Vince Lombardi and JFK

[Bob]

There is a reason why the trophy presented to the NFL champion is called the Lombardi trophy. Why is that? First off, Vince Lombardi and his Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. In those wins, the Packers outscored their two opponents by a 68-24 margin. But it is much more than that. Lombardi always played to win...no matter if it was the pre-season, regular season or post-season. Lombardi had .728 winning percentage in the regular season during his time as a head coach in the NFL, which includes the 1969 season with the Washington Redskins (that season was Washington's first winning season in 13 years by the way). In the pre-season during his career, Lombardi had an even better .840 winning percentage by winning 42 out of 50 games as a Packer coach. But it was the post-season where Lombardi really stood out. Lombardi was 9-1, or a .900 winning percentage, plus 5 NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls. And the one game he lost, a 17-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, was a game which ended with FB Jim Taylor being tackled on the Eagle 10 yard line by Chuck Bednarik as time ran out. Lombardi only won 96 regular season games as a head coach during his relatively short head coaching career (10 years). Four coaches have won over 200 games in NFL history with Don Shula leading the way with 328 wins, followed by George Halas with 318 wins, followed by Tom Landry with 250 wins and also Curly Lambeau, the Packers 1st head coach and founder, with 226 wins. All of those men coached for over 20 years...some closer to 30. None of those coaches had regular season winning percentage over .700 like Lombardi did. All had issues in the post-season as well. Shula was 19-17 in the post-season, including a record of 2-4 in the Super Bowl. Landry was 20-16 in the post-season, with a 2-3 record in the Super Bowl. Halas was 6-3 in the post-season, but he did win 8 NFL championships as two of his championships came before the playoff format started in 1933. Lambeau was 3-2 in the post-season, and won 6 NFL titles as he too won three titles before the playoff format started. Vince Lombardi is the benchmark for all that the NFL stands for in coaching. Lombardi had many quotes during his time as a coach, but the one that stands out the most to me concerning victories is this short but sweet one, "Winning is a habit". Indeed, winning was a habit for Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the man whose name is on the trophy that will be given to the WINNER of each Super Bowl game.That's great, but what is the connection between JFK and Vince? Lombardi was a big JFK supporter during the 1960 Presidential election. They became friends over time. The Packers won two NFL championships while JFK was in the White House, and were still technically NFL champions when JFK was assassinated on 11/22/1963.But the biggest story with Lombardi and JFK concerned the 1961 NFL championship game. The Packers, like a lot of professional teams, had a number of players in the national guard due to the escalation of the cold war. The Packers had key players like Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler and Paul Hornung in that status.The players would be with their units during the week, but then were allowed to join the team for games on the weekend. However, Hornung was not granted access to go back to the Packers for the championship game. That would have been a HUGE blow as Hornung was the NFL MVP in 1961.Lombardi was obviously concerned about that situation, so he placed a call to JFK to see if the President would get Hornung a pass to join the team for the big game. Sure enough, Hornung was given a pass to play in the game. The Packers beat the Giants 37-0 in that game, and Hornung scored 19 points in that game just by himself.Since it's Super Bowl Sunday, I thought I would share that story about the man who has his name on the Super Bowl trophy and JFK. Lombardi came across as a very tough character, but he treated ALL players the same way, no matter the race or creed. Lombardi was a big proponent of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's as well.

[Pasquale DiFabrizio]

