And Now the Players Turn

I found these quotes sprinkled around the Internet. Lombardi is often simplistically caricatured as a one-dimensional screaming ogre. That image is illogical - who would long follow any leader who only motivated by fear and intimidation? Not many and not very successfully (See Forrest Gregg's record as a head coach.)

David Maraniss' shows a far more complex man, one with an at times tortured soul. I highly recommend his When Pride Still Mattered : A Life Of Vince Lombardi by David Maraniss.



The late lamented Max McGee, “But Vince was about as smart as anybody who ever put on a coaching hat. One time before a big game, he [Lombardi] told us that if anybody was caught sneaking out before the game it would cost him $5,000. And he looked at me and said, ‘McGee, let me tell you something — if you find somebody worth $5,000, let me me know — I want to go with you.’ That broke the tension. He could get you so wired before a game you almost couldn’t play.…



http://oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com/2007/10/21/max-mcgee-on-vince-lombardi-quote-of-the-day/



BTW, did you know McGee his famous pre-Super Bowl I all-nighter at Hollywood's amazing Whiskey A Go Go ? Check it out and you can understand his motivation.











The remaining quotes are from http://www.vincelombardi.com/index.php


"It was a helluva performance to listen to when he'd go out there and get his troops around him. He laughed. He cried. He motivated. I think he could motivate almost anybody to do almost anything. He communicated with human emotions."-- Chuck Lane


"He made us realize that if the mind was willing, the body can go."-- Forrest Gregg


"He made us all better than we thought we could be."-- Jerry Kramer


"He pushed you to the end of your endurance and then beyond it. And if there was reserve there, well he found that too."-- Henry Jordan


"Coach Lombardi showed me that by working hard and using my mind, I could overcome my weakness to the point where I could be one of the best."-- Bart Starr


"He prepared us so well, and he motivated us so well, I felt he was a part of me on the field."-- Fuzzy Thurston


"Respect wasn't a one way street with him. He demanded it of others but he also gave it."-- Pete Rozelle


"The fear in my mind was not him but that for some reason I would not be a part of this team and be with this man."-- Forrest Gregg


"It's true a lot of kids have been born long after Lombardi's been gone, but after his death he became part of American mythology. To that extent, he will live on, at least for baby boomers and maybe longer. He's part of the culture now."-- David Maraniss, author of "When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi"


" I don't think his legacy will ever shrink... Lombardi's on a high pedestal and deserves to be."-- Current Green Bay Packers president Bob Harlan