In this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God. More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an In this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God. More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin.
His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. In When Pride Still Mattered, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography destined to become an American classic. Summary: The biography of Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi, showing a man striving for excellence in, and caught in the tensions of the three priorities in his life: faith, family, and football.
Growing up a Cleveland Browns fan in the 1960's, if there was any team that quenched our hopes in the Jim Brown era, it was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacked by Bart Starr, with Hornung and Taylor in the backfield. And behind it all was legendary coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the Superbo Summary: The biography of Green Bay Packers football coach Vince Lombardi, showing a man striving for excellence in, and caught in the tensions of the three priorities in his life: faith, family, and football.
Growing up a Cleveland Browns fan in the 1960's, if there was any team that quenched our hopes in the Jim Brown era, it was the Green Bay Packers quarterbacked by Bart Starr, with Hornung and Taylor in the backfield. And behind it all was legendary coach Vince Lombardi, for whom the Superbowl trophy is named, a coach with a consuming drive to win, characterized by the quote, 'Winning isn't everything, it is the only thing.' David Maraniss is another author in the mold of George Will and David Halberstam, writing political biographies of Bill Clinton and Al Gore, but also fine pieces of sports writing including a biography of Roberto Clemente and this work on Lombardi.
He traces the rise of Lombardi, the son of a Sheepshead Bay butcher, through his playing days at Fordham (one of the Seven Blocks of Granite, even though an average, but intense, player at best), through his first high school coaching positions, returning as assistant coach at Fordham, then five years at West Point under Red Blaik, perhaps the most formative in his development as a coach, and then the years as an assistant with the New York Giants, alongside fellow assistant Tom Landry. By this time, in 1959, he was in his mid-40s and beginning to despair of ever getting a head coaching position, wondering if his Italian name and heritage was working against him. But Marannis' biography goes far beyond football. Lombardi was a deeply religious man, whose outlook was profoundly shaped by Catholic educators, notably ethics professor Ignatius Wiley Cox, S. Whose teaching defined character as 'an integration of habits of conduct superimposed on temperament, the will exercised on disposition, thought, emotion, and action.'
In both New York and Green Bay, he attended Mass daily, carried a rosary with him, and counted a number of priests as close friends. There was a continuity between his religious aspirations and football, as Marannis notes: 'The fundamental principles that he used in coaching-repetition, discipline, clarity, faith, subsuming individual ego to a larger good-were merely extensions of the religious ethic he learned from the Jesuits. In that sense, he made no distinction between the practice of religion and the sport of football' (p.
He was also a family man, deeply in love with Marie, and yet the constantly fought, and she struggled between devotion to Vince's coaching success, and deep depression, alcoholism, and occasional overdoses. He struggled with his relationship with his children, particularly his son and namesake, Vincent.
The demands of NFL coaching made him a more or less absentee father, who rarely attended his son's games. Perhaps his struggle with an explosive temper revealed the tension he wrestled with to be true to his aspirations of faith, family and football. His son Vincent said of him: 'He went to mass to repent for his anger.He thought, I've got this temper. I fly off the handle and offend people.
But it's this temper that keeps me on edge and allows me to get things done and people to do things. Life was a struggle for him.
He knew he wasn't perfect. He had a lot of habits that were far from perfect. His strengths were his weaknesses and vice versa. He fought it by taking the paradox to church. It went back to the Jesuits and the struggle between the shadow self and the real self-your humanity and your divinity. He saw that struggle in clear and concrete terms.' When Lombardi reaches Green Bay he takes a losing team and turns them into winners in a season, championship contenders the next and champions by the third season as head coach and general manager of the Packers.
Marannis portrays him as a relentless teacher with the ability to simplify things in the minds of his players so they knew exactly what was expected of them, typified in the 'Packer sweep'. He demonstrated skilled psychological insights, pushing one player, coaching another, being like a son to Bart Starr.
One of the fascinating sidelights was his commitment to racial equality, and even his sensitivities to homosexual players on his teams. Lombardi reached the pinnacle of coaching success with his victories in the first two Superbowls. But things were changing. The league and its players were changing.
