Vince Lombardi on The 2010 Detroit Lions: Part 1

The man after whom the most coveted trophy in all of professional sports is named left us with some of the best quotes in all of sports history.  Vincent Lombardi’s no-nonsense style and unabashed passion for the game he loved serves as an inspirational legacy for athletes, former athletes, and fans alike.  To that end, I’m offering three of Coach Lombardi’s quotes and applying them to the 2010 Detroit Lions.

 

 

“It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you're not a winner.”

 

Now, if ever a professional sports franchise were to set the stage for such activity, the Detroit Lions could be considered the “poster children” of the NFL to succeed in that endeavor.  The Detroit Lions’ 2-30 record over the past two seasons has brought fans to their maximum capacity to suffer along with the franchise many have followed for a lifetime.  The ironic “Do you believe in now?” slogan for the 2008 campaign was only a befitting slap in the face for the long suffering.

 

Regardless the Lions production or statistics from the previous two seasons, the 2010 Detroit team seems to have faith in a much brighter future upon the field of play.  I think Lions players now find themselves in an environment where there is a top-down chain-of-command and a unity of purpose to put a much better product on the field on Sunday afternoons.  I believe this to be a reflection of the leadership of head coach Jim Schwartz. 

 

Men are inspired by their leadership to give more, to do more, and to become more than either could achieve without their combined efforts to coach and to be coached.  Team synergy is a requisite for excellence.  Schwartz has the personality type and character traits that endear players to him, even when they are no long a member of his team. I believe this is a reflection of the discipline he instills in his players and the resultant faith the players have in their leader to prepare them to play at a high level and to make good decisions during the heat of the battle.

 

“I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious.”

 

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I spent some time with my close friends watching DVR of the Detroit Lions v. Cleveland Browns “instant classic” game, which was played at Ford Field on November 22, 2009.  In usual fashion, the Lions spotted their opponent a 24-10 lead at the end of the 1st quarter.  Accordingly, that “here we go again” sensation is not easily forgotten from game day.  By halftime, we had a ballgame, as the Lions came back in the 2nd quarter to make the score 27-24 in the Browns’ favor.

 

As the game wound down to its final series with the Lions driving for what would become the game-winning TD pass from QB Matthew Stafford to TE Brandon Pettigrew, you could sense the drama in the air that would push the Lions over the cusp for a win.  Finally, the Lions would “snatch victory from the jaws of defeat”.

 

The pictures of Stafford rising from the field, eluding the Lions’ training staff, and then emerging to drill a pass through a small window to a fellow rookie with Browns defenders draped all around him is the stuff legends are made of.  Herein lays the essence of Lombardi’s words.

 

Although for the 2009 Detroit Lions victory was tasted but twice, we know that the 2010 team has much loftier aspirations.  More than one player has been quoted as believing and eight-win season is attainable as is a post-season birth.  Whether this is simply wishful thinking or the outward expression of an inner belief will be measured by wins during the 2010 season.

 

 

 “The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.”

 

Those of us born in the Detroit area who are fans of our four major professional sports franchises have enjoyed some great teams over the years (Hey, Hey, Hockeytown!), but many would tell you the thing they want most as a fan is to see the Detroit Lions win the Super Bowl, regardless the team’s four NFL Championships.

 

If most fans can’t remember watching the team’s last championship, it’s almost as if it didn’t exist in the “what have you done for me lately” paradigm of sports fandom.  The Lions last NFL Championship was in 1957.  If a youngster was 10-years-old at the time, he would have been born circa 1947 and today be about 63-years-old.  So basically, if you weren’t born just prior to WWII or recently thereafter, you wouldn’t be old enough to remember when the Lions won their last NFL title.  Those too much older may not have the ability to recall the event anyway if nature has taken her toll upon the mind.  In either case, there aren’t many who can say they remember the 1950s championship era of Lions lore.

 

The 2010 Detroit Lions want to win and the fans want a winner.  Because of the drought, when the Lions finally do reach the pinnacle of professional sports achievement, “rising after the fall” is going to make for the Detroit “party of all parties” of the 21st Century (again, provided it comes to fruition).

 

If the Saints can do it, so can the Lions.  If the Colts can do it, so can the Lions.  If the two teams after which the Lions are being patterned can make, so can the Lions.

 

I just hope the Lions achieving their “greatest accomplishment” happens before 2040 so I can enjoy it a little!