Vince Lombardi hired as Packers coach
On January 28 1959 the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) sign Vince Lombardi to a five-year contract as the teams coach and general manager.The Brooklyn-born Lombardi played college football at Fordham University earning a starting spot as a guard in the Fordham offensive line dubbed the Seven Blocks of Granite.A business major Lombardi graduated cum laude in 1937.After working in finance and playing semi-pro football with Delawares Wilmington Clippers Lombardi took a teaching and coaching position at St.
Cecilia High School in Englewood New Jersey in 1939.From there he moved on to coaching positions at Fordham and West Point before joining the staff of the NFLs New York Giants as an assistant coach under Jim Lee Howell in 1954.The deal with the Packersa team that had finished with a 1-10-1 record the previous seasonmarked Lombardis first head coaching position in the NFL.In his first season Lombardi guided his team to a 7-5 record and a third-place finish in the Western Conference of the NFL.
The following year the Packers lost in the 1960 championship game to the Philadelphia Eagles 17-13.Lombardi won his first championship ring in 1961 when Green Bay smashed the Giants 37-0 they repeated as champs the next year again beating New York 16-7.In addition to capturing three more NFL championships from 1965 to 1967 the Packers won both of the first two Super Bowls in which the NFL champion faced the winner of the upstart American Football League (AFL).
With the phenomenal play of his team Lombardi literally became the face of professional football gracing the cover of a December 1962 issue of TIME magazine under the headline The Sport of the 60s.The second Super Bowl a win over the Oakland Raiders marked Lombardis last game with the Packers.In 1967 he announced his retirement leaving with an overall coaching record in Green Bay of 98-30-4.Lombardi was unable to stay retired however and in 1969 he accepted the head coaching position for the Washington Redskins.
True to form he led the team to its first winning record in 14 years bringing his overall professional coaching record to 105-35-6 by January 1970 without a single losing season.Tragically Lombardi was diagnosed with intestinal cancer that year and died in September 3 1970 at the age of 57.He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the following year.The Super Bowl trophy was subsequently renamed the Vince Lombardi Trophy ensuring that Lombardis nameand his legacy as the greatest football coach of the 20th centurywill be remembered forever.
