“He treated us all the same–like dogs.”
“Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing.”
“Lombardi. A certain magic still lingers in the very name. It speaks of duels in the snow and cold November mud.”
Those quotes seem to capture the essence of the mythical coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi. Lombardi’s been gone for almost 45 years now and more people know about the trophy that bears his name than about him. What they know is based on quotes like those.
Only the real story of Lombardi is obscured by quotes like that. The first quotes what Lombardi did at all. The second is something he didn’t say. And the third speaks only to one aspect of his success.
“Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn’t do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.”
“Mental toughness is many things. It is humility because it behooves all of us to remember that simplicity is the sign of greatness and meekness is the sign of true strength. Mental toughness is spartanism with qualities of sacrifice, self-denial, dedication. It is fearlessness, and it is love.”
According to Lombardi biographer David Maraniss, offensive lineman Bob Skoronski said that Lombardi once started a pep talk by asking his team–the hard-ass Green Bay Packers of the 1960s–“What is the meaning of love?”
Lombardi answered his question by saying, “Anybody can love something that is beautiful or smart or agile. But you will never know love until you can love something that isn’t beautiful, isn’t bright, or isn’t glamorous. . . . Can you accept someone for his inabilities?”
The point was for the Packers to win, teammates had to concentrate on helping each other be successful. The overall success of the Packers wasn’t increased if the guy immediately above or below you on the depth chart is struggling.
Lombardi didn’t treat his players all like dogs. He didn’t chew out Bart Starr in front of the team because Starr felt it would compromise his leadership. He didn’t chew out Max McGee at all because it didn’t help McGee perform. But he laid into Paul Hornung because it fed Hornung and motivated others, as well. He convinced Willie Davis not to quit school when he was ready to walk away.
Meeting people where they live is a sign of love.
Most football fans don’t know Lombardi. They don’t know his Packers won the first two Super Bowls. Fewer know that they won three NFL championships before there was a Super Bowl, or that after his first year, he never finished worse than second in his division. But the men Lombardi touched have taken what they learned from him and many have passed it forward.
His players haven’t competed at football for more than two generations now. And yet, decades later, they still say this one man drove them to more success than they could imagine. He didn’t do it with cheap platitudes about winning being the only thing that matters.
His mark on their lives, passed on to others, is a truer legacy than the shimmering Tiffany trophy the NFL awards each February.
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