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When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi: The Life of Vince Lombardi
In this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. In When Pride Still Mattered, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography destined to become an American classic.
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. In When Pride Still Mattered, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography destined to become an American classic.
541 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
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About the author
David Maraniss
26 books364 followersDavid Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of four critically acclaimed and bestselling books, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton, They Marched Into Sunlight War and Peace, Vietnam and America October 1967, and Clemente The Passion and Grace of Baseballs Last Hero. He is also the author of The Clinton Enigma and coauthor of The Prince of Tennessee: Al Gore Meets His Fate and "Tell Newt to Shut Up!"
David is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1993 for his newspaper coverage of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. He has won several other notable awards for achievements in journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Dirksen Prize for Congressional Reporting, the ASNE Laventhol Prize for Deadline Writing, the Hancock Prize for Financial Writing, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Frankfort Book Prize, the Eagleton Book Prize, the Ambassador Book Prize, and Latino Book Prize.
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David is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1993 for his newspaper coverage of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. He has won several other notable awards for achievements in journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Dirksen Prize for Congressional Reporting, the ASNE Laventhol Prize for Deadline Writing, the Hancock Prize for Financial Writing, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Frankfort Book Prize, the Eagleton Book Prize, the Ambassador Book Prize, and Latino Book Prize.
"
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 361 reviews
January 3, 2019
Marannis is an excellent and thorough biographer. After reading When Pride Still Mattered, I came away feeling like I knew Lombardi and the arc of his life which is the goal of most biographers.
I think the genius of Marannis's writing lies in a consistent narrative. Show don't tell being the adage. You might think there would be several chapters on the Packer's two Super Bowl wins. In fact there are only a few pages on these monumental achievements in an otherwise lengthy book. He treats every period of Lombardi's life evenly which I guess is largely how we remember our own lives.
There are only two reasons that I did not give this book the full five stars. First, there was a tendency to omit timelines. While the book was laid out chronologically it was easy to get lost in the years and months of Lombardi's life. The second issue was, that as a football fan, I felt the description of the individual games could have been more dramatic.
I think the relationships between Lombardi and his family and players are exceptionally well drawn and if you are interested in a really good biography without all the minutia of the x's and o's of football then this is an excellent read.
There was a fair amount of nostalgia here for me. I reflected on my own football fan of a father who reached adulthood in the late 40's and fully embraced the Lombardi mystique and ethos of hard work and roughly hewn edges.
I think the genius of Marannis's writing lies in a consistent narrative. Show don't tell being the adage. You might think there would be several chapters on the Packer's two Super Bowl wins. In fact there are only a few pages on these monumental achievements in an otherwise lengthy book. He treats every period of Lombardi's life evenly which I guess is largely how we remember our own lives.
There are only two reasons that I did not give this book the full five stars. First, there was a tendency to omit timelines. While the book was laid out chronologically it was easy to get lost in the years and months of Lombardi's life. The second issue was, that as a football fan, I felt the description of the individual games could have been more dramatic.
I think the relationships between Lombardi and his family and players are exceptionally well drawn and if you are interested in a really good biography without all the minutia of the x's and o's of football then this is an excellent read.
There was a fair amount of nostalgia here for me. I reflected on my own football fan of a father who reached adulthood in the late 40's and fully embraced the Lombardi mystique and ethos of hard work and roughly hewn edges.
July 6, 2016
Summary: The biography of Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi, showing a man striving for excellence in, and caught in the tensions of the three priorities in his life: faith, family, and football.
Growing up a Cleveland Browns fan in the 1960's, if there was any team that quenched our hopes in the Jim Brown era, it was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacked by Bart Starr, with Hornung and Taylor in the backfield. And behind it all was legendary coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the Superbowl trophy is named, a coach with a consuming drive to win, characterized by the quote, "Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing."
David Maraniss is another author in the mold of George Will and David Halberstam, writing political biographies of Bill Clinton and Al Gore, but also fine pieces of sports writing including a biography of Roberto Clemente and this work on Lombardi. He traces the rise of Lombardi, the son of a Sheepshead Bay butcher, through his playing days at Fordham (one of the Seven Blocks of Granite, even though an average, but intense, player at best), through his first high school coaching positions, returning as assistant coach at Fordham, then five years at West Point under Red Blaik, perhaps the most formative in his development as a coach, and then the years as an assistant with the New York Giants, alongside fellow assistant Tom Landry. By this time, in 1959, he was in his mid-40s and beginning to despair of ever getting a head coaching position, wondering if his Italian name and heritage was working against him.
But Marannis' biography goes far beyond football. Lombardi was a deeply religious man, whose outlook was profoundly shaped by Catholic educators, notably ethics professor Ignatius Wiley Cox, S. J. whose teaching defined character as "an integration of habits of conduct superimposed on temperament, the will exercised on disposition, thought, emotion, and action." In both New York and Green Bay, he attended Mass daily, carried a rosary with him, and counted a number of priests as close friends. There was a continuity between his religious aspirations and football, as Marannis notes:
"The fundamental principles that he used in coaching--repetition, discipline, clarity, faith, subsuming individual ego to a larger good--were merely extensions of the religious ethic he learned from the Jesuits. In that sense, he made no distinction between the practice of religion and the sport of football" (p. 245).
He was also a family man, deeply in love with Marie, and yet the constantly fought, and she struggled between devotion to Vince's coaching success, and deep depression, alcoholism, and occasional overdoses. He struggled with his relationship with his children, particularly his son and namesake, Vincent. The demands of NFL coaching made him a more or less absentee father, who rarely attended his son's games.
Perhaps his struggle with an explosive temper revealed the tension he wrestled with to be true to his aspirations of faith, family and football. His son Vincent said of him:
"He went to mass to repent for his anger....He thought, I've got this temper. I fly off the handle and offend people. I apologize. But it's this temper that keeps me on edge and allows me to get things done and people to do things. Life was a struggle for him. He knew he wasn't perfect. He had a lot of habits that were far from perfect. His strengths were his weaknesses and vice versa. He fought it by taking the paradox to church. It went back to the Jesuits and the struggle between the shadow self and the real self--your humanity and your divinity. He saw that struggle in clear and concrete terms."
