63 Legendary Vince Lombardi Quotes (Determination)
Welcome to our collection of great Vince Lombardi Quotes!
- Famous Quotes from Vince Lombardi
- Vince Lombardi’s Inspirational Quotes
- Vince Lombardi Quotes on Winning
- Biography: Vince Lombardi
Famous Quotes from Vince Lombardi
Vince Lombardi’s Inspirational Sayings
Vince Lombardi, real name Vincent Thomas Lombardi, was an American professional gridiron football coach who rose to national prominence for his unwavering drive to triumph. He was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 11, 1913, and died in Washington, D.C., on September 3, 1970.
In nine seasons (1959–1967) as the Green Bay Packers head coach, he guided the team to five National Football League (NFL) championships and, in the last two seasons, to victories in the first two Super Bowl contests against the American Football League champion. He is one of the great leaders and coaches in the history of all American sports. Lombardi is regarded by many as the greatest football coach of all time.
On June 16, 1937, Lombardi graduated from Fordham University. Young Lombardi had few employment possibilities during the Great Depression, and over the next two years, he had no obvious career direction or drive. He attempted to play semi-professional football for the Wilmington Clippers of the American Association and to work as a debt collector for a collection agency, but both endeavors quickly proved unsuccessful. In September 1938, he enrolled at Fordham Law School with his father’s backing.
Lombardi began his coaching career at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey, as an assistant and later as head coach. Before becoming head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967 and the Washington Redskins(now Washington Commanders) in 1969, he was an assistant coach at Fordham, the United States Military Academy, and the New York Giants.
He earned a regular-season winning rate of 73.8 percent (96-34-6) and playoffs winning percentage of 90 percent (9-1) for a total record of 105 wins, 35 defeats, and 6 ties while serving as the head coach of an NFL team.
Lombardi resigned as head coach of the Packers on February 1, 1968, shortly after the team’s triumph in Super Bowl II, but he continued in his role as general manager of the team.
He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the NFL Super Bowl trophy was named in his honor the year following his unexpected death from cancer in 1970.
Personal life- Lombardi’s roommate, Jim Lawlor, introduced him to his cousin’s relative, Marie Planitz, in the fall of 1934. When Marie expressed her strong desire to marry Lombardi, her status-conscious stockbroker father objected to the thought of his daughter marrying the son of an Italian butcher from Brooklyn, a prejudice he would face several times throughout his life. Regardless, Lombardi and Marie were married on August 31, 1940.
They had two children together, their son, Vincent Henry Lombardi (Vince Jr.), who was born in 1942, and their daughter Susan, five years later, in 1947.
When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss
Further Reading
- The Lombardi Rules: 26 Lessons from Vince Lombardi–The World’s Greatest Coach
- What It Takes to Be #1: Vince Lombardi on Leadership
- That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory by John Eisenberg
- Run to Daylight! by Vince Lombardi