Vince Lombardi is immortalized at Lambeau Field, as are his ideas within the NFL culture.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

The NFL is brutal … it’s a multi-billion dollar “what have you done for me lately” business that takes no prisoners. To succeed in today’s game, your veins have to run ice cold and one must be ready to move on to tomorrow in a moment’s notice.

This banner that flew outside Lambeau Field a few years ago says it all.
Raymond T. Rivard photograph

While today’s league has grown by leaps and bounds, it was the trend-setters of a half century ago that built the foundation of what the league has become – and one of the most influential was the one and only Vince Lombardi.

He patented the no-nonsense, this-is-a-business mantra that led not only to the Green Bay Packers coach’s success in teaching the game, but in helping to establish a model from which everyone copied a template that continues to this day.

That’s why Vince Lombardi would have been successful in the NFL today – he understood that being the best meant sacrificing and dedicating oneself to the team concept. Those who fail in today’s game fail not because they can’t deal with the prima donna, it’s because they fail to follow the basic tenets that Lombardi helped establish decades ago.

Here’s what Lombardi had to say back in late April 1968 (courtesy of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame):

“I may have a different philosophy on personnel than others, but in my book I expect a player to improve from his rookie year on. If he doesn’t, we’ll find somebody to take his place.”

What successful general manager and coach doesn’t follow those simple guidelines? If they don’t, they don’t last long in the league.

Lombardi said those words while in Milwaukee to be honored by Alpha Sigma Nu (the national Jesuit honor society at Marquette University). At the time he was explaining a recent trade he made of  tackle Steve Wright and linebacker Tommy Crutcher to the Giants for tackle Francis Peay.

Lombardi said about the trade and any other moves he made as the head of a team: “A team is never set.”

Those words ring strongly in the shadow of this past weekend’s 2013 NFL Draft. Teams selected anywhere from a half dozen to more than a dozen players from the college ranks to come in and compete for jobs. Many will make it, many will not.

Vince Lombardi

But the ever-evolving team is what makes the NFL fresh and exciting. It’s the way teams operate that was established by the early movers and shakers in the league. Lombardi cemented it all with his views and modus operandi with the Packers. Teams continue today in their attempts to replicate what he started.

Many say that Lombardi’s approaches would never work today in the world of the mulit-millionaire players. I disagree for all of the reasons above, but even more importantly, I disagree because all players in the league – no matter how well set they are financially – play the game for the same reasons that players 50 years ago played – they love the game and will do whatever they can to win. That’s what it’s all about and that, in essence, is what Lombardi established when he was still with us.

His presence and influence will never leave the game.

I guess that’s probably why the game’s ultimate trophy and symbol bears his name.

Jan 15, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; A general view of the Vince Lombardi statue outside before the 2011 NFC divisional playoff game between the Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants at Lambeau Field. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Mills/THE-STAR LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

We all know that Green Bay Packers legendary Coach Vince Lombardi decided to step down from his coaching responsibilities after the 1967 season and following his Super Bowl II victory over the Oakland Raiders.

What we don’t know is that his father was really ticked about his decision to do so.

In today’s release from the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (one of my favorite Packers sites, by the way), we find out that on this day in Packers history Lombardi told the story at the Dapper Dan Dinner in Pittsburgh. ”For what have you given up coaching,” the senior Lombardi asked his son. Lombardi said at the dinner that he told his father what he had told everyone – that the job of coach and general manager had gotten too big to handle.

Isn’t it funny how history has a way of repeating itself? How many coaches over the past decade have experienced similar issues? Those with Packers ties - Mike Holmgren and Mike Sherman come quickly to mind – suffered the same issues.

But back in the day, Lombardi saw the writing on the wall and decided to give up coaching and stay on with the Packers as general manager. That lasted one season. When he realized he loved coaching too much and wanted to get back into it he left Green Bay and headed out to Washington, D.C., to coach the Redskins. He was there a single season, turning that franchise from a losing proposition into a winner in that single year. We can only guess what he may have accomplished in Washington had he not died before the start of his second season there.

“Dad wanted me to stay on forever as coach of the Packers,” Lombardi told those at the dinner. “He thinks that coaching the Packers is the greatest position going, and I agree with him.”

We also heard those same words from Mike Holmgren before he left Green Bay for a big contract and more power in Seattle.

The elder Lombardi must have been a very wise man.

Vince Lombardi, on this date in 1959, became head coach of the Green Bay Packers after signing a 5-year contract.
Photograph courtesy of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame

It’s only appropriate on this Super Bowl weekend that the man who won the first two bowls and whose name is stamped on the championship trophy signed his first contract with the Green Bay Packers on this day in 1959.

The National Football League was just becoming America’s game, television had just begun its foray into broadcasting games and it was Lombardi who would usher in the modern era. When he arrived at Austin Straubel Airport in Green Bay with his wife in 1959, he was greeted by the team’s president, Dominic Olejniczak, two executive committee members and the media.

