Today is the second biggest day of the NFL season with the conference championships taking place in Philadelphia and Foxboro. The name of the trophy which goes to the eventual Super Bowl champion is the Lombardi Trophy which is named after the iconic coach of the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins.
I was born in ’57 and my youth was dominated by sports. Baseball, football, basketball, racquetball, golf and snow skiing consumed me. Even ice hockey as an adult satiated my passion to compete. Without a doubt, Vincent Thomas Lombardi was the dominant role model for me growing up as a kid in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t just that the Packers won championships, but it more to what Lombardi stood for as a man. Duty, work ethic, team work, passion, commitment to family, tenacity, compassion, and a tolerance of others as long as he saw these qualities in his players and coaches.
I absorbed everything about the Packers. Green Bay’s starting left offensive guard, Jerry Kramer, wrote three best selling books which I read in my formative years. Instant Replay, Winning is Everything, and Farewell to Football were a set of books which gave insights not only into Lombardi the football coach, but more importantly, the man himself. Many in my generation have a place in our hearts for Vince Lombardi. Sure, the Ice Bowl was part of it, but once you got past that game and Camelot it was much more.
Oddly, Lombardi more than any politician, probably helped shape me on my views on what should be important to a young American man growing up. I can still hear that voice booming in my ears. Politically, I’m an Independent, but in truth I’m a member of the Lombardi Coalition. Lombardi was a social liberal with a fiscal conservative’s view on work and self accountability.
Lombardi was very much a tolerant person. He treated every player the same except quarterback Bart Starr. Kramer always wrote Bart Starr was his favorite player probably because the quarterback position is the purest extension of a coach. And he was careful not to yell at Starr because he never wanted his quarterback’s leadership to the rest of the team ever questioned. Otherwise, Lombardi treated everyone the same.
Lombardi was the grandson of Italian immigrants. He was one of the original members of the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordam University. His coaching career started with Red Blaik being offensive line coach at Army, then becoming the NY Giants offensive coordinator. When Lombardi took the Green Bay job the Packers were the laughingstock of the NFL. In less than a decade, he turned the Packers into the greatest dynasty in pro football history.
As I sit here today watching our country in cultural freefall, I wonder what the grandson of Italian immigrants would not only think about Donald Trump, but more to the point ‘what the hell has happened’ to our country?
Some say Lombardi couldn’t win in today’s culture in America. I disagree. Lombardi was a pioneer not only pertaining to racial equality, but for social tolerance as well. Lombardi would be a perfect fit.
So when this year’s Lombardi Trophy is awarded to the winning team it isn’t just the fact his teams won championships that his name is on the trophy, but more to the point, how he helped shape America during the 60’s and beyond his own lifetime.
America could use Vincent Thomas Lombardi right now. The Lombardi Doctrine, now more than the 60’s should be the doctrine in America. Don’t judge others, just do your best and look for the best in others.