Remembering A Football Hero
By DONALD DeMARCO
When we think of a football hero, we usually imagine extraordinary exploits on the gridiron. We might imagine the “Galloping Ghost,” Red Grange, cutting through the defense as if it were not there, or Joe Montana throwing pinpoint passes to a fleet and sure-handed Jerry Rice.
This column, however, features a hero who gained his fame on the sidelines. There have been many legendary football coaches for whom the Catholic faith was the most important thing in their life. The names of Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Don Shula, George Halas, Chuck Noll, and others, spring to mind. But the one who seems to stand out apart from the others is Vince Lombardi, the son of an Italian butcher from Brooklyn.
For Lombardi, the three things that were most important in his life were God, Family, and Football, precisely in that order. No doubt his fame has been embellished by the fact that the Super Bowl Trophy is named after him and that a 1973 motion picture, staring Ernest Borgnine, brought his life to the screen.
For Coach Lombardi, football was never separated from life, nor was his life ever separated from its roots. The virtues that can be gained on the gridiron can be translated to everyday living. He was fond of citing St. Paul to motivate his players. In 1 Cor. 9:24-27, Paul makes the following statement:
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.”
Lombardi, a daily communicant throughout his life (as was his father) and a Fourth Degree Knight of Columbus, was convinced that life is more important than the game. In each case, there is a striving toward a goal.
Vatican II echoed this notion of striving in stating: “All the faithful of Christ are invited to strive for the holiness and perfection of their own proper state. Indeed they have an obligation to strive.” Lombardi modified the reference to perfection when he famously remarked: “Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
He had a talent for aphorisms. “Winners never quit,” he said, “and quitters never win.” “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”
Lombardi began his coaching career as an assistant and later as a head coach at St. Cecilia Catholic High School in Englewood, N.J. During his tenure there, he went to Mass every day and prayed for calm and control of his temper. He did have quite a temper. He shared an office with Fr. Tim Moore wherein it was not unusual for him to interrupt a conversation and go to Confession to his officemate, right there in the office.
Later, he became an assistant coach at Fordham University and at the United States Military Academy. He had a brief coaching stint with the New York Giants before becoming the head coach for the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967. Each day on his way to work for the Packers, he would stop at St. Willebrord Church where he offered a prayer in the case of unexpected death: “My God, if I am to die today, or suddenly at any time, I wish to receive this Communion as my Viaticum.”
He attended Sunday Mass at Resurrection Church, always sitting with his wife in the middle of the ninth pew. On the morning when Lombardi Street was named in his honor, the legendary coach commented that he was pleased that got his 37-member entourage up to attend morning Mass.
It was his tenure at Green Bay that earned him his legendary status. Lombardi led his Green Bay Packers to three straight NFL championships and, in 1966 and 1967, the first two Super Bowl victories. He never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, compiling a regular season winning percentage of 72.8 percent (96-34-6), and 90 percent (9-1) in the postseason for an overall record of 105 wins, 35 losses. The year after his sudden death from cancer in 1970, he was enshrined in the Football Hall of Fame.
Vincent Thomas Lombardi passed from the Earth on September 3, 1979 at the age of 57. On his deathbed he told Fr. Tim that he was not afraid to die, but regretted that he could not have accomplished more in his life. The funeral was held at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. Terence Cardinal Cooke delivered the eulogy.
Approximately 1,500 people lined Fifth Avenue, which was closed to traffic between 39th and 50th Streets. He was interred in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Middletown Township, N.J.
We may not see another Vince Lombardi again. But we can remember and honor him as a unique example of a Catholic who was eminently proficient at blending his Catholic faith with exceptional success in the world of sports.
We may provide, however, as a postscript, the fact that Joe Lombardi, one of Vince’s six grandchildren, served as a quarterback coach in guiding the New Orleans Saints to a 2009 Super Bowl victory and earning for quarterback Drew Brees the Most Valuable Player award.
- + + (Dr. Donald DeMarco is a professor emeritus of St. Jerome’s University, and an adjunct professor at Holy Apostles College & Seminary. He is a regular columnist for the St. Austin Review. His latest five books, How to Navigate Through Life; Apostles of the Culture of Life; Reflections on the Covid-10 Pandemic: A Search for Understanding; The War Against Civility [all posted on amazon.com], and A Moral Compass for a World in Confusion.)