There were no throngs of fans, no hoopla. It was only Lombardi and his plan.

He told the media he was in the process of forming his coaching staff and expected to have it complete within the week. He said he was going to hire a coach to handle the offense and one to handle the defense and that he would have his “finger in the whole pie.”

He certainly did.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy

That first coaching staff built with Lombardi the powerhouse that was to become the Dynasty of the 1960s. Because of his success in Green Bay and the fact that Lombardi won the first two Super Bowls after the merger of the National Football League and American Football League, his name is forever inscribed on the trophy awarded to the winner of the Super Bowl each year.

The Lombardi Trophy will once again be awarded Sunday, Feb. 3, to that winning team – either the San Francisco 49ers or the Baltimore Ravens.

August 3, 2012; Green Bay, WI, USA; The name of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi on the ring of fame around Lambeau Field prior to the Family Night scrimmage in Green Bay, WI. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-US PRESSWIRE

Football is a timeless game – a game of fundamentals that have changed very little over the past 90 years.

This is evident by this video I came across tonight that features the one and only Vince Lombardi talking and teaching these fundamentals.

While there have been some rules changes in the past 20-30 years that have changed how the game is played along the line of scrimmage, the skills that Lombardi teaches in this video are still viable even today.

What’s cool is watching the great coach talk about the game he loved. What’s clear in this video is that fact.

Judge for yourself. I think you will enjoy this.

The post below was provided today by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame and details one’s retelling of a story told by the late great Vince Lombardi’s wife, Marie, way back in 1975. However, it’s one that I’ve never heard and doubt that you have either.

Take a short moment to give it a read. Packers fans everywhere are sure to understand exactly what Vince meant at the time he uttered his final remembrance of Green Bay.

Vince Lombardi’s Final Remembrance of Green Bay

This remarkable memory is courtesy of Jim DeWees. Jim is a Hall of Fame Executive Committee Member on the Board of Directors for the Packers Hall of Fame, Inc.

As a long-time member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Board of Directors and Executive Committee, I have my own personal collection of Packers stories.

One I’d like to share one with you today stands out in my mind as truly unique.

Several years ago, the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Induction Banquet was held at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay. It was 1975, the year that Vince Lombardi and several of his players were inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame. This group included Don Chandler, Willie Davis, Paul Hornung, Henry Jordan, Jerry Kramer, Ron Kramer, Max McGee, Jim Taylor and Fuzzy Thurston. The banquet, of course, was sold out, and packed with admirers and fans.

Marie Lombardi was there to accept the award on behalf of her husband. It was an emotional time, as it was a short time after he had passed away. She told the audience about a conversation she had with Vince a couple days before he died.

She said, “I was sitting on the edge of the bed and Vini (as she always called him) was so sick and semi-conscious. He awoke and said, “Marie, honey, I want to go home.”

I said, “You are home.”

And Vini said, “No, I mean I want to go home to Green Bay.”

This was a tear-jerking moment for everyone.

There was never a question about how the city of Green Bay felt about Vince Lombardi.

Now we know how Vince Lombardi really felt about Green Bay.

Jan 14, 1968; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi during Super Bowl II against the Oakland Raiders at the Orange Bowl. The Packers defeated the Raiders 33-14. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

Compiled by his wife, Marie, these photos have been posted by the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Check them out. As always, anything with Vince’s image on it are a hot commodity.

You can see the posting below, but go here to see all the photos.

The Young Vince Lombardi

The following images are taken from a scrapbook compiled by Marie Lombardi, the wife of former Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. They show the legendary coach in his younger years, primarily during his time at West Point, where he coached until 1953.

In 1954, Lombardi accepted a position as the New York Giants offensive backfield coach. He would take over as head coach of the Packers in 1959 and win six NFL titles.

Vince Lombardi

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St. Vince is helping to promote an effort to add a plaque at the gravesite of Vince Lombardi. Raymond T. Rivard

Vince Lombardi’s gravesite is simple, probably as the great coach would have wanted it.

However, for those passing by his gravesite, they may not understand the greatness that was the man named Lombardi. That’s because the simple site includes only a headstone with the coach’s name.

To remedy that situation, an effort being led by the man named Saint Vince was announced on his Facebook page May 25. It’s a chance to contribute to a fund that will place a plaque similar to the one mounted on his statue at Lambeau Field.

Here’s what Saint Vince has to say:

“Other than the headstone, there is no
indication as to who this man was and
what he did for the Green Bay Packers
and the NFL! We can change that!

This permanent bronze plaque
will teach & inform all future generations
of Coach Lombardi’s accomplishments
and will properly honor him for all time!

With your help, this plaque will be
formally dedicated on the 100th anniversary
of Vince Lombardi’s birth – June 11, 2013!”

If interested in checking out the effort or donating to the effort, check out the address

Personal checks should be addressed and sent to:

“Vince Lombardi Memorial Project”
Associated Bank
2403 S Oneida Street
Green Bay, WI 54304-5201