Vince Lombardi: Everything That Is Great About Football

The first half of the 2008 NFL season is already over. When the second half has unfolded, we will be witnesses to the lucky team who carries away the most coveted prize in North American sports today, the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

Who is Vince Lombardi? If you don't already know prepare to be educated, and if you do know well you should take notes to further expand your knowledge on football's greatest coach and it's single greatest football force ever too bar none.

Vince Lombardi's beginning

Vincent Thomas Lombardi was born on June 11, 1913 in Brooklyn, NY. Lombardi was born in Brooklyn to a Neapolitan-born father Henry Lombardi, a butcher, and a Brooklyn-born Matilda Izzo, the daughter of a barber, whose parents had immigrated as teenagers from just east of Salerno in southern Italy.

Lombardi was raised in Southern Brooklyn and attended its public schools until the eighth grade.

As a player, Vince Lombardi was a good but undersized guard on Notre Dame's imposing line: The Seven Blocks of Granite. In a semi-professional career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, he bulked up from 185 pounds to 205 pounds.

It seemed his height and size was still too much of an issue to play professional. Lombardi never gave up, though. If he couldn't contribute to football as a player, he decided to contribute as a coach and accepted a assistant coach job at St. Cecilia.

To think that the greatest coach of all time began his career as an assistant coach at a Catholic High School only strengthens his story and legacy.

Vincent eventually won the head coach job and trained those soft future ministers into a football gridiron machine of destruction. His hard work paid off and eventually would go on to coach for West Point.

Lombardi was recruited to be the offensive coordinator for the NY Giants in 1954 at the age of 41. Thus, a legend finally began his professional career. Lombardi taught his players to be versatile and hard working. Attributes that would later describe many of the players on those great Packers teams.

The team would go on to win the championship in Lombardi's third season with the team, and he went on to be the head coach of the Packers.

The Vince Lombardi Packers—The Greatest Dynasty Ever in Pro Football

In just St. Vincent's second year on the team, he lead the Pack to the NFL championship. Unfortunately, great plays by center/middle linebacker Chuck Bednarik cost the Pack the championship when he wrestled Jim Taylor to the ground at the nine and time ran out.

Vince was furious and said that losing a championship was unacceptable and would never happen again under his command. It didn't.

After that loss, the Packers never lost a playoff game and won five NFL championships. Three of them were consecutive championship wins including the first two Super Bowls.

Vince Lombardi had 13 Hall of Famers on that great Packers team, most of whom have to thank all of their success to Lombardi. Even in today's day and age, many players are still waiting to get inducted that played for Vince. Jerry Kramer for example is still waiting and may still get into canton.

With Vince many players full-filled their potential (Paul Hourning) and many more shattered expectations (too many to list) considering their physical abilities. Lombardi would always rather have someone that tried their hardest and never gave up even if he wasn't the biggest or the fastest than with a lazy showboat with with great talent and physical abilities.

A philosophy that's lost in today's NFL, yet it lead Lombardi to five NFL championships and the first two Super Bowls.

The Packers of the 1960s were a team. A team with morals such as selflessness, hard work, courage, fearlessness, determination, and toughness. Many of these morals don't apply to some of the NFL's most talented players and respected teams, but you will not win football's greatest trophy without those morals. Just ask Ocho-Cinco or T.O.

Post Packers and Legacy

Lombardi did not want to give up football, even though he had so many championships. In his first year (1969) with the Redskins, he turned around a franchise to its first winning record since 1955. Who knows what the Redskins team might have turned out to be.

Unfortunately, we will never know. Lombardi passed away on Sept. 3, 1970 in Washington DC. It was Lombardi's final struggle, but even he could not fight away or defeat the evil and cruel spirits of death.

Even though he is gone, his legacy still remains and grows with each passing year. Just fully so he was named the "Coach of the Century" and the NFL named the Super Bowl trophy after him.

Plenty of coaches will be hoping to lead their team to the promise land which this year happens to be Raymond James Stadium. No matter who they may be, they will still look at the name on the trophy and will still look up to him at the sky.