Another June and another opportunity to remember that Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn on this day in 1913.
In 1964, our family arrived in Wisconsin from Cuba. We did not know a thing about the NFL or what they call American football. In fact, my only reference to the sport was a cartoon that my brother and I watched in Cuba. My only reaction was that the ball had a weird shape. How do you throw something like that? It was a Disney and I think it was Pluto rushing for a play.
It did not take long for my brother and I to fall in love with the Green Bay Packers, the team coached by the late Vince Lombardi. I remember watching a weekly TV show and listening to Coach Lombardi discuss the last game and look ahead to the next team. It caught my attention and I never missed a show. They had this camera with the game film and the coach would point out the play or if someone messed up. It was amazing and it made me a huge fan quickly.
Lombardi won three NFL titles and the first two Super Bowls. He was an amazing man. My parents were so impressed that a coach would get all dressed up, hat and all, to go on the field. My mother asked: "Why doesn't he wear a uniform like the players? They do it in baseball". Anyway, that part of American football really got my mother's attention.
Lombardi left Green Bay in the late 1960s and my brother and I watched the first game without him wondering if the team would win again. They didn't, but it was an aging team. Lombardi went on to coach Washington and died in 1970. You may think I’m crazy but I thought that the schools would close in honor of Lombardi.
Much has happened since those Lombardi days. It's more of a passing game now and I've often wondered what Lombardi would think of that. I don't know either, but I can think about it.
In this book, David Maraniss wrote about Lombardi's character, a big part of his success as a coach and man. It's a great book.
And then there are all of those Lombardi quotes that I used to hear:
"“Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the temporary failures.”
That one about success always reminded me of my father and all of those who fled communism to come here.
As you can see, thinking of Lombardi brings back so many memories of a time when character mattered and my father would look at me and say: "Now shake my hand like a man not some spaghetti." I don't know if Lombardi said that but my father did and he liked Lombardi too.
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Image: LearningLark