Vince Lombardi
Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in American football history, and he is recognized as one of the greatest coaches and leaders in the history of all American sports.[1] He is best known as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers during the 1960s, where he led the team to three straight and five total NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls at the conclusion of the 1966 and 1967 NFL seasons.
Personal information
June 11, 1913
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
September 3, 1970 (aged 57)
Washington, D.C., U.S.
96–34–6
96–34–6
73.8%
9–1
105–35–6
Lombardi began his coaching career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. He was an assistant coach at Fordham where he coached with Jim Lansing. He also coached for the United States Military Academy and the New York Giants before becoming head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967 and the Washington Redskins in 1969.
He never had a losing season as head coach in the NFL, compiling a regular-season winning percentage of 73.8% (96–34–6), and 90% (9–1) in the postseason for an overall record of 105 wins, 35 losses and 6 ties in the NFL.[2]
The year after his sudden death from cancer in 1970, he was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL Super Bowl trophy was named in his honor.
Coaching career[edit]
St. Cecilia High School[edit]
In 1939, Lombardi wanted to marry his girlfriend, Marie Planitz,[46] but he deferred at his father's insistence because he needed a steady job to support himself and a family; he married Marie the following year.[47] In 1939, Lombardi accepted an assistant coaching job at St. Cecilia, a Catholic high school in Englewood, New Jersey.[48][49] He was offered the position by the school's new head coach, Lombardi's former Fordham teammate, quarterback Andy Palau. Palau had just inherited the head coaching position from another Fordham teammate, Nat Pierce (left guard), who had accepted an assistant coach's job back at Fordham. In addition to coaching, Lombardi, age 26, taught Latin, chemistry, and physics for an annual salary of under $1,000.[50][note 4]
In 1942, Andy Palau left St. Cecilia's for another position at Fordham, and Lombardi became the head coach at St. Cecilia's. He stayed a total of eight years, five as head coach. In 1943, St. Cecilia's was recognized as the top high school football team in the nation, in large part because of their victory over Brooklyn Prep, a Jesuit school considered one of the best teams in the eastern United States. Brooklyn Prep that season was led by senior Joe Paterno, who, like Lombardi, was to rise to legendary status in football. Lombardi won six state private school championships (NJISAA - New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association),[51] and became the president of the Bergen County Coaches' Association.[52]
Fordham[edit]
In 1947, Lombardi became the coach of freshman teams in football and basketball at his alma mater, Fordham University. The following year, he was an assistant coach for the varsity football team under head coach Ed Danowski, but he was arguably the de facto head coach.[53]
West Point[edit]
Following the 1948 season, Lombardi accepted an assistant coaching job at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, a position that greatly influenced his future philosophy and system of coaching. He was offensive line coach[54] under head coach Earl "Colonel Red" Blaik. "As integral as religion was to [Lombardi's] sense of self, it was not until he reached West Point and combined his spiritual discipline with Blaik's military discipline that his coaching persona began to take its mature form."[55] Blaik's emphasis on execution[56] became a trademark of Lombardi's coaching style.[57] Lombardi coached at West Point for five seasons, with varying results. The 1949 and 1950 seasons were successful, but the 1951 and 1952 seasons were not, due to the aftermath of a cadet cribbing scandal (a violation of the Cadet Honor Code[58]) which was revealed in spring 1951. By order of the Superintendent, 43 of the 45 members of the varsity football team were discharged from the Academy as a result of the scandal.[59] "Decades later, looking back on his rise, Lombardi came to regard ..." Blaik's decision not to resign "... as a pivotal moment in his [own] career" — it taught him perseverance.[60] After the 1951 and 1952 seasons not much was expected from the 1953 team as it had also lost six players due to academic failure. The 1953 team, however, did achieve a 7–1–1 record, as Lombardi had a bigger role than ever in coaching the team.[61] Following these five seasons at Army, Lombardi accepted an assistant coaching position with the New York Giants.
