n to bethe offensive coordinator for the New York Giants. There,was Lombardi’s greatest success. Brought in as a rookie tothe NFL, Lombardi learned the ropes of the pro game. Afterbeing rejected early on by the veterans, he was finallyaccepted and tinkered with his coaching style to fit the progame. No longer could he berate a player until they did theplay right; these players would just walk off the field. While Lombardi never gave up his hot attitude, he did toneit down quite a bit for the NFL. It was this learning curvethat eventually led him to Green Bay, where his coachingdreams were realized.A readily apparent lesson that I picked up from readingVince is that hard work and dedication can lead you to yourgoals, no matter how high those goals may be. Lombardi’sgoals weren’t too far-fetched; he just wanted to succeed andwin in absolutely everything he did in life.But the way he succeeded is much the way I would liketo succeed. He worked very hard, but his job was hispassion. Everyday, he got up to go to work because he lovedhis work, not necessarily because he had to. Also, Lombardinever lost his sense of humor, which was renowned away fromthe field. No one visited the Lombardi household withleaving with a smile on their face. During the off-season,Vince would vacation with his family, golf with his friendsand enjoy life. I hope I find the same balance ofdedication and love for my job as well as dedication andlove for my family that Vince was able to achieve.Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers won the first twoSuper Bowls, before it was the Super Bowl. To say he had aprofound impact on the game of football is to sell himshort: for a time, his team was the game. The NFL’s mostprestigious trophy, the one given to the winner of the SuperBowl, is named the Vince Lombardi Trophy.When Vince was a player at Fordham, he had one eventfulSaturday. After playing a rough and tumble football gameagainst ...
