Vince Lombardi
American football coach
June 11, 1913 - September 3, 1970
"What the hell's going ON out here?"
Whenever I think of Vince Lombardi, I see that famous clip of him ranting on the sidelines and uttering that quote.
Lombardi is regarded, by many, as the greatest coach of all time. He was the heart and soul of the unique, community-owned Green Bay Packers franchise, winning five championships, including the first two Super Bowls, in the 1960s. And that was after inheriting a run-down team.
He was an angry Italian (plenty of those around) who flogged the shit out of his players and expected rigid disciplinary standards to be followed.
A nice description of his status came from the great Shirley Povich in the Washington Post after Lombardi's death:
"Football was his power base but beyond his coaching skills he could qualify as one of the remarkable men of his time. The thickset figure of the latter-day Lombardi may have bespoken the rugged product of the football field, but there was vastly more. He was football coach, lecturer, philosopher, tough guy, moralist and practicing patriot who without blush put his voice atop that of the crowd in singing The Star-Spangled Banner.
"Football writers, in noting the scope of Lombardi's coaching triumphs and his complete command of his players' loyalties, dwelled often on the Lombardi mystique. At this he scoffed, ascribing all spiritual powers only to the divine, in which his own belief was complete. But others persisted in the belief in his special powers of accomplishment."
Lombardi was also a master motivator, and his legacy includes some great quotes:
- Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
- Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
- It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get back up.
And finally, for all those who think scores in junior sport should be capped:
- If winning isn't everything, then why do they keep score?
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