He was tired. After a year as just General Manager, he became coach for the hapless Washington Redskins, once again turning them into a winning team in one season.
Sadly, that is all he had. Marie was the first to notice and fear the worst.
On September 3, 1970, he 'ran to win' one more time, passing away from a particularly malignant form of colon cancer. Marannis portrays a complex, multi-dimensional man, who called out the best in players wherever he coached and yet struggled to connect with his own children, who never questioned the faith in which he was raised, but often struggled to live up to its tenets, who adored and constantly squabbled with his troubled wife. He gives us a richly textured biography of a man whose life could not adequately be captured by anything less. Marannis is an excellent and thorough biographer. After reading When Pride Still Mattered, I came away feeling like I knew Lombardi and the arc of his life which is the goal of most biographers. I think the genius of Marannis's writing lies in a consistent narrative. Show don't tell being the adage.
You might think there would be several chapters on the Packer's two Super Bowl wins. In fact there are only a few pages on these monumental achievements in an otherwise lengthy book. He treats every Marannis is an excellent and thorough biographer. After reading When Pride Still Mattered, I came away feeling like I knew Lombardi and the arc of his life which is the goal of most biographers. I think the genius of Marannis's writing lies in a consistent narrative.
Show don't tell being the adage. You might think there would be several chapters on the Packer's two Super Bowl wins. In fact there are only a few pages on these monumental achievements in an otherwise lengthy book. He treats every period of Lombardi's life evenly which I guess is largely how we remember our own lives.
There are only two reasons that I did not give this book the full five stars. First, there was a tendency to omit timelines. While the book was laid out chronologically it was easy to get lost in the years and months of Lombardi's life.
The second issue was as a football fan I felt the description of the individual games at times could have been more dramatic. I think the relationships between Lombardi and his family and players are exceptionally well drawn and if you are interested in a really good biography without all the minutia of the x's and o's of football then this is an excellent read. There was a fair amount of nostalgia here for me. I reflected on my own football fan of a father who reached adulthood in the late 40's and fully embraced the Lombardi mystique and ethos of hard work and roughly hewn edges. This book made me a fan of David Maraniss.
This book goes far beyond the usual biography of a sports figure. In it the reader actually comes to believe they not only personally know Vince Lombardi, but his wife, and their children, too. We know their foibles, their strengths, and their weaknesses, too. We even know that they never used the fireplace even though they lived in cold Green Bay, Wisconsin because Vince had a fear of fire from a childhood incident. It was no surprise that the author br This book made me a fan of David Maraniss. This book goes far beyond the usual biography of a sports figure. In it the reader actually comes to believe they not only personally know Vince Lombardi, but his wife, and their children, too.
We know their foibles, their strengths, and their weaknesses, too. We even know that they never used the fireplace even though they lived in cold Green Bay, Wisconsin because Vince had a fear of fire from a childhood incident. It was no surprise that the author brought out that Lombardi was a domineering personality, one that could often be perceived as a bully.
Maraniss brings to life the other sides of Lombardi, though, the ones that don't get touched on so often. That we was an altar boy even when he was the most famous coach in the country. That he was far more liberal in his thinking than most people would believe. All in all by far the best biography of a sports figure I have ever read and I have read a good number. My scoring system is based on the following attributes: Plot: As a biography over famous individual the plot could be assumed.
But the author took us outside of the expected path so that we actually came to understand the makeup of the man rather than just his coaching life. Writing Style: Easy to read, excellent command of vocabulary, the author has a natural flow in his style that just carries you along.
5 Stars Editing: Excellent, no complaints at all. A well organized and cohesive book. 5 stars Character development: This is a biography, but it was a far deeper biography than usual, where the author went deep enough into the family that the reader feels like they know not only the subject but his wife, children, parents, and even his friends. Cover design. This is the only weakness I could really criticize.
The cover is just a black and white picture of Vince Lombardi standing on the sidelines. There is nothing dramatic, but that may have been on purpose. Summary: This is a book about one of the greatest football coaches ever, Vincent Lombardi. This story depicts the life of Lombardi, from growing up in New York, to coaching at West Point, and then to coaching the Green Bay Packers. Not only does this story go into Lombardi the coach but also into Lombardi the father and husband.
