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→Vince Lombardi quotes
Vince was raised in the [[Catholic]] faith and studied the priesthood for two years before transferring to St. Francis Preparatory High School, where he became a star fullback on the football team. When coaching the Packers Lombardi, who had a zero tolerance policy towards racism, warned his team that if any player exhibited prejudice, in any manner, then that player would be thrown off the team. Lombardi, who was vehemently opposed to [[Jim Crow Laws|Jim Crow]] discrimination, let it be known to all Green Bay establishments that if they did not accommodate his black players equally as well as his white players, then that business would be off-limits to the entire team.<ref>http://www.vincelombardi.com/about/index.php</ref> Lombardi was also aware of tight end football player Jerry Smith's homosexuality, and upon arriving in Washington told Smith in confidence that it would never be an issue as long as he was coaching the Redskins. Smith flourished, becoming an integral part of Lombardi's offense, and was voted a First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career, which was also Lombardi's only season as Redskin head coach.<ref>[http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJe01.htm Jerry Smith NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com]</ref> Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and Lombardi would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team.
Vince was raised in the [[Catholic]] faith and studied the priesthood for two years before transferring to St. Francis Preparatory High School, where he became a star fullback on the football team. When coaching the Packers Lombardi, who had a zero tolerance policy towards racism, warned his team that if any player exhibited prejudice, in any manner, then that player would be thrown off the team. Lombardi, who was vehemently opposed to [[Jim Crow Laws|Jim Crow]] discrimination, let it be known to all Green Bay establishments that if they did not accommodate his black players equally as well as his white players, then that business would be off-limits to the entire team.<ref>http://www.vincelombardi.com/about/index.php</ref> Lombardi was also aware of tight end football player Jerry Smith's homosexuality, and upon arriving in Washington told Smith in confidence that it would never be an issue as long as he was coaching the Redskins. Smith flourished, becoming an integral part of Lombardi's offense, and was voted a First Team All-Pro for the first time in his career, which was also Lombardi's only season as Redskin head coach.<ref>[http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/S/SmitJe01.htm Jerry Smith NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com]</ref> Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and Lombardi would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team.
== Vince Lombardi's belief in becoming great at the fundamentals of football ==
The article ''“Gentlemen, this is a football!”'' indicates:
{{Cquote|Gentlemen, this is a football!” That is one of the most famous and often used sports quotes in history. However, most don’t know its real history or how to apply it to their businesses and lives.
In July 1961, Vince Lombardi kicked off the first day of training camp for the 38 players on his Green Bay Packers football team. The prior season had ended in a heartbreaking loss to the Philadelphia Eagles after blowing a lead in the 4th quarter of the NFL Championship Game.
When the players came in to start training camp, they expected to immediately begin where they left off and work on ways to advance their game and learn fancy new ways to win the championship in the new season. When they sat down and began, Vince Lombardi held up a football and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football!”
He then had everyone open up their playbooks and start on page one, where they began to learn the fundamentals – blocking, tackling, throwing, catching, etc. That was clearly not what they expected as players who were at the top of their game.
This hyper-focus on fundamentals allowed them to win the NFL Championship that season 37-0 against the New York Giants. Vince Lombardi went on to win five NFL Championships in seven years. He never coached a team with a losing season after that and never lost a playoff game again.<ref>[https://edmondbusiness.com/2021/02/gentlemen-this-is-a-football/ “Gentlemen, this is a football!”]</ref>}}
== Vince Lombardi quotes ==
== Vince Lombardi quotes ==