Some Lombardi History

You know how we love to learn about and feature all things Lombardi and his Packers here in our little corner of the internet. Well, we were rooting around on the Packers’ website and came across a couple of clips from the NFL Network production “Vince Lombardi: A Football Life,” which aired earlier this season. So, we thought, why not take some screen captures and share them with our readers? Above is a shot which captures two major parts of the coach’s life: his faith and football. “God, family, and the Green Bay Packers,” right? Well, maybe not always in that order.

A re-creation of Mr. Lombardi’s office door in the Packers’ administration building at 1265 Highland Avenue. 

This would be your view if you were sitting and waiting to re-negotiate your contract with “Lombardi, the General Manager.” Remember, there were no agents in those days. 

Go ahead… take a business card. You may need to call him later. 

The shelf behind Mr. Lombardi’s desk. 

That’s a photo of the coach being carried off on his players’ shoulders after his first victory — a 9-6 win over the Chicago Bears on September 27, 1959.

The coach’s children, Susan and Vince Lombardi, Jr. 

The Lombardi family posing on the steps of their first home in Green Bay. Next to the coach is his wife Marie. 

A great shot of Lambeau Field as it looked in the later Lombardi era. It’s changed just a little bit. 

Lombardi drives his Pontiac to his offices at Lambeau Field. 

The coach’s hometown, Brooklyn, N.Y. A world away from tiny Green Bay, Wis.

Lombardi’s parents, Enrico “Harry” Lombardi (1889-1971) and Matilda “Mattie” Izzo (1891-1972). Harry operated a butcher shop with his brother Eddie in the Meatpacking District of Manhattan.

A young Vince Lombardi. 

Lombardi at age 15. 

In 1933, Lombardi accepted a football scholarship to Fordham University in the Bronx to play for the Fordham Rams and Coach Jim Crowley, one of the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame in the 1920’s. The next several photos are from those years.

In his senior year (1936), he became the right guard in the “Seven Blocks of Granite,” a nickname given to the Fordham University football team's offensive front line.

Fordham University. 

In a game against the University of Pittsburgh Panthers, he suffered a severe gash inside his mouth and had several teeth knocked out. He missed most of the remainder of the game, until he was called in on defense for a successful goal line stand that preserved a 0-0 tie. The Rams went 5-0-2 before losing in the final game of the season, 7-6, to NYU. The loss destroyed all hopes of Fordham playing in the Rose Bowl, and the loss taught Lombardi a lesson he would never forget — never to underestimate your opponent.
Sources: Packers.com, Wikipedia