Vince Lombardi
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Vince Lombardi (Brooklyn, New York, 1913 – Washington, D.C. 1970) (Italian parents), was an American football coach. He was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers of the NFL from 1959–67, and of the Washington Redskins for the 1969 season. He was one of football's most accomplished and respected coaches.
Lombardi won five league championships during his 9 years as a coach. He began his career as a professional football coach in 1954 for the NFL's New York Giants.
Since 1970, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is given every year to the winner of the Super Bowl by the NFL.
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 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.[1] 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.[2] Lombardi invited other gay players to training camp, and Lombardi would privately hope they would prove they could earn a spot on the team.
Contents
Vince Lombardi's belief in becoming great at the fundamentals of football
The article “Gentlemen, this is a football!” indicates:
| “ | 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.[3] |
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Vince Lombardi quotes
- "Gentleman, this is a football." - Vince Lombardi (Quote relating to knowing the fundamentals of football such as blocking and tackling)
- "Football is two things. It's blocking and tackling. I don't care about formations or new offenses or tricks on defense. You block and tackle better than the team you're playing, you win." - Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi quotes on winning
- "Winning is a habit. Watch your thoughts, they become your beliefs. Watch your beliefs, they become your words. Watch your words, they become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habits, they become your character.”
- “The objective is to win—fairly, squarely, decently. Win by the rules, but still, win.”
- “Everyone has the will to win but very few have the will to prepare to win.”
- "If it doesn't matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?"
- “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.”
- “Winning isn’t everything, but it’s the only thing. In our business there is no second place; you’re either first, or last.”[4]
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.vincelombardi.com/about/index.php
- ↑ Jerry Smith NFL Football Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com
- ↑ “Gentlemen, this is a football!”
- ↑ The NFL Must Prioritize Players’ Safety and Humanity, Molly Smith, Chicago Policy Review, January 19, 2023. Since the era of free agency beginning in 1994, the NFL prioritizes player safety over winning games and will sanction coaches who risk player safety just to win a game.
External links
- The Official Web Site of Vince Lombardi
- Quotations
- What it Takes to be Number One Movie The Lombardi Philosophy transcends football. His powerful words capture the fundamentals of success...
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