When Pride Still Mattered: A Life Of Vince Lombardi [Paperback]

David Maraniss's excellent biography of Vince Lombardi reveals a man in touch with the average American, the story of a super achiever whose own struggles propelled him with increased conviction to drive others toward victory. Maraniss traces Lombardi's roots as a butcher's son growing up in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. His passion for football exceeds his on field talent, but through grit and determination Lombardi obtained a scholarship to Fordham University in the Bronx and became one of the "Seven Blocks of Granite" at guard, helping bolster the line offensively and defensively. His innate coaching gifts were on display early as, according to Maraniss the least talented of his teammates on the Fordham line, he became the most inspirational. More talented teammates would listen to his criticism and react to his fiery exhortations to push onward toward perfection.

The Fordham school motto was "do or die" and Lombardi profited from the teachings of the Jesuit fathers at Fordham, instilling discipline within him and a sense of commitment. After coaching football and basketball at St. Cecilia's High School in Englewood, New Jersey, Lombardi then received an opportunity to become line coach at Army, where he sopped up gridiron knowledge from one of the game's all-time coaching masters, Colonel Earl "Red" Blaik. At Army he also became acquainted with General Douglas MacArthur, whose motto of "There is no substitute for victory" remained within him from that time thereafter, as did the Army motto of "God, honor and country."

Eventually Lombardi moved on to become offensive coordinator under Jim Lee Howell with the New York Giants. Another young up and coming coach, Tom Landry, assumed the defensive coordinator's role, comprising with Lombardi the most formidable one-two punch among assistants in National Football League history.

While Landry became famous by becoming the original coach of the expansion Dallas Cowboys, guiding them to greatness, Lombardi received first crack one year earlier in 1959 in an NFL head coaching status, becoming mentor of the hapless Green Bay Packers, thought by many to be on their way out of the NFL. In 1958, under Scooter McLean, the Packers were 1-10-1. The tenacious Lombardi brought his determined ways immediately to bear, finishing 7-5 in his astounding first season, then losing by an eyelash to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL championship game one year later. Not to be thwarted, in 1961 Lombardi won it all, romping at home over his old New York Giants' team in a 37-0 rout, then repeating the victory feat one year later in Yankee Stadium 16-7.

Green Bay was a small town consisting of uncomplicated people adhering to the traditional values. Lombardi was a no nonsense coach who disdained fancy formations and trick plays, focusing his attention on perfecting the basics, emphasizing execution.

This is a book that could be read and enjoyed by those interested in solid biography and not in football, and will be devoured by afficianados. Lombardi is presented in human terms, revealing him as someone with his own troubles. His devotion to his teams left less time at home than he would have desired. He fought with wife Marie often and struggled to find more time to spend with son Vince Jr. and daughter Susan. His relations with management and with the press were often less than cordial, and yet, in the final analysis, despite his imperfections, Lombardi emerges as a loving, caring individual to players, family and friends. He emerges as a giant, an overachiever determined to come as close as humanly possible to attaining perfection in his field, obtaining the maximal effort from his players.

As a long-time Packer fan, about anything substantative would have been an interesting and fun read. But this one surprised me because it eclipsed long-established accounts of the Packers successes and failures and took an especially thorough look at the man who made Green Bay famous.

Who would have known, for example, that the Coach's brother was gay. Or that he could relate one-to-one to his team and his players in a way he never could to his family. The book shares more of these insights than it does such strategic things as how Jerry Kramer and Ken Bowman combined to throw "the" block. In fact, the on the field tactics and discussions almost become a distraction in a broader book that emphasizes what made the man tick.

Like Wisconsin's other 1960s era sports hero, Al McGuire, everybody thinks they know everything about Coach Lombardi. This book lends an exciting perspective on a man dead now for almost 35 years. It's fascinating and long overdue.

Much has been written about legendary figures in the modern world of professional and amateur sport; unfortunately, too often these accounts can be discarded as one-sided attempts to idolize an individual or a team as bigger than life. David Maraniss' "When Pride Still Mattered" - a biography on the life of Vince Lombardi, the famous coach of the Green Bay Packers - is not that kind of cheap tribute that makes heroes out of bums. Instead, the reader will find a very balanced and insightful study on how Lombardi, a very undersized but overachieving Italian-American from Brooklyn, came to excel in the world of gridiron football as a head coach. While Maraniss is not short on commending Lombardi for his dogged determination in making it all the way to the top, he lets his readers know that the ride was never easy. This cautionary tale has as much to say about the upside as the downside to fame as a Shakespearean tragedy. First, there is the contrasting image of a coach who always seemed to connect with his players while failing to connect with his family. Second, there is the enduring picture of Lombardi the autocrat haranguing his players on the importance of team play. Maraniss discloses much more about the rough side to the Lombardi profile that reflects a life of curious and sometimes revealing contradictions that could get in the way of appreciating his greatness. While Lombardi demanded a high degree of performance in his players, he was anything but an example himself: smoked up to three cartons a week before he quit; drank plenty, and liked his greasy Italian food. Coming from a good upstanding Catholic family, Lombardi was raised to be respectful, obedient, hardworking and true to the faith. Those qualities, alone, were not enough to earn him a place in history. Something else had to kick in, and Maraniss believes it was Lombardi's innate ability to use old-fashioned discipline and esprit de corps to make winning teams. Once again, Lombardi was able to convince his various teams to buy into these concepts even though he never had a military background. His secret was probably two-fold: create the right attitude for winning and then equip his players with an on-the-field system for making it happen. His philosophy in training athletes for a position on the Green Bay Packer roster was always: "Repetition, Confidence, and Passion". This book is full of amusing details about how Lombardi, a salty, in-your-face coach at the best of times, had the ability to bring out the best in his players as he led them to greater heights of glory. None of this would have happened if Lombardi hadn't served over two decades as an assistant coach for various teams, always looking for a way to leave his mark on the game. For him to achieve what he did facing so many adversities speaks as much to his passion for the game as it does to his vision to make it a sport for champions. As a Packer fan of over fifty years, this version of the Lombardi saga strikes me as the most honest and enlightening one.