From Library Journal
Lea covered the Green Bay Packers for the Milwaukee Journal from 1954 to 1972. Here he chronicles the legendary Vince Lombardi and his Packer teams during the 1961, 1962, 1965, and 1966 championships; the 1967 "Ice Bowl"; and Super Bowls I and II. Lombardi's squad set the benchmark for National Football League clubs. The coach was a no-nonsense man who expected everything from his players (as David Maraniss reveals in When Pride Still Mattered, a biography of Lombardi). His approach quickly gained the respect of the players, turning a bunch of losers into a united team that won seven "Magnificent" titles. Rounding out the text are an index, a good selection of great archival photographs, anecdotes from players, a foreword by Paul Hornung, and an introduction by Bart Starr. Vince Lombardi Jr. wrote the afterword. Recommended where demand warrants.Larry R. Little, Penticton P.L., B.C.Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Fans in Texas or Chicago may not want to admit it, but the Green Bay Packers of the Vince Lombardi era--five NFL championships in the 1960s plus the first two Super Bowl victories--are the standard of excellence by which all other National Football League teams are measured. Lea, who covered the Pack from 1954 through 1972 for the Milwaukee Journal, re-creates those landmark years with a lively narrative, spiced with plenty of interviews he conducted while on the Packer beat and supplemented by more contemporary reminiscences from the players. The book is filled with wonderful, quirky anecdotes, such as Coach Lombardi cautioning his players that Miami-- site of Super Bowl II--would not be a "vacation." Guard Jerry Kramer wondered aloud how anyone could think going anywhere with Lombardi could be a vacation. The game accounts from each championship season make up most of the text and are fun reading for football fans. Dozens of black-and-white photos complement the text. Great fun for Packer fans. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
No other team has won as many NFL Championships as the Green Bay Packers. And no other team had an iron-willed force named Vince Lombardi to propel it through seven championship wins. Beginning in 1961 Lombardi led his team to the first of five NFL Championships and ended with the Packers second Super Bowl win in 1968. The Magnificent Seven brings you back to the 60’s not to just replay each of those seven games but to experience the drama of little known vignettes as legends-to-be made football history. Championship one was almost "lost" before the game was ever played when running back and National Guard Reservist Paul Hornung was called to active duty. It took a call by Lombardi to President John F. Kennedy who arranged a furlough for Hornung so he could play the game. Play he did, by scoring 19 of Green Bay’s 37 points. Vince Lombardi was the eighth Packer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Ten of the next eleven Packers played for Lombardi during this championship era. The amazing exploits of these future gridiron hall-of-famers—Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Davis, Jim Ringo, Paul Hornung, Willie Wood, Henry Jordan—are dominant throughout the game tales. All these feats are brought alive through the award-winning photography of Vernon and John Biever. Every facet of the championship experience is visually presented and melded with the text, game action sequences and player and coach’s candid moments. This is a keeper for Green Bay Packer fans everywhere.


From the Publisher
"The seeds for the seven championship games reviewed in this outstanding book were planted in 1959, when the Packers hired coach Lombardi...I am convinced that we could never have achieved the success that created our "magnificent seven" victories without coach Lombardi's wisdom and teaching regarding the willingness to prepare to win." - From the Introduction by Bart Starr "I don't think enough has been made of the gutsy call my father made to win the "Ice Bowl." Had the Packers been stopped short of the goal line, the Cowboys would have won and you probably wouldn't be reading this book. And all the other things that flowed out of Green Bay from those years wouldn't be quite the same. A lot ended up riding on that call - certainly more than anyone realized at the time." - From the Afterword by Vince Lombardi Jr. "For eight years, Vince Lombardi was the most important man in my life. I respected him as a coach, a leader, and, more important, as a friend. If I needed advice, I could talk to him. He was very close to Lombardi, and the other players knew that...I loved every minute I spent with him. He was a very special man." - From the Foreword by Paul Hornung

FROM THE PUBLISHER

On December 31, 1967, at frozen Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the temperature hovered at a bone-chilling 13 below zero with a wind chill factor of minus 46 degrees. The clock was winding down as the Packers broke the huddle and lined up on the Cowboys' 1-yard line. Trailing 17-14, this was the climax of a 68-yard drive in 12 plays that started with four minutes and 50 seconds left on the clock. With no timeouts left and just 13 seconds remaining, this was it -- it was the last play of the game that would decide the NFL Championship. Quarterback Bart Starr looked left and right over his line as he barked out the signals. The screaming, wildly partisan crowd of 50,861 was temporarily silent as they held their collective breaths. Starr took the snap ... and, following the block of Jerry Kramer, plunged into history. Green Bay was once again victorious in one of the most famous football games in history, the legendary "Ice Bowl," which gave Green Bay its third straight championship and its fifth in seven years under head coach Vince Lombardi.

The Green Bay Packers of the sixties were one of the greatest sports dynasties of all time. Beginning with their first NFL Championship in 1961, when they crushed the New York Giants 37-0, through their 1968 Super Bowl victory over Oakland (their second NFL Championship in two years), the Packers and Lombardi were synonymous with excellence. In Magnificent Seven, fans can relive these seven championship game victories through the eyewitness accounts of sportswriter Bud Lea, observations from key players, and the amazing photography of Vernon and John Biever. Magnificent Seven brings you back to the sixties not just to replay each of those seven games but also to share in little-known stories from the legends-to-be who made football history. You'll discover how the first championship game was almost "lost" before it was ever played when running back and national guard reservist Paul Hornung was called up to active duty. It took a phone call from Lombardi to President John F. Kennedy -- who arranged a furlough for Hornung -- to save the day. Hornung scored 19 of Green Bay's 37 points during that memorable game.

Vince Lombardi was the eighth Packer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and 10 of the next 11 inductees played for him during this championship era. The amazing exploits of these future gridiron hall-of-famers -- Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Willie Davis, Jim Ringo, Paul Hornung, Willie Wood, and Henry Jordan -- are dominant throughout the game tales. All these feats are brought alive through the award-winning photography of Vernon and John Biever, providing a visually stunning presentation of some of the most storied moments in Green Bay Packer history.

FROM THE CRITICS

Library Journal