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Description
Vincent Thomas Lombardi was born in Brooklyn, New York, where he was a standout high school football player. In 1933 he enrolled in Fordham University where, as a 170-pound offensive guard, he became one of the famous "Seven Blocks of Granite". He graduated magna cum laude with a degree in business in 1937.
After two years of working for a finance company and attending night law classes, Lombardi took his first coaching job at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. He coached football, basketball and baseball, while also teaching physics, Latin, algebra and chemistry.
In 1947 he left St. Cecilia to coach at his alma mater, Fordham. In 1949, Earl "Colonel Red" Blaik, head coach at the United States Military Academy and considered at the time to be the best coach in the country, persuaded Lombardi to join his staff at West Point. It was there that Lombardi refined his leadership and coaching skills under Blaik's watchful eye. Proper and respectful conduct on the field, clear-cut plays, perfect execution and simple blocking and tackling became part of Lombardi's style of football that would lead to his eventual unparalleled success in the National Football League.
In 1954 Lombardi became an assistant coach on the staff of one of the worst teams in the NFL, the New York Giants. However, due in large part to his relentless drive and insistence upon perfection, within three years of his arrival, the Giants were a championship team. Lombardi and his colleagues worked 18-hour days and continuously drilled the team in the basics of sound football. And during his five years as an assistant coach, his team never had a losing season.
Tired of being an assistant coach, the 45-year-old Lombardi accepted a five-year contract in 1958 to be general manager and head coach of the struggling Green Bay Packers. Pouring his heart and soul into the task of building a championship team, again Lombardi drilled and drilled his players in the basics of football. He demanded and received total dedication from his players, coached and himself. He molded his team to fit his personality. He told them he could win a championship, despite the fact that they had won only one game the previous year. His brilliant coaching techniques paid off and the Packers began to win games. Three years later at Lambeau Field in Green Bay his Packers defeated the New York Giants 37 - 0 to win the 1961 National Football League Championship. His team also won the first two Super Bowls in NFL history.
In 1967, after nine winning seasons with the Packers, Lombardi stepped down as head coach but remained general manager. During his tenure the Packers dominated professional football, winning six division titles, five NFL championships and two Super Bowls. His overall record in Green Bay was 98 - 30 - 4. Lombardi and his player became household names and were associated with winning, dedication and perfection.
Realizing that he still wanted to coach, Lombardi resigned as Packers' general manager and accepted the head coaching position for the 1969 season with the lowly Washington Redskins. In his first year he led them to their first winning season in 14 years. In January of 1970 he was named the NFL's "1960's Man of the Decade".
His now famous and often misquoted commentary on coaching in the NFL was… "Winning isn't everything… it's the only thing!"… But the documented line was, "Winning is not everything… but wanting to win is!" Of course Vince Lombardi was a winner.
Lombardi never had a chance to lead another team to the Super Bowl as he succumbed to intestinal cancer and died on September 3, 1970. More then 3,500 fans and admirers attended his funeral. His memory and accomplishments lived on, however. In 1971 he was posthumously inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame. That same year the trophy given to the winner of the annual Super Bowl, the NFL's most prestigious award, was renamed the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl Trophy. In 2000, ESPN named Vince Lombardi the "Coach of the Century".
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