Bob wrote:There is a reason why the trophy presented to the NFL champion is called the Lombardi trophy. Why is that? First off, Vince Lombardi and his Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. In those wins, the Packers outscored their two opponents by a 68-24 margin. But it is much more than that. Lombardi always played to win...no matter if it was the pre-season, regular season or post-season. Lombardi had .728 winning percentage in the regular season during his time as a head coach in the NFL, which includes the 1969 season with the Washington Redskins (that season was Washington's first winning season in 13 years by the way). In the pre-season during his career, Lombardi had an even better .840 winning percentage by winning 42 out of 50 games as a Packer coach. But it was the post-season where Lombardi really stood out. Lombardi was 9-1, or a .900 winning percentage, plus 5 NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls. And the one game he lost, a 17-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, was a game which ended with FB Jim Taylor being tackled on the Eagle 10 yard line by Chuck Bednarik as time ran out. Lombardi only won 96 regular season games as a head coach during his relatively short head coaching career (10 years). Four coaches have won over 200 games in NFL history with Don Shula leading the way with 328 wins, followed by George Halas with 318 wins, followed by Tom Landry with 250 wins and also Curly Lambeau, the Packers 1st head coach and founder, with 226 wins. All of those men coached for over 20 years...some closer to 30. None of those coaches had regular season winning percentage over .700 like Lombardi did. All had issues in the post-season as well. Shula was 19-17 in the post-season, including a record of 2-4 in the Super Bowl. Landry was 20-16 in the post-season, with a 2-3 record in the Super Bowl. Halas was 6-3 in the post-season, but he did win 8 NFL championships as two of his championships came before the playoff format started in 1933. Lambeau was 3-2 in the post-season, and won 6 NFL titles as he too won three titles before the playoff format started. Vince Lombardi is the benchmark for all that the NFL stands for in coaching. Lombardi had many quotes during his time as a coach, but the one that stands out the most to me concerning victories is this short but sweet one, "Winning is a habit". Indeed, winning was a habit for Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the man whose name is on the trophy that will be given to the WINNER of each Super Bowl game.That's great, but what is the connection between JFK and Vince? Lombardi was a big JFK supporter during the 1960 Presidential election. They became friends over time. The Packers won two NFL championships while JFK was in the White House, and were still technically NFL champions when JFK was assassinated on 11/22/1963.But the biggest story with Lombardi and JFK concerned the 1961 NFL championship game. The Packers, like a lot of professional teams, had a number of players in the national guard due to the escalation of the cold war. The Packers had key players like Ray Nitschke, Boyd Dowler and Paul Hornung in that status.The players would be with their units during the week, but then were allowed to join the team for games on the weekend. However, Hornung was not granted access to go back to the Packers for the championship game. That would have been a HUGE blow as Hornung was the NFL MVP in 1961.Lombardi was obviously concerned about that situation, so he placed a call to JFK to see if the President would get Hornung a pass to join the team for the big game. Sure enough, Hornung was given a pass to play in the game. The Packers beat the Giants 37-0 in that game, and Hornung scored 19 points in that game just by himself.Since it's Super Bowl Sunday, I thought I would share that story about the man who has his name on the Super Bowl trophy and JFK. Lombardi came across as a very tough character, but he treated ALL players the same way, no matter the race or creed. Lombardi was a big proponent of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's as well.How VERY cool!I thought this was just a Superbown posting, but then I KNEW you'd connect it to JFK. Sweet!

[Bob]

Thanks Pasquale. Ironically, the NFL decided to still play games the weekend after JFK was assassinated on a Friday. Commissioner Pete Rozelle said in hindsight that it was the worst decision he ever made. The Packers played that weekend and won, but the players all said that Lombardi was deeply affected by the murder, and he was very distant in his approach to the game that weekend. Although I was pretty young when JFK was assassinated, I still vividly recall huddling in the living room with my family and watching TV from Friday-Monday as events took place. That would include the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald on live TV on Sunday morning, and of course the JFK funeral on Monday. I remember sitting with my grandmother during the funeral as she held me and sobbed. Ironically and tragically, my grandma was with me again in June of 1968 when the same thing happened as we watched RFK's funeral.

[Bob]

Boy...I'm stoked...http://espn.go.com/espn/page2/index?id=4979866There are few I respect as an actor more than Robert De Niro. There are none as I respect more as a coach than Vince Lombardi. There are also none I respect more as a President than John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Especially knowing what we know now.

[kenmurray]

That is great De Niro playing Lombardi. My dad loved Lombardi as well as me too.Just for you Bob:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_sWXgB ... re=related

[Bob]

kenmurray wrote:That is great De Niro playing Lombardi. My dad loved Lombardi as well as me too.Just for you Bob:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p_sWXgB ... latedGreat job Mr. Wizard!!!

[Bob]

A story was morphed out of this thread...http://packerchatters.com/?p=12677And it's not plagiarism because I started and wrote the beginning of the thread, just in case Gerald Posner is reading this.

[kenmurray]

Bob wrote:A story was morphed out of this thread...http://packerchatters.com/?p=12677And it's not plagiarism because I started and wrote the beginning of the thread, just in case Gerald Posner is reading this. Bob, I doubt Posner will be reading your stuff. Posner has more free time on his hands now and is getting some ideas if he ever writes a new book from this well known author. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/i/cli ... g/hoax.htm

[Kirk]

Bob,Lombardi was the real thing. I am thinking he will be answer to the question...Which Super Bowl winning coach never won the Lombardi Trophy?Yes, he was tough. I remember the story, where one of his players came into his office with his agent, and wanted re-work his contract for more money. The coach asked to be excused for a minute, and left. He came back in about 5 minutes, and said that he couldn't help the player because he had just be traded to the Eagles.

[Dealey Joe]

Bob wrote:A story was morphed out of this thread...http://packerchatters.com/?p=12677And it's not plagiarism because I started and wrote the beginning of the thread, just in case Gerald Posner is reading this. Bob you are a troubadour, a bard.your proes are like a sabre going right to the bone.i am proud to know people of high calibre as are those on this forum.makes me feal smarter. God knows i can use that Did I say that all OK? I have been taking lessons from Phil and Seamus.