As coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, Vince Lombardi turned perennial losers into a juggernaut, winning back-to-back NFL titles in 1961 and 1962, and Superbowls I and II in 1966 and 1967. Stern, severe, sentimental, and paternal, he stood revered, reviled, respected, and mocked--a touchstone for the 60s all in one person. Which adds up to the myth weve been left with. But who was the man? Thats the question Pulitzer Prize-winner David Maraniss tackles. It begins with Lombardis looming father, a man as colorful as his son would be conservative. Still, from his father Vince Lombardi learned a sense of presence and authority that could impress itself with just a look. If a moment can sum up and embrace a mans life--and capture the breadth of Maranisss thoroughness--it is one that takes place off the field when the Packers organization decides to redecorate their offices in advance of the new head coachs arrival: During an earlier visit, Maraniss reports, he had examined the quarters--peeling walls, creaky floor, old leather chairs with holes in them, discarded newspapers and magazines piled on chairs and in the corners--and pronounced the setting unworthy of a National Football League club. This is a disgrace! he had remarked. In one moment, one comment, Lombardi announced his intentions, made his vision and professionalism clear, and began to shake up a stale organization. It reveals far more about the man than wins and losses, and is the kind of moment Maraniss uses again and again in this superb resurrection of a figure who so symbolized a sporting era and sensibility.
--Jeff Silverman When Pride Still Mattered
I enjoyed the book immensely. By showing all the best that Vince Lombardi brought to life and the game of football, and not being hesitant to show some of the darker sides of this football giant, it held my interest from cover to cover.
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