Vince Lombardi: American Football Icon

Vince Lombardi became popular with the sport he really loved – football. He played football in his youth but his real success in the sport was as an NFL coach. He has two Super Bowl and five NFL championships to his win, along with 105 wins against 35 loses in his coaching career.

Lombardi was born June 11, 1913. He almost became a priest. At 15, he begun studying to become priest but he moved to St. Francis Preparatory School before he could finish the program. There, his career in football started.

As a football scholar, Lombardi attended Fordham University in 1933. He was coached by the legendary Sleep Jim Crowley. He was light as a 170-pounder, but he had an important role in the offensive line. He earned the moniker “Seven Blocks of Granite.” At 24, he finished with a business major; this was in 1937.

He pursued law at Fordham while managing his own business. At the same time, he played semi-pro football with the Wilmington Clippers and Brooklyn Eagles. Just one semester through the law school, Lombardi dropped to become the assistant football coach of St. Cecilia football team. He also taught Latin, physics and chemistry at St. Cecilia. He was just 26 then.

He became the head coach of St. Cecilia football club in 1942. In 1947, Fordham asked Lombardi to help coach Fordham’s freshman football team. A year later, he became the university football team’s assistant coach.

In 1949, Lombardi received an offer to help coach the varsity football team of the US Military Academy. He worked with head coach Earl Blaik in the defensive line. For five years under Blaik, Lombardi’s coaching skills were honed. At 41, Lombardi got an assistant coaching job with NFL’s New York Giants. He was the Giants’ defensive strategist. The Giants were the champions that year.

In 1959, Lombardi became the head coach and GM of the Green Bay Packers at a time when the team was struggling, having won only two of twelve outings the previous season. Within just two years after his arrival, he used the techniques he learned while at West Point and led the Packers to the 1960 NFL championship with the Philadelphia Eagles. The championship game was known as the turning point in NFL because it was Lombardi’s lone playoff defeat.

The next year started the Packer’s dynasty, winning five NFL titles from 1961 to 1967. He also led the team to win two Super Bowl championships. He was known for the play called “Lombardi Sweep,” where the right offensive lineman blocks the pulling guards by sweeping to the outside. In 1967, Lombardi retired from coaching the Packers.

In 1968, Lombardi was hired to coach the Washington Redskins. The Redskins had their winning season after 14 years under Lombardi. However, he got very ill after a year with the Redskins. He died of intestinal cancer on September 3, 1970.

In 1971, Lombardi was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His contributions in shaping American Football cannot be disregarded.