This tradition started fifty years ago, in January of 1967, when the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10, at the Los Angeles Coliseum to win Super Bowl I. In January of 1968, the same Packers defeated the Oakland Raiders, 33-14, at the Orange Bowl in Miami to win Super Bowl II. The winning coach of both games was Vince Lombardi. After his untimely death from colon cancer two years and eight months later, the trophy for winning the Super Bowl was renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy in his honor.
Vince Lombardi was born in 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, a child of Italian immigrants. He started playing football at age 12 and continued playing at Cathedral Prep in Queens and then Fordham University in the Bronx. In 1939, Lombardi started coaching football at St. Cecilia, a Roman Catholic High School in Englewood, New Jersey. Eight years later, he moved on to coach at Fordham and then two years after that at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
In 1954, Vince Lombardi became an assistant coach for the New York Football Giants, my favorite professional football team. He was a significant contributor to their success when they won a NFL championship in 1956 and almost won again in 1958, losing in overtime to the Baltimore Colts. This led to his being named Head Football Coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959, a perennial loser at the time. In his nine years in that position, the Packers won the NFL championship five times (almost won a sixth), a truly remarkable achievement.
Besides his success on the football field, I admired Vince Lombardi because of his opposition to prejudice. He was a victim of prejudice in his personal life because of his Italian heritage. While growing up in an Italian section of Brooklyn, Lombardi suffered "rampant discrimination" outside of it. His future father-in-law did not want his daughter to marry him because he was Italian. Many job opportunities were denied him because he was Italian. When Lombardi reached a position of power in Green Bay, he used it to insure that none of his players, coaches, or administrators suffered any form of discrimination, especially against African-Americans and gay men.
In 1967, Lombardi started suffering symptoms of a "digestive tract problem." Unfortunately, like too many people, he feared to seek medical treatment and attempted self-medication. Three years later, Lombardi could no longer avoid doctors and hospitals. However, by then, it was too late. He was only 57 years-old, much too young to die. Please try to avoid what happened to Vince Lombardi by having a colonoscopy as recommended by your doctor. I do.
Vince Lombardi was born in 1913 in Brooklyn, New York, a child of Italian immigrants. He started playing football at age 12 and continued playing at Cathedral Prep in Queens and then Fordham University in the Bronx. In 1939, Lombardi started coaching football at St. Cecilia, a Roman Catholic High School in Englewood, New Jersey. Eight years later, he moved on to coach at Fordham and then two years after that at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.
In 1954, Vince Lombardi became an assistant coach for the New York Football Giants, my favorite professional football team. He was a significant contributor to their success when they won a NFL championship in 1956 and almost won again in 1958, losing in overtime to the Baltimore Colts. This led to his being named Head Football Coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959, a perennial loser at the time. In his nine years in that position, the Packers won the NFL championship five times (almost won a sixth), a truly remarkable achievement.
Besides his success on the football field, I admired Vince Lombardi because of his opposition to prejudice. He was a victim of prejudice in his personal life because of his Italian heritage. While growing up in an Italian section of Brooklyn, Lombardi suffered "rampant discrimination" outside of it. His future father-in-law did not want his daughter to marry him because he was Italian. Many job opportunities were denied him because he was Italian. When Lombardi reached a position of power in Green Bay, he used it to insure that none of his players, coaches, or administrators suffered any form of discrimination, especially against African-Americans and gay men.
In 1967, Lombardi started suffering symptoms of a "digestive tract problem." Unfortunately, like too many people, he feared to seek medical treatment and attempted self-medication. Three years later, Lombardi could no longer avoid doctors and hospitals. However, by then, it was too late. He was only 57 years-old, much too young to die. Please try to avoid what happened to Vince Lombardi by having a colonoscopy as recommended by your doctor. I do.
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