June 11, 2013
Lombardi, The formative years (NFL videos) | Green Bay Packers: Remembering Vince Lombardi on his centennial (twincities.com) | Happy 100th Birthday Coach Lombardi and the Values He Stood For (www.joefavorito.com) | Vince Lombardi: Simply the Best (espn.com's ranking of the top 20 coaches of all time)
Bronx, N.Y. -
One hundred years ago today, a boy was born in Brooklyn who would become one of Fordham's all-time football greats before leaving his lasting legacy on the National Football League. Numerous books and documentaries have been produced on his life, many awards are named for him - including the NFL's Super Bowl trophy, and he is probably one of the most quoted individuals of all time. But for Fordham fans he will always be one of our own, Vince Lombardi.
Vincent Thomas Lombardi was born in Brooklyn on June 11, 1913, the oldest of five children born to Enrico "Harry" Lombardi and Matilda "Mattie" Izzo. After attending public school through eighth grade, Lombardi enrolled at the Cathedral College of the Immaculate Conception, with thoughts of becoming a Catholic priest. He was a member of both the baseball and football teams but poor eyesight limited his success.
After four years at Cathedral, Lombardi decided that the ordained priesthood was not in his future and he enrolled at St. Francis Prep, where he continue playing football with better results, being named to the All-City team.
In 1933, Lombardi enrolled at Fordham University on a football scholarship and played for legendary head coach Jim Crowley. He became a fixture on the Fordham line, a line that would be become the second version of the famed "Seven Block of Granite."
As a senior in 1936, Lombardi helped the Rams to a 5-0-2 record entering the season finale against NYU at Yankee Stadium, with an undefeated season and a trip to the Rose Bowl on the line. However, the Violets upset the Rams, 7-6, in a game that Lombardi would later call "the most devastating loss of my life."
After graduation from Fordham, he taught and coached at St. Cecilia High School in New Jersey before returning to Fordham in 1946 as an assistant coach under Ed Danowski.
In 1948 he joined the famed Red Blaik at Army, and helped him build the great Army teams of the early fifties.
After his stint at Army, Lombardi joined the New York Football Giants as an assistant coach, only to move on to Green Bay in 1959 as head coach of the floundering Packers. He returned the Packers to world-championship caliber, winning six division championships, five NFL titles, and two Super Bowls.
He retired after the 1967 season, only to return as head coach of the renascent Washington Redskins. It was while he was in Washington in 1970 that Lombardi was diagnosed with cancer, succumbing to the disease on September 3, 1970.
In 1967, Lombardi received Fordham's highest honor, the Insignis Medal, and in 1971, he was among the inaugural class of the Fordham Athletic Hall of Fame, joining Fordham greats John Coffey, Thomas Courtney, Frankie Frisch, and former teammate Alexander Wojciechowicz.
Plans are underway to recognize Lombardi's centennial during the 2013 Fordham season which opens on Thursday, August 29, as the Rams host the University of Rhode Island on Jack Coffey Field at 7:00 p.m.
