Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi

Vince Lombardi was a great man, many say. He exemplified

that American ideal that greatness can only be achieved by

hard work and discipline. However, Lombardi’s life was far

from perfect. He did not begin his career as the head coach

of the great Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s; hardly, as he

began as a lowly assistant at a run down Catholic high

school, just scraping by.

Soon, however, it became apparent that Lombardi was no

average coach. His intensity, his undeniably scorching hot

passion for football made him an immediate success. Soon he

was the head coach of St. Cecilia High School, leading it to

success for the first time in its history. Of course,

success is the knock on the door of opportunity, and soon

colleges came calling.

Lombardi made his return to his alma mater of Fordham

just as the program was being restarted after World War II.

As the offensive coordinator, he ignited a Fordham team that

had been de-emphasizing football right before he got there.

However, his success actually hindered him. Soon, a

group of boosters began to secretly prepare to dispose of

head coach Ed Danowski. While Danowski was truly unfit for

the position, the media began to rally around him as the

proper temperament for the highly explosive Lombardi. While

Lombardi made it publicly known that he had nothing to do

with the attempted coup, Danowski treated him with contempt

from there on out, quickly pushing Lombardi to want to

leave. After Danowski gave the ultimatum that either he or

Lombardi must go, Vince, was asked to leave his dream of

returning Fordham back to its glory days of when he was a

player there.

Nonetheless...

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... a time, his team was the game. The NFL’s most

prestigious trophy, the one given to the winner of the Super

Bowl, is named the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

When Vince was a player at Fordham, he had one eventful

Saturday. After playing a rough and tumble football game

against Pitt that day, Vince returned home for a birthday

party for his father. He was up until the wee hours of the

morning with his family, spending the precious time he had

with the ones he loved. That was Vince Lombardi in a

nutshell. He was a driven, hungry player and coach, but he

was just as dedicated to his family. At his funeral

minister Roger Bourland said this: “Vince Lombardi was a

legend, whether he liked it or not. He was no saint but he

strove for excellence with a vengeance that is impressive in

this our modern age of mediocrity. Thats what legends are

all about.”