When Lombardi reaches Green Bay he takes a losing team and turns them into winners in a season, championship contenders the next and champions by the third season as head coach and general manager of the Packers. Marannis portrays him as a relentless teacher with the ability to simplify things in the minds of his players so they knew exactly what was expected of them, typified in the "Packer sweep". He demonstrated skilled psychological insights, pushing one player, coaching another, being like a son to Bart Starr. One of the fascinating sidelights was his commitment to racial equality, and even his sensitivities to homosexual players on his teams.
Lombardi reached the pinnacle of coaching success with his victories in the first two Superbowls. But things were changing. The league and its players were changing. He was tired. After a year as just General Manager, he became coach for the hapless Washington Redskins, once again turning them into a winning team in one season. Sadly, that is all he had. Marie was the first to notice and fear the worst. On September 3, 1970, he "ran to win" one more time, passing away from a particularly malignant form of colon cancer.
Marannis portrays a complex, multi-dimensional man, who called out the best in players wherever he coached and yet struggled to connect with his own children, who never questioned the faith in which he was raised, but often struggled to live up to its tenets, who adored and constantly squabbled with his troubled wife. He gives us a richly textured biography of a man whose life could not adequately be captured by anything less.
Growing up a Cleveland Browns fan in the 1960's, if there was any team that quenched our hopes in the Jim Brown era, it was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacked by Bart Starr, with Hornung and Taylor in the backfield. And behind it all was legendary coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the Superbowl trophy is named, a coach with a consuming drive to win, characterized by the quote, "Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing."
David Maraniss is another author in the mold of George Will and David Halberstam, writing political biographies of Bill Clinton and Al Gore, but also fine pieces of sports writing including a biography of Roberto Clemente and this work on Lombardi. He traces the rise of Lombardi, the son of a Sheepshead Bay butcher, through his playing days at Fordham (one of the Seven Blocks of Granite, even though an average, but intense, player at best), through his first high school coaching positions, returning as assistant coach at Fordham, then five years at West Point under Red Blaik, perhaps the most formative in his development as a coach, and then the years as an assistant with the New York Giants, alongside fellow assistant Tom Landry. By this time, in 1959, he was in his mid-40s and beginning to despair of ever getting a head coaching position, wondering if his Italian name and heritage was working against him.
But Marannis' biography goes far beyond football. Lombardi was a deeply religious man, whose outlook was profoundly shaped by Catholic educators, notably ethics professor Ignatius Wiley Cox, S. J. whose teaching defined character as "an integration of habits of conduct superimposed on temperament, the will exercised on disposition, thought, emotion, and action." In both New York and Green Bay, he attended Mass daily, carried a rosary with him, and counted a number of priests as close friends. There was a continuity between his religious aspirations and football, as Marannis notes:
"The fundamental principles that he used in coaching--repetition, discipline, clarity, faith, subsuming individual ego to a larger good--were merely extensions of the religious ethic he learned from the Jesuits. In that sense, he made no distinction between the practice of religion and the sport of football" (p. 245).
He was also a family man, deeply in love with Marie, and yet the constantly fought, and she struggled between devotion to Vince's coaching success, and deep depression, alcoholism, and occasional overdoses. He struggled with his relationship with his children, particularly his son and namesake, Vincent. The demands of NFL coaching made him a more or less absentee father, who rarely attended his son's games.
Perhaps his struggle with an explosive temper revealed the tension he wrestled with to be true to his aspirations of faith, family and football. His son Vincent said of him:
"He went to mass to repent for his anger....He thought, I've got this temper. I fly off the handle and offend people. I apologize. But it's this temper that keeps me on edge and allows me to get things done and people to do things. Life was a struggle for him. He knew he wasn't perfect. He had a lot of habits that were far from perfect. His strengths were his weaknesses and vice versa. He fought it by taking the paradox to church. It went back to the Jesuits and the struggle between the shadow self and the real self--your humanity and your divinity. He saw that struggle in clear and concrete terms."
When Lombardi reaches Green Bay he takes a losing team and turns them into winners in a season, championship contenders the next and champions by the third season as head coach and general manager of the Packers. Marannis portrays him as a relentless teacher with the ability to simplify things in the minds of his players so they knew exactly what was expected of them, typified in the "Packer sweep". He demonstrated skilled psychological insights, pushing one player, coaching another, being like a son to Bart Starr. One of the fascinating sidelights was his commitment to racial equality, and even his sensitivities to homosexual players on his teams.
Lombardi reached the pinnacle of coaching success with his victories in the first two Superbowls. But things were changing. The league and its players were changing. He was tired. After a year as just General Manager, he became coach for the hapless Washington Redskins, once again turning them into a winning team in one season. Sadly, that is all he had. Marie was the first to notice and fear the worst. On September 3, 1970, he "ran to win" one more time, passing away from a particularly malignant form of colon cancer.
Marannis portrays a complex, multi-dimensional man, who called out the best in players wherever he coached and yet struggled to connect with his own children, who never questioned the faith in which he was raised, but often struggled to live up to its tenets, who adored and constantly squabbled with his troubled wife. He gives us a richly textured biography of a man whose life could not adequately be captured by anything less.
July 13, 2019
I'm a football fan, and I'm a student of excellence -- that is, I like learning from those who have attained excellence in hopes of improving my own professional habits and skills -- and for these reasons, I loved this book. I'm not sure if When Pride Still Mattered would appeal to non-football fans, but perhaps. The book is a great character study, as Maraniss delves into the inner workings of a complicated, intriguing man, one of those distant post-war men who couldn't be called a great father or husband but did his best. Moreover, the book also chronicles many key events in the years following the war. Like Forrest Gump, Lombardi lived through many of these events -- from the assassination of his friend John F. Kennedy to racial integration -- and often played a surprising and inspiring role. I was especially touched by the old Catholic's accepting views of homosexuals, his own brother as well as some of his players. So on second thought, yes, I think there's probably something in here for most readers.
November 10, 2022
There are biographies that highlight, usually, a small part of the subject’s youth - then a brief bit about young adulthood and on to their path of whatever accompaniment they’re known for.
Then there are books such as “When Pride Mattered” where author David Maraniss dug so deeply into the life of Vincent Lombardi, I’m a bit surprised he didn’t mention the brand of toilet paper the Hall of Fame coach used.
Lombardi was awfully progressive in his day - something that was pretty unheard of in his tenure. His life was not an easy one, certainly. Heartache, despair, and triumph- all the great parts of a great story.
This book does very little to let the reader/listener in on Lombardi’s methods on coaching. Instead, it’s a story about the man and his family and his passion.
