The Seven Blocks of Granite

Here we have a 1936 photo of the famed “Seven Blocks of Granite,” featuring future Packers Head Coach Vince Lombardi, third from left. The Seven Blocks of Granite were the Fordham University football team's offensive line under head coach “Sleepy” Jim Crowley and line coach Frank Leahy. The most famous Seven Blocks of Granite were Leo Paquin, Johnny Druze, Alex Wojciechowicz, Ed Franco, Al Babartsky, Natty Pierce and Lombardi. The nickname was also commonly used to referred to the Fordham lines of the 1929, 1930, and 1937 teams, but it is the 1936 line which is today the best known of these lines.

In its final two games the previously unbeaten 1936 team was tied by an inferior University of Georgia team and beaten by a lowly NYU team — ending their hopes of a Rose Bowl appearance. The line was not as good as some of the previous lines at Fordham, or the 1937 team which went 7-0-1. However, the 1936 team and the “Seven Blocks of Granite” became college football immortals.

Associated with the name, the Rotary Club's Lombardi Award is awarded annually to the best college football lineman or linebacker. The main part of the trophy, awarded to a down lineman on either side of the ball or a linebacker who lines up no further than five yards deep from the ball, is a block of granite, giving homage to Lombardi's college days as a lineman. Item info here.