VINCE LOMBARDI

Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Lombardi put it on the map.
He was a great leader.
He said, "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing".
He meant, "Be the best and give 100%, win or lose."
He was the best. I loved this man.
He was born in 1913, in Brooklyn, New York.
His father was a big man, with tatoos, all over his beefy arms.
He worked in a meat packing plant, and so did Vince.
They were blue collar, a devoutly religious Roman Catholic family.
Vince once thought that he would become a priest.
He gave up that notion for football.
He was an average lineman at Fordham University.
He put up with discrimination, because he was a dark-skinned Italian.
He used this as a driving force, all his life.
He did odd jobs after he graduated from college.
He wasn't happy until he ended up as a high school teacher,
and football coach.
Vince drove his players relentlessly.
He tempered brutal practices with love.
As a result, his guys played "above their heads".
Vince was addicted to winning.
He was an assistant coach at Fordham University.
From there he went on to Army as an assistant.
Vince was distant from his family.
He was totally focused on football.
He finally got his break in the pros, in 1953.
He became the offensive line coach of the New York Giants.
But he wanted to be a head coach.
He got his "shot" at Green Bay, in 1958.
They were an abysmal football team...last place.
Their franchise was in danger.
Vince came in and said, "I'm in charge here!"
The rest is history.
Lombardi made the Packers a proud frachise.
I'll forever be a Bears fan,
but I love and respect Vince Lombardi.
Vince used football for an excuse to teach "life".