Green Bay, Wisconsin will always be synonymous with Lombardi and for good reason. He literally may be the person who put it on the map.
I’m proud to be a Green Bay native- born, where else, but a hospital named St. Vincent’s.
Definitely a book for fans of Packers or Lombardi himself. A complete life with a lot of great happenings.
Then there are books such as “When Pride Mattered” where author David Maraniss dug so deeply into the life of Vincent Lombardi, I’m a bit surprised he didn’t mention the brand of toilet paper the Hall of Fame coach used.
Lombardi was awfully progressive in his day - something that was pretty unheard of in his tenure. His life was not an easy one, certainly. Heartache, despair, and triumph- all the great parts of a great story.
This book does very little to let the reader/listener in on Lombardi’s methods on coaching. Instead, it’s a story about the man and his family and his passion.
Green Bay, Wisconsin will always be synonymous with Lombardi and for good reason. He literally may be the person who put it on the map.
I’m proud to be a Green Bay native- born, where else, but a hospital named St. Vincent’s.
Definitely a book for fans of Packers or Lombardi himself. A complete life with a lot of great happenings.
November 8, 2013
I guess this review is more about the format than the actual book, but sweet bleeding Jesus on the cross, do biographies alway have to be so dry? In any other book, a cohesion of direction and story arc is a must. For reasons unclear to me, biographies exist in their own world...a world in which the exact dates of Vince Lombardi's attendance to summer camp at age 8 are presented as pertinent information. This is a problem for me. Just because it happened, and, due to some fluke of research, this information is still existent, does not necessarily make it relevant to the book.
Perhaps I'm approaching it unfairly. Perhaps a biographers mission is to set down the facts for the storage of history, rather than tell a story. Maybe documentation is separate from 'writing'. I suppose that nobody suggests Encyclopedia Brittanica write more engaging entries. Still, I'm always left with nagging memories of high school papers. The assignment was for ten pages, so ten pages you would fill with whatever irrelevant information you could scrape out of the nearest encyclopedia. Is it all true? Sure. Is it good writing?
Vince Lombardi is a legend of the gridiron, but this book just didnt make it happen for me. The chapters about his legendary coaching career are interesting, but the rest is just sifting through the detritus of an average American family man. Some (of the many) glowing reviews on the cover express fascination with the 'complicated, flawed character' of the man, but come on. He's just a man like any other, and no one should be surprised by that. Everyone has complications and flaws beneath the surface. What makes lombardi interesting is that he's come to stand for something more. Batman is just a dude with a mask on, but he's more than that...and altogether more interesting for the mythos. I have no desire to know where Bruce Wayne went to summer camp.
Perhaps I'm approaching it unfairly. Perhaps a biographers mission is to set down the facts for the storage of history, rather than tell a story. Maybe documentation is separate from 'writing'. I suppose that nobody suggests Encyclopedia Brittanica write more engaging entries. Still, I'm always left with nagging memories of high school papers. The assignment was for ten pages, so ten pages you would fill with whatever irrelevant information you could scrape out of the nearest encyclopedia. Is it all true? Sure. Is it good writing?
Vince Lombardi is a legend of the gridiron, but this book just didnt make it happen for me. The chapters about his legendary coaching career are interesting, but the rest is just sifting through the detritus of an average American family man. Some (of the many) glowing reviews on the cover express fascination with the 'complicated, flawed character' of the man, but come on. He's just a man like any other, and no one should be surprised by that. Everyone has complications and flaws beneath the surface. What makes lombardi interesting is that he's come to stand for something more. Batman is just a dude with a mask on, but he's more than that...and altogether more interesting for the mythos. I have no desire to know where Bruce Wayne went to summer camp.
August 17, 2020
David Maraniss writes with a clarity and beauty that seem effortless. That’s not easy to do. Starting with Vince Lombardi as a young man, Maraniss shows us how he became the most idolized sports hero of our time. I learned so much along the way. Just a delight. Highly recommend.
January 23, 2016
Well written. Never a dull moment. I did not know half of what I learned in this book. More than just a book for a football fan.
December 26, 2023
Magnificient and totally engrossing biography of coaching legend Vince Lombardi. It has been on my to-read list for several years and I should have read it sooner - it's that good. The book was written in the late 90s so the author was able to interview many of the principal participants in Lombardi's life. Sadly, many of the players, coaches, and friends that contributed to this masterpiece have since passed but this book preserves their memories of Coach Lombardi for future readers. The amount of research the author conducted is exhaustive and I'm grateful. A truly excellent book.
March 28, 2022
As a die hard Green Bay Packers fan, this was a must read for me to learn the legend behind Vince Lombardi. The author did a tremendous job of giving details on how Lombardi thought about football, and how much of an impact he made from the high school level and ultimately into the NFL. He also provided great insights on how people should live their lives and pursue goals.
Through all of the players, coaches, reporters, and close friends, it was inspiring to see the impact he made with everyone he met. Lombardi was the kind of guy that would help any close friend or stranger he ran into to make sure they were helped before he helped himself. He always made sure to get every ounce out of someone, whether that person believes they could do it or not. With being such a big proponent of the NFL in the 60s, leaving his mark on the Packers and the league, it made sense for the commissioner to name the Super Bowl trophy after him. Lombardi isn’t just a packers great, he is a football great.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the NFL or anyone who is looking to see how a leader is supposed to lead people.
Through all of the players, coaches, reporters, and close friends, it was inspiring to see the impact he made with everyone he met. Lombardi was the kind of guy that would help any close friend or stranger he ran into to make sure they were helped before he helped himself. He always made sure to get every ounce out of someone, whether that person believes they could do it or not. With being such a big proponent of the NFL in the 60s, leaving his mark on the Packers and the league, it made sense for the commissioner to name the Super Bowl trophy after him. Lombardi isn’t just a packers great, he is a football great.
I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys the NFL or anyone who is looking to see how a leader is supposed to lead people.
July 31, 2011
Excellent biography and a very well written book in its own right. Colorful, brilliant description of life in New York when Vince was a boy.
July 26, 2025
My introduction to professional football began in 1970, the year Vince Lombardi died. I was 10 years old. I grew up knowing the name, and something of the legend, but nothing of the man himself. This is only my third biography connected to sports, because my interests lie elsewhere. But I am very glad I added this to my library.
This book resonated with me on many levels. It is extremely well written. I like a biography to be "tight," to stay on track. When Pride Still Mattered mostly does that. The subject matter, the life of Vince Lombardi, is intriguing. Lombardi was a complex individual, and Maraniss does an admirable job in helping his readers see the many sides of the man, and to make some sense of all of them. While Lombardi will always be known for his coaching career, there was so much more to the man than football. Yet, without football, specifically, the opportunity to coach the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi would have remained unknown. He would never have had the opportunities to influence business and national leaders at a crucial point in US history, if not for his success as the Head Coach of Green Bay.
The untimely death of Vince Lombardi was recognized from the White House, in New York City and Wisconsin, and across our nation. The author's treatment of Lombardi's death is, in my opinion, is the best writing in the book. Once begun, it was impossible to stop reading until I had finished the chapter, and the epilogue that followed. Interest in football is not necessary to appreciate the life of Vince Lombardi. 5 shining stars for this read.
This book resonated with me on many levels. It is extremely well written. I like a biography to be "tight," to stay on track. When Pride Still Mattered mostly does that. The subject matter, the life of Vince Lombardi, is intriguing. Lombardi was a complex individual, and Maraniss does an admirable job in helping his readers see the many sides of the man, and to make some sense of all of them. While Lombardi will always be known for his coaching career, there was so much more to the man than football. Yet, without football, specifically, the opportunity to coach the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi would have remained unknown. He would never have had the opportunities to influence business and national leaders at a crucial point in US history, if not for his success as the Head Coach of Green Bay.
The untimely death of Vince Lombardi was recognized from the White House, in New York City and Wisconsin, and across our nation. The author's treatment of Lombardi's death is, in my opinion, is the best writing in the book. Once begun, it was impossible to stop reading until I had finished the chapter, and the epilogue that followed. Interest in football is not necessary to appreciate the life of Vince Lombardi. 5 shining stars for this read.
September 11, 2019
Admittedly, I skimmed most of the play-by-plays that defined each championship chapter as that can be found anywhere. What cannot be found just anywhere are the detailed descriptions of Lombardi's past and personal life. He was truly a force of a man that defined a decade, not only in football, but in America. His resounding words and wisdom echo through every football arena today and will forever.
March 31, 2016
This book made me a fan of David Maraniss.
This book goes far beyond the usual biography of a sports figure. In it the reader actually comes to believe they not only personally know Vince Lombardi, but his wife, and their children, too. We know their foibles, their strengths, and their weaknesses, too. We even know that they never used the fireplace even though they lived in cold Green Bay, Wisconsin because Vince had a fear of fire from a childhood incident.
It was no surprise that the author brought out that Lombardi was a domineering personality, one that could often be perceived as a bully. Maraniss brings to life the other sides of Lombardi, though, the ones that don't get touched on so often. That we was an altar boy even when he was the most famous coach in the country. That he was far more liberal in his thinking than most people would believe.
All in all by far the best biography of a sports figure I have ever read and I have read a good number.
My scoring system is based on the following attributes:
Plot: As a biography over famous individual the plot could be assumed. But the author took us outside of the expected path so that we actually came to understand the makeup of the man rather than just his coaching life. 5 Stars.
Writing Style: Easy to read, excellent command of vocabulary, the author has a natural flow in his style that just carries you along. 5 Stars
Editing: Excellent, no complaints at all. A well organized and cohesive book. 5 stars
Character development: This is a biography, but it was a far deeper biography than usual, where the author went deep enough into the family that the reader feels like they know not only the subject but his wife, children, parents, and even his friends. 5 stars.
Cover design. This is the only weakness I could really criticize. The cover is just a black and white picture of Vince Lombardi standing on the sidelines. There is nothing dramatic, but that may have been on purpose. 4 stars.
This book goes far beyond the usual biography of a sports figure. In it the reader actually comes to believe they not only personally know Vince Lombardi, but his wife, and their children, too. We know their foibles, their strengths, and their weaknesses, too. We even know that they never used the fireplace even though they lived in cold Green Bay, Wisconsin because Vince had a fear of fire from a childhood incident.
It was no surprise that the author brought out that Lombardi was a domineering personality, one that could often be perceived as a bully. Maraniss brings to life the other sides of Lombardi, though, the ones that don't get touched on so often. That we was an altar boy even when he was the most famous coach in the country. That he was far more liberal in his thinking than most people would believe.
All in all by far the best biography of a sports figure I have ever read and I have read a good number.
My scoring system is based on the following attributes:
Plot: As a biography over famous individual the plot could be assumed. But the author took us outside of the expected path so that we actually came to understand the makeup of the man rather than just his coaching life. 5 Stars.
Writing Style: Easy to read, excellent command of vocabulary, the author has a natural flow in his style that just carries you along. 5 Stars
Editing: Excellent, no complaints at all. A well organized and cohesive book. 5 stars
Character development: This is a biography, but it was a far deeper biography than usual, where the author went deep enough into the family that the reader feels like they know not only the subject but his wife, children, parents, and even his friends. 5 stars.
Cover design. This is the only weakness I could really criticize. The cover is just a black and white picture of Vince Lombardi standing on the sidelines. There is nothing dramatic, but that may have been on purpose. 4 stars.
October 26, 2011
Summary:
This is a book about one of the greatest football coaches ever, Vincent Lombardi. This story depicts the life of Lombardi, from growing up in New York, to coaching at West Point, and then to coaching the Green Bay Packers. Not only does this story go into Lombardi the coach but also into Lombardi the father and husband.
Main Character:
Vincent Lombardi, a complex man who believed "God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers, in that order".
Other Interesting Information:
As a life long Packers fan, I have always loved learning about Green Bay and the franchise and this I think is one of the best books I have read about the famous coach. I loved the detail Maraniss went into, not just about Lombardi at work, but how he was socially and how he was with is family. Too many times we hear about the coach or the player in the sport but we don't hear about the person outside of the sport. Maraniss covered this aspect wonderfully.
This is a book about one of the greatest football coaches ever, Vincent Lombardi. This story depicts the life of Lombardi, from growing up in New York, to coaching at West Point, and then to coaching the Green Bay Packers. Not only does this story go into Lombardi the coach but also into Lombardi the father and husband.
Main Character:
Vincent Lombardi, a complex man who believed "God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers, in that order".
