Vince Lombardi

• 1. Brooklyn Roots And Seminary Years

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  Vincent Thomas Lombardi entered the world on the 11th of June 1913, in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of Brooklyn. His parents Enrico and Matilda had both emigrated from Southern Italy to America. The family lived in a middle-class neighborhood where church attendance was mandatory every Sunday. Mass would be followed by hours of dinner with extended family members and local clergy. Vince served as an altar boy at St. Mark Catholic Church during his childhood years. He helped his father at the meat cutting business but grew to hate it. At age twelve he started playing in an uncoached but organized football league in Sheepshead Bay. The community faced rampant ethnic discrimination against Italian immigrants and their descendants. This background shaped his early understanding of struggle and resilience.

• 2. From High School To West Point

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  Lombardi graduated from eighth grade at age fifteen in 1928. He then enrolled in the Cathedral Preparatory Seminary in Brooklyn to become a Catholic priest. During his four years there he played baseball and basketball despite poor eyesight and athleticism. Against school rules he continued to play football off-campus throughout his studies. After completing four years at Cathedral he decided not to pursue the priesthood. He enrolled at St. Francis Preparatory high school for the fall of 1932. There he became a Charter Member of Omega Gamma Delta fraternity. His performance as a fullback on the Terriers' football team earned him a position on the virtual All-City football team. In 1933 Lombardi received a football scholarship to Fordham University in the Bronx. He played for Coach Jim Crowley who was one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame in the 1920s. Following the 1948 season Lombardi accepted an assistant coaching job at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He served under head coach Earl Blaik whose emphasis on execution became a trademark of Lombardi's style. The 1951 cadet cheating scandal taught him perseverance when forty-three players were discharged.

• 3. The Green Bay Transformation

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  On the 2nd of February 1959, following intense lobbying by Jack Vainisi, Lombardi accepted the position of head coach and general manager of the Packers. The team had finished the previous season with a 1, 10, 1 record which was the worst in franchise history. Players were dispirited while shareholders were disheartened and the community enraged. Lombardi demanded complete control over football operations telling the executive committee that he was in command. For his first training camp he instituted harsh regimens demanding absolute dedication from players. The Packers immediately improved to 7, 5 winning as many games as they had won in the previous three seasons combined. In 1960 Green Bay won the NFL Western Conference for the first time since 1944. The victory along with his religious convictions led the community to anoint him with the nickname The Pope. He led the team to the Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles where they lost on the final play. After the game Lombardi told his team This will never happen again. You will never lose another championship. The Packers defeated the Giants for the NFL title in 1961 and 1962 marking the first two of their five titles.

• 4. Tactics And The Ice Bowl

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  Lombardi converted Notre Dame quarterback Paul Hornung to a full-time halfback during his tenure. He designed a play for fullback Jim Taylor where both guards pulled to the outside and blocked downfield. Taylor would run to daylight wherever defenders weren't standing. This became known as the Packers sweep though Lombardi admitted it was based on an old single wing concept. In 1967 the Packers hosted the Dallas Cowboys in Green Bay on December 31. The game-time temperature created conditions so cold that it became known as the Ice Bowl. A heating coil underneath the field was not functioning that day. With sixteen seconds left and down by three points the Packers called their final timeout. Quarterback Bart Starr asked Kramer if he could get traction on the icy turf and received an unequivocal yes. Lombardi told Starr Run it! And let's get the hell out of here! Kramer blocked Jethro Pugh low while Ken Bowman hit him high. Starr followed them into the end zone gaining victory. Shortly after winning Super Bowl II, Lombardi resigned as head coach on the 1st of February 1968.

• 5. Integration And Acceptance Policies

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  In 1960 a color barrier still existed on at least one team in the NFL but Jack Vainisi and Lombardi were determined to ignore prejudices. Lombardi explained his views saying that he viewed players as neither black nor white but Packer green. When he joined the Packers they only had one black player named Nate Borden. By 1967 the team had thirteen black players including All-Pros Willie Davis and Willie Wood. During his first training camp Lombardi warned his team that any player exhibiting prejudice would be thrown off the team. He let it be known to all Green Bay establishments that if they did not accommodate players equally well then business would be off-limits to the entire team. Before the start of the 1960 regular season he instituted a policy that the Packers would only lodge in places accepting all players. In Washington during 1969 Hall of Fame wide receiver Bobby Mitchell joined the front office becoming the first African American executive. Lombardi also protected gay players like tight end Jerry Smith telling him orientation would never be an issue. He invited other gay players to training camp hoping they could earn spots based solely on performance.

• 6. Final Days And Funeral Procession

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  Lombardi suffered from digestive tract problems as early as 1967 but refused proctoscopic exams initially. On the 24th of June 1970, he was admitted to Georgetown University Hospital where tests revealed anaplastic carcinoma in the rectal area. Exploratory surgery found cancer terminal by July 27. Lombardi received family friends clergy players and former players at his hospital bedside. President Nixon called telling him all of the U.S. was behind him. Lombardi replied that he would never give up his fight against illness. He died in Washington D.C. at 7:12 a.m. on Thursday the 3rd of September 1970, surrounded by wife parents children and six grandchildren. The funeral was held on September 7 at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan. Approximately 1,500 people lined Fifth Avenue which closed to traffic between 39th and 50th Street. Cardinal Terence Cooke preached the homily. Attendees included team officials coaches Tom Landry and Dick Nolan Commissioner Pete Rozelle broadcasters Ray Scott and Howard Cosell. Lombardi was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown Township New Jersey.

• 7. Legacy And Cultural Impact

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  In May 1967 Lombardi received Fordham's highest honor the Insignis Medal for being a great teacher. On the 13th of January 1969, he was inducted into the Knights of Malta at St. Patrick's. In Italy the football field where the first World Championship Final was played is named after Vince Lombardi. As part of the Lambeau Field renovation in 2003 a fourteen-foot statue now stands on a plaza outside the stadium. In 1968 Highland Avenue in Green Bay home to the Packers' Lambeau Field was renamed Lombardi Avenue. In 1970 the NFL's Super Bowl Trophy was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy. He was enshrined in the NFL's Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971. The Vincent T. Lombardi Center at Fordham University bears his name. A plaque dedication installed in 1974 sits on a square near Sheepshead Bay Road in Brooklyn. There are two places in the Bensonhurst area dedicated to him including P.S. 204 and 16th Avenue. The Vince Lombardi Service Area serves as the northernmost rest area on the New Jersey Turnpike. Lombardi appeared on a U.S. Postage stamp first issued on the 25th of July 1997.