Vince Lombardi was born in Brooklyn, New York. He played football at St. Francis Prep School and later attended Fordham University. As a college player, Lombardi was a member of the "Seven Blocks of Granite," the most feared offensive line in the game in the mid-1930's. After coaching at West Point and with the New York Giants of the National Football League (NFL), he took charge of the defeated, dismal, and discouraged Green Bay Packer team in 1959. The Packers won the Western Conference championship the very next year. Winning the NFL championship in the next two seasons, the Packers had another string of three NFL championships in 1965, 1966, and 1967. Suddenly, in January 1968, Vince Lombardi gave up coaching.

    He left the Green Bay Packers after they had just won the Super Bowl for the second straight year. "The pressure of winning was torturing," he said. "I could no longer forgive myself a single defeat." His career had burned out from the fire of his own brilliance. For the first time in 30 years, Lombardi was not coaching a football team. He was still general manager at Green Bay, but he made himself stay away from the practice field. What he missed most was the companionship of his players. He was like a father to many of them, even though he was a tough drill-master on the field.

    Flooded by coaching offers, Lombardi finally agreed to take over another floundering team - the Washington Redskins - in 1969. Lombardi was given complete control of the Redskins. He was paid a salary of $110,000 a year and was given an option to buy $500,000 worth of the club's stock at a good price. Lombardi drove himself and his team hard. Yet he was also kind and sentimental. The Lombardi magic began to work on the Redskins. For 14 seasons in a row, the nation's capital had not had a winning team. But Lombardi gave them one. His first season record was a respectable 7 wins, 5 losses, and 2 ties. But it was to be his last season of coaching. Vince Lombardi died of cancer on September 39, 1970, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.