Other Interesting Information:
As a life long Packers fan, I have always loved learning about Green Bay and the franchise and this I think is one of the best books I have read about the famous coach. I loved the detail Maraniss went into, not just about Lombardi at work, but how he was socially and how he was with is family. Too many times we hear about the coach or the player in the sport but we don't hear about the person outside of the sport. Maraniss covered this aspect wonderfully.
December 3, 2019
Being a figure so representative of how baby boomers conceive the world as of now, it surprised me to know that Vince Lombardi was one of the first coaches that accepted black and gay players in his locker room without prejudice. I started reading this book because I, a lifelong Packers fan, wanted to understand how this apparent contradiction played out in the life of a character I've always heard of but little knew about. At first, I thought I would get the portrait of a character with SJW values hidden behind a facade of a strong man.
The answer that I got from David Maraniss' biography was not the one that I was hoping to get. Vince Lombardi was, indeed, an authoritative figure. He believed in order and discipline and was repelled by the culture of freedom of the 1960s. He just happened to be a democrat with an unprejudiced nature best exemplified by the phrase muttered by Henry Jordan: "Lombardi treated us all the same: like dogs".
Nevertheless, I grew fond of the character portrayed by Maraniss. Lombardi was all too human to be the iron man presented by sports anthologies. He was a distant father and husband and had often mood swings. These traits made him the legend he is now: his "winning is not a sometime thing is an all-time thing" mentality that pushed him away from his family and his emotional nature were essential to mold Lombardi into the best coach in football history.
One thing I was marveled to know was the fact that Lombardi was devoted to the teachings of San Ignacio de Loyola and that his "Spiritual Exercises" influenced the way he saw life and the way he instructed discipline into his players. The fact that Lombardi viewed himself more like a teacher than a coach explains a lot about Lombardi: an authoritative figure that loved his players as if they were his sons.
I also appreciated the way Maraniss presents the historical background of the era Lombardi lived. The journalism of Grantland Rice and the portrayal of football before the super bowl era were both high notes of this book for me.
Most of all, I will remember this book for making me grew fond of so many figures I already revered. Not just Lombardi: Starr, Hornung, Kramer, Taylor, Nitchske, Gregg and all those legendary players are well represented in this biography.
This was also the first audiobook I ever read. I enjoyed the experience in great part due to the voice of Ricard M Davidson. He reminded me of John Facenda, "The Voice of God".
The answer that I got from David Maraniss' biography was not the one that I was hoping to get. Vince Lombardi was, indeed, an authoritative figure. He believed in order and discipline and was repelled by the culture of freedom of the 1960s. He just happened to be a democrat with an unprejudiced nature best exemplified by the phrase muttered by Henry Jordan: "Lombardi treated us all the same: like dogs".
Nevertheless, I grew fond of the character portrayed by Maraniss. Lombardi was all too human to be the iron man presented by sports anthologies. He was a distant father and husband and had often mood swings. These traits made him the legend he is now: his "winning is not a sometime thing is an all-time thing" mentality that pushed him away from his family and his emotional nature were essential to mold Lombardi into the best coach in football history.
One thing I was marveled to know was the fact that Lombardi was devoted to the teachings of San Ignacio de Loyola and that his "Spiritual Exercises" influenced the way he saw life and the way he instructed discipline into his players. The fact that Lombardi viewed himself more like a teacher than a coach explains a lot about Lombardi: an authoritative figure that loved his players as if they were his sons.
I also appreciated the way Maraniss presents the historical background of the era Lombardi lived. The journalism of Grantland Rice and the portrayal of football before the super bowl era were both high notes of this book for me.
Most of all, I will remember this book for making me grew fond of so many figures I already revered. Not just Lombardi: Starr, Hornung, Kramer, Taylor, Nitchske, Gregg and all those legendary players are well represented in this biography.
This was also the first audiobook I ever read. I enjoyed the experience in great part due to the voice of Ricard M Davidson. He reminded me of John Facenda, "The Voice of God".
June 3, 2015
Review title: What is everything and the only thing
I have now in order read biographies of the two greatest football coaches of the 20th century. I hadn't intended to, but after finishing Paterno, and with Maraniss' highly-honored biography of Lombardi on my ready-to-read shelf, I felt the pairing unavoidable and perhaps worthwhile.
The similarities between the two men was sometimes striking:
They came from the same place, Brooklyn, and their paths even crossed briefly, when the high school coached by Lombardi beat the high school team featuring Paterno at back.
They came from similar roots: large families of recent Italian immigrants. Lombardi's parents had come from Italy, but adopted their new country and culture whole, insisting on English being spoken in the home. Even so, both Paterno and Lombardi valued and cherished their heritage.
Perhaps because of that heritage, both men hated discrimination in any form, and were among the first to welcome and encourage African-American players into their largely white communities in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
They shared similar interests, both reading widely in literature and history, both putting the lie to the "dumb jock" image of players and coaches, and maintaining their wide range of interests throughout their lives.
Both languished long years before reaching the pinnacle they were both so ambitious and certain they were capable of reaching. Paterno's long years as an assistant at Penn State were matched by Lombardi's long journey from Catholic high school head coach to college assistant (at Fordham and then West Point) to NFL assistant (leading the New York Giants offense while Tom Landry lead the defense, certainly the strongest assistant coaching pair in NFL history).
But both did finally achieve their dreams, and found them perhaps both more and less than they hoped. It is easy to say they were driven to win (Lombardi, famous for the quote that winning is not just everything but the only thing, didn't originate it, and Maraniss devotes a brief but interesting chapter to the history of the phrase) but that drive alone neither accounts for their success, and for their inability to enjoy it beyond the moment. While Paterno found his career continuing beyond the peak of his success driven by some single-minded pursuit or perhaps because having driven so long for it that he was incapable of another path of mind, Lombardi found his health consumed by his devotion to his ambition, and by his stubborn refusal to seek treatment for internal illness that took him as a relatively young man after attempting to recreate his success with the Washington Redskins.
As a young football fan when Lombardi went to the Redskins after his brilliant years of success in Green Bay (five championships in nine years), I remembered before reading that he had not lasted long with the Redskins and hadn't been able to recreate his success there, but I didn't know why and assumed he had faded in failure. In fact, he had only one season with the Redskins, taking the down and out franchise to its first winning season in many years, when he was cut down by colon cancer. In a way, by placing this end in context, Maraniss while humanizing the legend has enhanced it in my mind; he hadn't been a failure, he had died before he could achieve the success he certainly would have given time!
