Vince Lombardi

One of the books that I hold dear in my own personal library at home is entitled Real Men and was written by R. Cort Kirkwood. In his book, Mr. Kirkwood recounts the masculine virtues of 10 famous men in American history. One of those men is Vince Lombardi. Vince was a devoted Christian who at one time had considered becoming a Catholic priest. On his journey to becoming one of the greatest football coaches in the history of the game, he coached the St. Cecelia’s High School football program in Englewood, New Jersey where he also taught physics, chemistry, and Latin which contributed to a man who was more than just athletic tactician, but also an accomplished intellectual. From there, Lombardi went on to coach football at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York where he collaborated with General Douglass MacArthur on football strategies.

Vince Lombardi was aware that he was not a perfect man and he would be the first person to tell you so, but his players knew that he expected the utmost in professionalism from his players and his players knew that he expected the same from himself as well, and his players loved him for it.

“In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.”

Vince Lombardi will well be remembered as a person who worked trained his teams with discipline and hard work in order to win football games, but regardless of the outcome of any game, he wanted his players to truly give everything they had to do their best. In his own words, Lombardi said “In great attempts, it is glorious even to fail.” Winning was always the goal, but excellence was the real destination.