Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers died of cancer at the age of 57 on this day in 1970.

Ten Notes on Vince Lombardi

1- At the end of the 20th Century ESPN had their ambitious Sports Century series. They had programs on the 100 greatest North American athletes of the 20th century. They also had their top coaches. The man they ranked the #1 coach in all sports was Vince Lombardi. ESPN got it wrong in naming Michael Jordan the #1 athlete, the answer to that is Babe Ruth. They did get the #1 coach correct in choosing Vince Lombardi.

2. During his college playing days at Fordham, Lombardi was one of the famous “Seven Blocks of Granite” He was the least known and least talented of that group. Fordham at that time, in the 1930’s was a college power.  His coach was Jim Crowley who was one of the famous “Four Horseman” at Notre Dame. Lombardi was known as an aggressive and spirited player. He was a guard. We would consider him very small by today’s standards, Lombardi was 5’8″ 180 pounds.  He played guard.

3. Vince Lombardi started his coaching career as a high school coach at St. Cecilia. He moved on as an assistant coach at Fordham. He got his big chance when he moved on to West Point and coached under the legendary Red Blaik. He coached there from 1949-53. Then he moved on to the New York Giants as offensive coordinator under Jim Lee Howell. In Lombardi’s third season with the Giants- Tom Landry took over as Defensive Coordinator. Can you imagine a coaching staff that had Lombardi coaching one side of the ball and Landry the other?

4. Vince Lombardi wanted to be a head coach. He felt that he was passed up in a number of opportunities because he was Italian. He would see at West Point and with the Giants other coaches with less credentials and less success move on to bigger jobs. He thought he would never get that opportunity.

5. On February 2nd, 1959 Vince Lombardi was offered and accepted the job as head coach/general manager of the lowly Green Bay Packers. The Packers were coming off a 1-10-1 season. The worst season in Packers history. The fans in Green Bay had suffered through 11 years without a winning record. This was football Siberia in more ways than one. Vince Lombardi was 45  years old at the time. He couldn’t be picky about where he went. He took the head coaching position that was offered.

6. Vince Lombardi took over the worst team in football. He took a 1-10-1 team and in his first year 1959 they went 7-5. In his second year as head coach 1960 the Packers had arrived. The Pack went 8-4 and went to the NFL Championship Game where they lost a close game to the veteran Philadelphia Eagles led by Norm Van Brocklin and Ironman Chuck Bednarik 17-13.

7. The rest his football history. In the next seven seasons the Green Bay Packers would become the most storied dynasty in football history. They won the NFL Championship in 1961-1962, 1965, 1966 and 1967.  Following the 1966 season they started the Super Bowl, the NFL Champion playing the AFL Champion. The Packers won the first two Super Bowls over the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders. The pressure on Lombardi’s Packers was great. The NFL was expected to dominate the upstart AFL. A loss would have tarnished the Packers and Lombardi’s legacies. No need to worry, even though the Packers at the time were an aging team, they won both games by decent margins.

8. One of the most famous games of all times was the Ice Bowl in Green Bay. The 1967 NFL Championship Game. Dallas Cowboys vs Green Bay Packers. The temperature that day was -15 degrees F. The wind chill -44 degrees F. The field was frozen. On the opening kick-off the referee blew his whistle and the whistle froze to his lips. It was hard to get an offense going in this cold/frozen environment. Green Bay was the frozen tundra on this day.

On the first play of the 4th quarter Dallas running back Dan Reaves on a half back option hit receiver Lance Rentzel for a 50 yard touchdown. The Cowboys led 17-14. Late in the game with 4:50 on the clock the Packers started on their own 33 yard line. They hadn’t mounted much of an offense all day. It was now or never.  Quarterback Bart Starr led the Packers on a drive he had 3 big completions. With the ball at the 11 yard line-Chuck Mercein ran the ball down to the 3. Donny Anderson ran the ball twice. They were at the 1 yard line. The temperature in Green Bay was now 20 below. With the ball on the 2 foot line, Starr called the Packers last time out. Everyone in the stadium expected a roll out pass. If they ran and were unsuccessful the game would end. No time outs left, no way would they be able to get off another play. An incomplete pass even and they would have at least one more shot at it. Starr told Lombardi he wanted to run a 31 wedge. Guard Jerry Kramer had told Starr that he could get enough traction on the field to make the play work. Starr asked Lombardi about the play and Lombardi replied “Run it, and let’s get the hell out of here” Starr took the snap and Jerry Kramer and the center Ken Bowman blocked Jethro Pugh and Starr fell into the end zone. Lombardi and the Packers had gambled and won. They would go on to win Super Bowl II. Along with the 1958 NFL Championship Game and Super Bowl II {Joe Namath and the Jets shock the World} the most famous game in NFL history. I would place Franco Harris’ Immaculate Reception as the greatest play in NFL history. Starr’s Quarterback sneak #2.

9. After the Packers won Super Bowl II, Lombardi did what he been rumoured. He retired as coach but stayed on as General Manager of the Packers. His health was in decline. The pressure of coaching was taking its toll on Lombardi. Today we would call it burnout. The Packers would quickly go into decline without Lombardi as coach. Lombardi found himself miserable in 1968 not coaching. He was the GM but he felt he couldn’t interfer with his hand picked successor, long time assistant Phil Bengston.  Lombardi still had the coaching bug and when the Washington Redskins came calling Vince Lombardi couldn’t resist. The Redskins were like the Packers he had taken over in 1959. The Redskins had suffered 14 losing seasons in a row. In Vince Lombardi’s first and only season as head coach they went 7-5-2.

10. Lombardi had for several years been in declining health. As early as 1967 he was having digestive problems. He ignored the signs. By the time he sought help it was too late. He had a very aggressive form of colon cancer. He would die at the age of 57. Lombardi’s 100th birthday will be coming up next spring. His career record was 96 wins 34 losses and 6 ties. The impact he had on the players who played for him go way beyond the wins and 5 championships.{His playoff record by the way was 9-1} The 1960’s Packer players for the most part went on to have great successes after their football careers ended. They all credit Lombardi as being the biggest influence on their lives. He was more than a football coach. The players while they were playing for him didn’t always love him. He was tough and demanding. Henry Jordan once famously said “Lombardi treats us all the same, like dogs” But Lombardi got the best out of the talent he had to work with and he shaped the men who played for him into outstanding men. Some coaches are just that-coaches. Lombardi’s impact is still felt 42 years after his death.

The Super Bowl Championship Trophy is- The Lombardi Trophy.

For an excellent read on the great Lombardi- I would highly highly recommend David Maranis “When Pride Still Mattered” one of the finest sports biographies I’ve ever read. I haven’t read it since it came out in the late 1990’s. I think its time to re-read it.

HBO also a year or so ago had a 2 hour documentary on the great Lombardi, which I would also highly recommend.