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Who was Vince Lombardi? Lombardi was a man of character. He was a champion at heart. He was a man that believed in God, who strived to succeed, and who had the will to win. A leader by power, Lombardi took over as general manager and head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959.
Lombardi began his career at Army as an assistant coach. Leading the undefeated Army team, Lombardi became known for his strong coaching abilities. Only five years had passed at Army when Lombardi was offered a job as assistant coach for the New York Giants under the leadership of Jim Lee Howell. It was then in 1959, that Lombardi went on to Green Bay.
Indeed, Lombardi loved football and his players. His team was his family. Like a parent loves a child, Lombardi loved his team. He saw strengths in people they never knew they had. His team looked up to him, he was the mind and creator behind the abilities and success of the Packers. In his first season, Lombardi lifted the Packers to a 7-5 record using the most dominant play in pro football, the Power Sweep.
The Packer Sweep, as it was called, was so successful that even rival coaches admired the ability of this play. Lombardi first saw the sweep in action from the Fordham Rams “Seven Blocks of Granite” unit in the 1930s. He became more impressed as the sweep made its run through the University of Pittsburgh teams. By the time he joined the Giants, Lombardi was ready to bring the T-formation style to the NFL.
It only took two years for Lombardi’s Sweep to bring the Packers into a championship game. It was in 1960 that the Packers took the Western Division title, only to lose the NFL title game at Philadelphia. However, the success of the Packers in the 1960s initiated defensive adjustments.
Tom Landry, Lombardi’s former coaching colleague on the Giants, revised his Dallas defense in response to the sweep. Throughout the decade the two coaches engaged in counteracting strategies and tactics.
The Cowboys were a prime example. While Landry offset his defensive linemen, Lombardi countered by running plays directly at the offset defenders.
Lombardi made other adjustments as well. The sweep in the 1962 championship game in New York set up a Packers touchdown in a 16-7 win over the Giants. In the 1965 title game against the Cleveland Browns, the Packers shifted their blocking, moving pulling offside guard, Kramer, and tackle Gregg in a move that upset the Browns defense. The result: a third-quarter touchdown run by Hornung that clinched a 23-12
win.
Two years later for a New Year’s Eve game, the Packers ran a play to catch Cowboy all-pro tackle Bob Lilly chasing the mighty sweep. At the perfect time, Green Bay quarterback, Bart Starr, sent Chuck Mercein to Dallas’ 3-yard line to set up Starr’s touchdown for a 21-17 win in The Ice Bowl.
Lombardi’s teams finished no lower than second from 1960-67. Over a nine-year span as head coach, Lombardi went 98-30-4 (.758), including 9-1 in the postseason, winning his final nine playoff games, a defeat incomparable in pro sports history.
Vincent Lombardi knew how to fight, how to win, and how to lose. Above all, he learned that a team is only as strong as his weakest man.
Today, there is still magic that was brought by the Lombardi years. There are still images of championship games won. But more outstanding is the heart and soul of a football team.
(Callie is a writer for AllSportsEmpire. This piece is one of a series of pieces on the NFL Timeline.)
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