But Maraniss, writing in a more classic biographical style than Joe Posnanski in his Paterno book, certainly makes no effort to gloss over the inadequacies of Lombardi the man. While beloved by the community and (if begrudgingly and sometimes after the fact) his players, he was not a great husband and father. While he was a faithful husband to wife Marie, he was often so absorbed in his work he failed to attend to her needs and desires, especially as his job path took him hop-scotching around the northeast and then to the frigid hinterlands of Green Bay. Similarly, his relationships with son Vincent and daughter Susan were alternately distant or strained, as neither met his expectations or were able to find his attention long enough to register as much as his players, coaches, and fans.
I am rating the Lombardi biography one star less than the Paterno one, not because it is not as well written and researched (it is, despite the difference in style), but because the subject was not so recently an open wound in my life and those who follow football and current events. Writing from a further emotional distance, Maraniss had the time to give a considered and balanced approach to Lombardi that lacks just a bit of the immediacy of Posnanski's first-draft study of the recently-passed Paterno, while at the same time providing more depth and breadth.
In the end, Lombardi's life, while cut short, was not as tragic as Paterno's rapid and utter fall from legend. In fact, Maraniss makes the point briefly in the epilogue that perhaps Lombardi was better served to leave a world early that was on the brink of finding him either irrelevant or bypassed by events, the "win-at-all-costs" symbol of a rigid conservatism being dashed to pieces by the turbulence of the late 1960s. While Lombardi was not a rigid conservative (he was in fact a Kennedy Democrat), his fame and legendary status had put him on a pedestal in a place not of his own choosing.
Perhaps this position, so much like Paterno's, was their greatest similarity, their greatest weakness, and in the end their greatest mystery.
I have now in order read biographies of the two greatest football coaches of the 20th century. I hadn't intended to, but after finishing Paterno, and with Maraniss' highly-honored biography of Lombardi on my ready-to-read shelf, I felt the pairing unavoidable and perhaps worthwhile.
The similarities between the two men was sometimes striking:
They came from the same place, Brooklyn, and their paths even crossed briefly, when the high school coached by Lombardi beat the high school team featuring Paterno at back.
They came from similar roots: large families of recent Italian immigrants. Lombardi's parents had come from Italy, but adopted their new country and culture whole, insisting on English being spoken in the home. Even so, both Paterno and Lombardi valued and cherished their heritage.
Perhaps because of that heritage, both men hated discrimination in any form, and were among the first to welcome and encourage African-American players into their largely white communities in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
They shared similar interests, both reading widely in literature and history, both putting the lie to the "dumb jock" image of players and coaches, and maintaining their wide range of interests throughout their lives.
Both languished long years before reaching the pinnacle they were both so ambitious and certain they were capable of reaching. Paterno's long years as an assistant at Penn State were matched by Lombardi's long journey from Catholic high school head coach to college assistant (at Fordham and then West Point) to NFL assistant (leading the New York Giants offense while Tom Landry lead the defense, certainly the strongest assistant coaching pair in NFL history).
But both did finally achieve their dreams, and found them perhaps both more and less than they hoped. It is easy to say they were driven to win (Lombardi, famous for the quote that winning is not just everything but the only thing, didn't originate it, and Maraniss devotes a brief but interesting chapter to the history of the phrase) but that drive alone neither accounts for their success, and for their inability to enjoy it beyond the moment. While Paterno found his career continuing beyond the peak of his success driven by some single-minded pursuit or perhaps because having driven so long for it that he was incapable of another path of mind, Lombardi found his health consumed by his devotion to his ambition, and by his stubborn refusal to seek treatment for internal illness that took him as a relatively young man after attempting to recreate his success with the Washington Redskins.
As a young football fan when Lombardi went to the Redskins after his brilliant years of success in Green Bay (five championships in nine years), I remembered before reading that he had not lasted long with the Redskins and hadn't been able to recreate his success there, but I didn't know why and assumed he had faded in failure. In fact, he had only one season with the Redskins, taking the down and out franchise to its first winning season in many years, when he was cut down by colon cancer. In a way, by placing this end in context, Maraniss while humanizing the legend has enhanced it in my mind; he hadn't been a failure, he had died before he could achieve the success he certainly would have given time!
But Maraniss, writing in a more classic biographical style than Joe Posnanski in his Paterno book, certainly makes no effort to gloss over the inadequacies of Lombardi the man. While beloved by the community and (if begrudgingly and sometimes after the fact) his players, he was not a great husband and father. While he was a faithful husband to wife Marie, he was often so absorbed in his work he failed to attend to her needs and desires, especially as his job path took him hop-scotching around the northeast and then to the frigid hinterlands of Green Bay. Similarly, his relationships with son Vincent and daughter Susan were alternately distant or strained, as neither met his expectations or were able to find his attention long enough to register as much as his players, coaches, and fans.
I am rating the Lombardi biography one star less than the Paterno one, not because it is not as well written and researched (it is, despite the difference in style), but because the subject was not so recently an open wound in my life and those who follow football and current events. Writing from a further emotional distance, Maraniss had the time to give a considered and balanced approach to Lombardi that lacks just a bit of the immediacy of Posnanski's first-draft study of the recently-passed Paterno, while at the same time providing more depth and breadth.
In the end, Lombardi's life, while cut short, was not as tragic as Paterno's rapid and utter fall from legend. In fact, Maraniss makes the point briefly in the epilogue that perhaps Lombardi was better served to leave a world early that was on the brink of finding him either irrelevant or bypassed by events, the "win-at-all-costs" symbol of a rigid conservatism being dashed to pieces by the turbulence of the late 1960s. While Lombardi was not a rigid conservative (he was in fact a Kennedy Democrat), his fame and legendary status had put him on a pedestal in a place not of his own choosing.
Perhaps this position, so much like Paterno's, was their greatest similarity, their greatest weakness, and in the end their greatest mystery.
September 6, 2025
This biography of Vince Lombardi dives deep into his life, from his Brooklyn roots to his transformative tenure with the Green Bay Packers, exploring his drive, complex personality, and enduring legacy. There's an unflinching honesty, detailing Lombardi’s triumphs, his intense leadership, Catholic faith, and occasional overbearing nature. The book captures his place in the cultural context of 1950s–60s American life. The dense detail can slow the pace, but it’s a rich, nuanced portrait.
July 23, 2025
Vince Lombardi was a miraculous coach, and what he did for football cannot be understated. Considering an illustrious coaching career despite a life cut very short by cancer, "When Pride Still Mattered" lacks....football. The most interesting part of the book is the description of the final drive in Lombardi's final Super Bowl. Other than that, it is a book about the person (I understand it is a biography) with little about his art form. My low grade for the book was because I expected more football.
May 5, 2020
It is Comprehensive. I couldn't make it past page 60. I looked at some other parts and they didn't seem more promising; way too much uninteresting detail. But, if you're looking for a detailed, thorough account of Lombardi's life, this is likely to please you.
June 8, 2023
Excellent background on Lombardi from his Fordham days thru the Packers. Even a full section devoted to his legendary Packer end sweep!
May 16, 2024
“What the hell is going on out there!”
February 5, 2022
I loved this book. What a great read. I really enjoyed the tales of early NFL days. Lombardi is an interesting, complicated genius. I enjoyed getting into his head and learning about his life.
August 22, 2025
I really enjoyed this book. I can’t believe how much detail it went in the life of Vince Lombardi. I did not know about how much he had to work his way up to get to his glory days with the Packers. I will say some of the family stuff was sad and I could have dealt without the entire prognosis of his death. I did love learning about how Lombardi basically rose up with the rise of the NFL and professional football. It also gives me a lot of hope since it took him forever get to where he wanted to be and if it took one of the greatest coaches of all time awhile to get to where he wanted go I can be patient as well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2021
Phenominal book on leadership and football. As a lifetime Chicago Bears fan, I have to say that I look at the Packers differently now. God bless you Vince Lombardi.
December 20, 2024
As a Bears fan, I thought this might be a tough read, but I loved it. I truly enjoyed learning about Lombardi’s early career, and more about his personal life while he was achieving incredible professional success. The author does a fantastic job balancing depth and time spent on each moment, and a nice pace throughout the book. Night recommended for all football fans out there!
March 2, 2025
My second reading of this book. It's superb, so much more than a standard sports bio. It has all of that, but it goes into Lombardi's psyche, what made him tick, his years of quiet success and then his overnight explosion into becoming the most famous and revered coach of any sport in America. I wouldn't have worked for Lombardi for more than two days -- I've quit jobs when treated the way he treated people -- but I understand how it was transformational in a positive way for so many people as well. I wouldn't say Vince Lombardi was the most flawed person in the world (Donald Trump comes to mind instead!), but he had a lot of demons that broke through the surface often. It's to his credit that he marshaled his intensity and need to win into something that was mostly positive for those around him and instructive for those who saw him only at a distance.
When you read about a famous and successful person, you can't help but notice all the things that had to go right and all the unusual, prescient interactions they had. For Lombardi, it was work with football royalty almost from the beginning of his career, practically rubbing shoulders with the game's seminal figures. Not quite, but close. He played at Fordham University at its peak, and he was a member of its famed Wall of Granite line, and that moniker actually touched back to the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame because of Fordham's coach's ties with the Fighting Irish. Then after becoming a hugely successful high school coach, Lombardi joined the Army teams led by Red Blaik during Blaik's greatest five-year run. So there he is at the core of two of the half-dozen most famous football teams and programs of the games first 50 years. And then when all of Blaik's roster except two players are expelled from Army for cheating on exams, Lombardi helps Blaik resurrect the team over the next several years, thus learning how to build (after seeing already how to sustain).
From there he goes to the professional NY Giants, where he runs the offense and Tom Landry (yes, that Tom Landry) runs the defense. Known as the greatest assistant coach tandem in history. And then he moves to the Packers -- talented but underachievers -- and wins five championships in the nine years. That's the Lombardi everyone remembers, but it was only the last quarter of his amazing coaching career, and this book does a fantastic job of delving into those other three-quarters as context and as fascinating times in their own right.
A few takeaways from this book in bullet form. 1. What a terrible husband and father. Aloof, distracted, harsh. Workaholic and then would go out to dinner with staff, sportswriters, friends, etc., almost every night of the week. A man's-man atmosphere of cigars, drinks, pretty girls serving, and so on. His wife at home drinking her way to oblivion. Worst marriage I've ever heard of that didn't end in divorce or spousal murder. Lombardi and his wife spent 30 years yelling at each other. 2. Anger. He'd literally yell at his wife, "Shut up, Marie!" in front of 50 people at a restaurant and berate his son when he was ballboy for the Packers. 3. Seems like he must have been an alcoholic, though that's not said. He drank every day, lots of liquor and some beer. Every day, starting in the early evening and however late he stayed up. 4. Catholicism. He went to mass every day. Every day. And confession. Every day. He really believed that stuff in a way that's hard to comprehend in today's world. He was raised in a time and place when the church was unassailable, and he didn't assail it. This alone would have made it impossible for me to connect with him, as blind faith to religion, especially one that's a backward as Catholicism, is a nonstarter. 5. Integrity. Despite the above making it seem like he's a bad guy, he had extraordinary integrity. He meant what he said, and he gave as much loyalty as he demanded. He told the truth. He apologized. He worked harder than anyone else. He believed in and practiced racial equality and tolerance of homosexuality decades before it was comfortable in America. 6. Inspirational. I guess you'd have to be there to really feel his inspiration, but this book does a good job of trying to get you to understand his booming voice, his broad smile, the emotion he would put into a pregame speech and the attention to detail of his practices. Clearly, it worked and became a model for tens of thousands of coaches and business leaders. I'm sure 90% of it is applicable today still.
I want to give this book credit also for going into the myths that were created about him by his NY sportswriter friends in the 1950s and also by Lombardi himself. When true, the author acknowledges them (religious faith, intensity, fairness, etc.). When false, he explodes them (law degree, health, etc.). The author also puts it into context several times by noting that claims that football in the 1930s or 1950s was the "good old days" when everyone played hard and fair simply aren't true. Lombardi was there for scandals, such as the Army cheating scandal, but also for lesser-known ones such as his Fordham teammates his senior year playing Sunday games for cash on the side and getting hurt so they lost their critical season finale and didn't get to play in the Rose Bowl. And while Lombardi truly was supportive of Black players, he wielded power over them and all his players during a period before the union had any might, and he strongly opposed collectivization efforts. For Lombardi, everything was about your football team, and that meant it would be about him. If it wasn't about him, he wanted it out of his way.
