captain. Professional career Canadeo was not particularly fast or elusive, and was smaller than average NFL players even for his time. However, he was a determined and tenacious player. Contemporary Jim Benton called him one of the three toughest players to tackle, alongside Frank Sinkwich and Steve Van Buren. He was also versatile, playing multiple positions on offense, defense, and special teams. This versatility caused Packers head coach Curly Lambeau to take notice, despite Gonzaga being a smaller college. Pre-war Canadeo was selected by the Packers in the ninth round with the 77th overall pick of the 1941 NFL Draft, held in December 1940. By August 13, Canadeo was one of only seven players to sign a contract with the team out of the twenty Green Bay had drafted. Most of the remaining unsigned players either joined the military or chose not to play professional football. Lambeau looked to use Canadeo to bolster a backfield that included aging stars Clarke Hinkle and Arnie Herber. Before the season, Canadeo competed with Herber and Cecil Isbell for the starting quarterback role. He starred in an exhibition game against the New York Giants, as he and Frank Balasz led a scoring march through a muddy field in the third quarter. Herber was waived by the Packers at the end of training camp and Isbell became the Packers' quarterback, while Canadeo had a reserve role in the offense as a rookie in 1941. That season, he played in the first ever NFL playoff game (unscheduled divisional tiebreaker), in which he picked up seven yards on five carries as the Packers lost 33–14 to the eventual NFL champion Chicago Bears. As a backup to Isbell in 1942, Canadeo passed for 310 yards and rushed for 272 more. One of his three touchdown passes was a toss to receiver Don Hutson from one inch away from the goal line. When scolded by one of his coaches for passing so close to the goal line, Canadeo quipped, "Cecil Isbell tossed a four-incher not long ago for a record and I wanted to beat it – you don't get an opportunity like that very often." In 1943, Isbell quit his playing career to coach for Purdue University, his alma mater. Canadeo took over for Isbell at tailback and led the Packers that season in both rushing and passing yards. He gained 489 yards and three touchdowns on 94