New York Giants[edit]
At age 41 in 1954, Lombardi began his NFL career with the New York Giants. He accepted a job that later became known as the offensive coordinator position under new head coach Jim Lee Howell.[62] The Giants had finished the previous season under 23-year coach Steve Owen with a 3–9 record. By his third season in 1956, Lombardi, along with the defensive coordinator, former All-Pro cornerback turned coach Tom Landry, turned the squad into a championship team, defeating the Chicago Bears 47–7 for the league title. "Howell readily acknowledged the talents of Lombardi and Landry, and joked self-deprecatingly, that his main function was to make sure the footballs had air in them."[63] At points in his tenure as an assistant coach at West Point, and as an assistant coach with the Giants, Lombardi worried that he was unable to land a head coaching job due to prejudice against his Italian heritage,[64] especially with respect to Southern colleges.[65] Howell wrote numerous recommendations for Lombardi to aid him in obtaining a head coaching position. Lombardi applied for head coaching positions at Wake Forest,[66] Notre Dame, and other universities and, in some cases, never received a reply.[65] In New York, Lombardi introduced the strategy of rule blocking to the NFL.[67] In rule blocking, the offensive lineman would block an area, and not necessarily a particular defensive player, as was the norm up to that time.[68] The running back was then expected to run towards any hole that was created. Lombardi referred to this as running to daylight.[69]
Personal life[edit]
Family[edit]
In the fall of 1934, Lombardi's roommate Jim Lawlor introduced him to his cousin's relative, Marie Planitz.[107] When Marie announced her ardent desire to marry Lombardi, her status-conscious stockbroker father did not like the idea of his daughter marrying the son of an Italian butcher from Brooklyn,[108] a prejudice he would face more than once in his life.[109][110] Lombardi and Marie wed, nonetheless, on August 31, 1940.[111]
Illness and death[edit]
Lombardi had suffered from digestive tract problems as early as 1967, and he had refused his doctor's request to undergo a proctoscopic exam.[158] On June 24, 1970, Lombardi was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital, and tests "revealed anaplastic carcinoma in the rectal area of his colon, a fast-growing malignant cancer in which the cells barely resemble their normal appearance".[159] On July 27, Lombardi was readmitted to Georgetown and exploratory surgery found that the cancer was terminal.[160] Lombardi and Marie received family, friends, clergy, players, and former players at his hospital bedside.[161] He received a phone call from President Nixon telling Lombardi that all of the U.S. was behind him, to which Lombardi replied that he would never give up his fight against his illness.[162] On his deathbed, Lombardi told Father Tim that he was not afraid to die, but that he regretted he could not have accomplished more in his life.[163] Lombardi died in Washington, D.C. at 7:12 a.m. on Thursday, September 3, 1970, surrounded by his wife, parents, two children, and six grandchildren. He was 57.[164]
The funeral was held on September 7 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. Approximately 1,500 people[165] lined Fifth Avenue, and the avenue was closed to traffic between 39th and 50th Street. Terence Cardinal Cooke delivered the eulogy. In attendance were team officials, coaches Tom Landry, Dick Nolan, Weeb Ewbank, Alex Webster, Norm Van Brocklin, Phil Bengtson and Bill Austin, Commissioner Pete Rozelle, past and present members of the Packers, Redskins, and Giants, broadcasters Ray Scott and Howard Cosell, former students from Saints, colleagues and players from West Point (including Red Blaik), and classmates from Fordham University, including the remaining Seven Blocks of Granite.[note 6][166] Lombardi was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown Township, New Jersey.[167]
In popular culture[edit]
In 1968, Lombardi starred in a half-hour motivational film titled Second Effort, that has been called "The best-selling training film of all time".[168][169]
On December 14, 1973, ABC aired Legend in Granite starring Ernest Borgnine as Vince. The biographical TV drama focused mostly on his first two years as Packers head coach (1959–1960).[170]
A service area on the New Jersey Turnpike dedicated to and named after Lombardi opened in 1974.[171]
The high school in the 1979 movie Rock 'n' Roll High School is named Vince Lombardi High School.[172][173][174]
In 1986, CHCH aired the TV movie Lombardi: I Am Not a Legend starring Robert Knuckle in the title role that depicted Lombardi's life up until the NFL.[175]
In 1996, Nike aired several commercials featuring Jerry Stiller as the ghost of Lombardi.[176][177]
ESPN produced the 2005 TV movie Code Breakers that depicted the West Point cheating scandal and its effect on the football program. Richard Zeppieri played then-Assistant Coach Lombardi.[178]
A play titled Lombardi opened on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre in New York City in October 2010, following an out-of-town tryout at the Mahaiwe Theater in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The production starred Dan Lauria as Lombardi and Judith Light as his wife, Marie. The play received positive reviews, as did Lauria's performance.[179]
NFL Films and HBO produced a film about Lombardi that debuted Saturday, December 11, 2010.[180]
Source:[86]
Vince Lombardi has worked under one head coach:
Assistants under Vince Lombardi who became college or professional head coaches:
