His shadow was long, his legacy large, and his place in the pantheon immovable. Green Bay Packer coach Vince "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing" Lombardi was such a legend in his life that even he had a hard time keeping himself in focus: "I don't know," he once said hauntingly, "what I am." This fascinating oral history, originally published in 1971, the year after Lombardi's death, helps unravel the conundrum. It brings a complex combination of benevolent father figure and tyrannical martinet back into view. What the hundreds of reminiscences from Lombardi lovers and haters both in and out of football don't completely capture--and that's not much--Vernon Biever's stark black-and-white photography fills in. The late poet James Dickey's surreal epilogue in the form of a free-verse eulogy is a curiosity for today's more politically correct world; it is daringly unafraid to charge through the neutral zone and tackle Lombardi's dark side.

From Library Journal
This work is a relatively in-depth profile of one of professional football's legendary coaches, the man who created the Green Bay Packers dynasty of the 1960s. Today, Lombardi is often better remembered for such pithy sayings as "No one ever remembers who finished second" than as the builder of one of the great professional football teams. Wiebusch (A Game of Passion: The NFL Literary Companion, Turner, 1994) offers an oral history, collecting the reminiscences of his players, peers, family, and friends. The excerpts certainly capture the essence of the man and will go a long way toward breaking down journalistic stereotypes that arose about Lombardi in the two and a half decades since his death and that have sometimes obscured his achievements. Of particular note are the comments from his wife, Marie, and his son, Vince Jr., which help illustrate his character. Could Lombardi survive in today's game? Probably, because, through all his bluster he was also flexible, and that is critical to success in pro football today. Recommended for public and school libraries.?William O. Scheeren, Hempfield Area H.S. Lib., Greensburg, Pa.Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Who was this man, this Vince Lombardi, this molder of men and maker of champions, this man who said, "I've been written up as a beast, as a lot of things. I don't know what I am." You ask the people who knew him. You ask who this man was. You ask Marie Lombardi and Jim Taylor and Frank Gifford and Pete Rozelle. You ask Jim Lee Howell and Jim Ringo and Paul Hornung and Sam Huff. You ask Vince Lombardi, Jr., and Forrest Gregg and Larry Brown and Ethel Kennedy. You ask Earl Blaik and Tex Schramm and Bart Starr and Willie Davis. You ask his players and his friends and sometimes you ask his enemies. And then you put it all together and you find that there are many answers to the question. There is a coach, of course. Five National Football League championships are not easily forgotten. But more than a coach, there is a man, a human being. A complex human being. A man filled with incongruities. The man who demanded discipline liked best the players who had the least respect for it. The man who abhorred personal criticism thrived on dishing it out. The man who talked about demanding love from his players and then said, "To play this game you must have that fire in you and there is nothing that stokes that fire like hate." But to complete the portrait of Vince Lombardi you need more than words. You need pictures. And they are indeed worth a thousand words. You have to see the snarl and the smile before you really know. Finally, you ask America's foremost poet, James Dickey, to put down his thoughts about Vince Lombardi. The result is an epilogue of searing intensity. And then you give it a title. The only title you can give it. You call it: Lombardi.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal