York, including Otto Kaap, who promised players a free banquet at Kaap’s restaurant, news that thrilled Lambeau and the players. “Next to the Ice Bowl, that game on November 24, 1929, at the Polo Grounds would be the biggest game in franchise history,” team historian Cliff Christl said. “They had beaten the Giants the year before in New York. They went into it with a one-game lead in the standings and they didn’t have playoffs in those days, so it was a huge game. If they didn’t win that game, they probably wouldn’t have won the championship.”
Radio coverage was in its infancy in 1929. In fact, the game against the Giants was the first game broadcast in Wisconsin, and Russ Winnie used raw data from a teletype feed to recreate the action. Newspaper coverage dominated the day, and the Packers found success on the biggest stage possible. “They really just kind of captured people’s attention then,” Christl said. “There were about 15 different newspapers in New York. The sportswriters at the time fell in love with the story of the small-town team. It became such a big deal. From almost the day they were founded until about the 1950s, the Packers were on the brink of financial collapse. A lot of people think the Packers survived because the fans in Green Bay are so supportive. They survived because they became the biggest draw in the league on the road, especially in New York and Chicago. The Mara and Halas families loved them because they filled their coffers. Most NFL games at the time were drawing 10,000 or 12,000 fans, but the Packers were drawing 30,000 in Chicago and 35,000 in New York.”