And that is the final message, I think. Vince Lombardi had a focus and intensity that's hard to imagine. Many people can hold that focus for a few hours or days on a personal project; artists and musicians are prominent examples. But they do it largely for themselves or, perhaps, with a few bandmates. Vince Lombardi did it with teams of football players, each of them alpha males in their own right, and often in the context of the two most hierarchical, alpha male cultures in America: the Catholic Church and the US military. And he came out on top. Amazing.
When you read about a famous and successful person, you can't help but notice all the things that had to go right and all the unusual, prescient interactions they had. For Lombardi, it was work with football royalty almost from the beginning of his career, practically rubbing shoulders with the game's seminal figures. Not quite, but close. He played at Fordham University at its peak, and he was a member of its famed Wall of Granite line, and that moniker actually touched back to the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame because of Fordham's coach's ties with the Fighting Irish. Then after becoming a hugely successful high school coach, Lombardi joined the Army teams led by Red Blaik during Blaik's greatest five-year run. So there he is at the core of two of the half-dozen most famous football teams and programs of the games first 50 years. And then when all of Blaik's roster except two players are expelled from Army for cheating on exams, Lombardi helps Blaik resurrect the team over the next several years, thus learning how to build (after seeing already how to sustain).
From there he goes to the professional NY Giants, where he runs the offense and Tom Landry (yes, that Tom Landry) runs the defense. Known as the greatest assistant coach tandem in history. And then he moves to the Packers -- talented but underachievers -- and wins five championships in the nine years. That's the Lombardi everyone remembers, but it was only the last quarter of his amazing coaching career, and this book does a fantastic job of delving into those other three-quarters as context and as fascinating times in their own right.
A few takeaways from this book in bullet form. 1. What a terrible husband and father. Aloof, distracted, harsh. Workaholic and then would go out to dinner with staff, sportswriters, friends, etc., almost every night of the week. A man's-man atmosphere of cigars, drinks, pretty girls serving, and so on. His wife at home drinking her way to oblivion. Worst marriage I've ever heard of that didn't end in divorce or spousal murder. Lombardi and his wife spent 30 years yelling at each other. 2. Anger. He'd literally yell at his wife, "Shut up, Marie!" in front of 50 people at a restaurant and berate his son when he was ballboy for the Packers. 3. Seems like he must have been an alcoholic, though that's not said. He drank every day, lots of liquor and some beer. Every day, starting in the early evening and however late he stayed up. 4. Catholicism. He went to mass every day. Every day. And confession. Every day. He really believed that stuff in a way that's hard to comprehend in today's world. He was raised in a time and place when the church was unassailable, and he didn't assail it. This alone would have made it impossible for me to connect with him, as blind faith to religion, especially one that's a backward as Catholicism, is a nonstarter. 5. Integrity. Despite the above making it seem like he's a bad guy, he had extraordinary integrity. He meant what he said, and he gave as much loyalty as he demanded. He told the truth. He apologized. He worked harder than anyone else. He believed in and practiced racial equality and tolerance of homosexuality decades before it was comfortable in America. 6. Inspirational. I guess you'd have to be there to really feel his inspiration, but this book does a good job of trying to get you to understand his booming voice, his broad smile, the emotion he would put into a pregame speech and the attention to detail of his practices. Clearly, it worked and became a model for tens of thousands of coaches and business leaders. I'm sure 90% of it is applicable today still.
I want to give this book credit also for going into the myths that were created about him by his NY sportswriter friends in the 1950s and also by Lombardi himself. When true, the author acknowledges them (religious faith, intensity, fairness, etc.). When false, he explodes them (law degree, health, etc.). The author also puts it into context several times by noting that claims that football in the 1930s or 1950s was the "good old days" when everyone played hard and fair simply aren't true. Lombardi was there for scandals, such as the Army cheating scandal, but also for lesser-known ones such as his Fordham teammates his senior year playing Sunday games for cash on the side and getting hurt so they lost their critical season finale and didn't get to play in the Rose Bowl. And while Lombardi truly was supportive of Black players, he wielded power over them and all his players during a period before the union had any might, and he strongly opposed collectivization efforts. For Lombardi, everything was about your football team, and that meant it would be about him. If it wasn't about him, he wanted it out of his way.
And that is the final message, I think. Vince Lombardi had a focus and intensity that's hard to imagine. Many people can hold that focus for a few hours or days on a personal project; artists and musicians are prominent examples. But they do it largely for themselves or, perhaps, with a few bandmates. Vince Lombardi did it with teams of football players, each of them alpha males in their own right, and often in the context of the two most hierarchical, alpha male cultures in America: the Catholic Church and the US military. And he came out on top. Amazing.
January 4, 2015
I listened to this as an audiobook, read by the author. For anyone interested in sport (like me) it's a fascinating insight into a man who became a top coach: his upbringing, his playing career (limited as it was) and ultimately his distinguished years coaching the American Football team the Green Bay Packers. What I liked most was the anecdotes about specific games and incidents that drew out his personality (tough, driven, obsessed even) and his coaching methods (rigorous, hugely detailed, very specific). In one sense this book presents Lombardi one dimensional character only interested in winning football games, but dig under the surface and you see a love for his players which, at times, tortured him but was at the very core of his ability to motivate and inspire a group of men to become the greatest team of his generation.
July 4, 2013
Excellent book. I had never read much about Coach Lombardi but found this to be a very well balanced and interesting account of his life. The author did not get carried away with the bigger-than-life aspect of Lombardi but gave us a good look at the man, warts and all. I am always amazed at the sacrifices great mean have to make in their lives, and those closes to them that have to sacrifice also. The lack of closeness with his son and the problems that his wife had to deal with are two examples. Lombardi had the ability to make men believe they could achieve great things, taught them what they had to do to accomplish them, then inspired them to make it happen. The true signs of a great leader in football and in life.
October 17, 2023
This is my fourth or fifth time with this book. It is one of those books that any lover of the game of football should read at the start of the season, or listen to. David Maraniss honors the life of Vince Lombardi and is a pleasant narrator to his work. This book is like the first warm cup of soup of autumn. Take it on a drive, enjoy the leaves changing colors, and prepare for the big game on Saturday.
December 11, 2009
An excellent, well-written book which evokes many memories to one who grew up in the 50's/60's. A book to be enjoyed by even the casual football fan as the author provides great insight into Lombardi's life and his family as well as a real window into another era already very different from today. He shows Lombardi as a real person, the good and bad points of a man who became an icon during the 60's.
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