Main Character: Vincent Lombardi, a complex man who believed 'God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers, in that order'. Other Interesting Information: As a life long Packers f Summary: This is a book about one of the greatest football coaches ever, Vincent Lombardi. This story depicts the life of Lombardi, from growing up in New York, to coaching at West Point, and then to coaching the Green Bay Packers.
Not only does this story go into Lombardi the coach but also into Lombardi the father and husband. Free download shree radhe radhe radhe barsane wali radhe. Main Character: Vincent Lombardi, a complex man who believed 'God, Family, and the Green Bay Packers, in that order'.
Other Interesting Information: As a life long Packers fan, I have always loved learning about Green Bay and the franchise and this I think is one of the best books I have read about the famous coach. I loved the detail Maraniss went into, not just about Lombardi at work, but how he was socially and how he was with is family. Too many times we hear about the coach or the player in the sport but we don't hear about the person outside of the sport. Maraniss covered this aspect wonderfully. Review title: What is everything and the only thing I have now in order read biographies of the two greatest football coaches of the 20th century. I hadn't intended to, but after finishing Paterno, and with Maraniss' highly-honored biography of Lombardi on my ready-to-read shelf, I felt the pairing unavoidable and perhaps worthwhile. The similarities between the two men was sometimes striking: They came from the same place, Brooklyn, and their paths even crossed briefly, when the high school coach Review title: What is everything and the only thing I have now in order read biographies of the two greatest football coaches of the 20th century.
I hadn't intended to, but after finishing Paterno, and with Maraniss' highly-honored biography of Lombardi on my ready-to-read shelf, I felt the pairing unavoidable and perhaps worthwhile. The similarities between the two men was sometimes striking: They came from the same place, Brooklyn, and their paths even crossed briefly, when the high school coached by Lombardi beat the high school team featuring Paterno at back. They came from similar roots: large families of recent Italian immigrants. Lombardi's parents had come from Italy, but adopted their new country and culture whole, insisting on English being spoken in the home. Even so, both Paterno and Lombardi valued and cherished their heritage.
Perhaps because of that heritage, both men hated discrimination in any form, and were among the first to welcome and encourage African-American players into their largely white communities in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. They shared similar interests, both reading widely in literature and history, both putting the lie to the 'dumb jock' image of players and coaches, and maintaining their wide range of interests throughout their lives. Both languished long years before reaching the pinnacle they were both so ambitious and certain they were capable of reaching. Paterno's long years as an assistant at Penn State were matched by Lombardi's long journey from Catholic high school head coach to college assistant (at Fordham and then West Point) to NFL assistant (leading the New York Giants offense while Tom Landry lead the defense, certainly the strongest assistant coaching pair in NFL history). But both did finally achieve their dreams, and found them perhaps both more and less than they hoped.
It is easy to say they were driven to win (Lombardi, famous for the quote that winning is not just everything but the only thing, didn't originate it, and Maraniss devotes a brief but interesting chapter to the history of the phrase) but that drive alone neither accounts for their success, and for their inability to enjoy it beyond the moment. While Paterno found his career continuing beyond the peak of his success driven by some single-minded pursuit or perhaps because having driven so long for it that he was incapable of another path of mind, Lombardi found his health consumed by his devotion to his ambition, and by his stubborn refusal to seek treatment for internal illness that took him as a relatively young man after attempting to recreate his success with the Washington Redskins.
As a young football fan when Lombardi went to the Redskins after his brilliant years of success in Green Bay (five championships in nine years), I remembered before reading that he had not lasted long with the Redskins and hadn't been able to recreate his success there, but I didn't know why and assumed he had faded in failure. In fact, he had only one season with the Redskins, taking the down and out franchise to its first winning season in many years, when he was cut down by colon cancer. In a way, by placing this end in context, Maraniss while humanizing the legend has enhanced it in my mind; he hadn't been a failure, he had died before he could achieve the success he certainly would have given time! But Maraniss, writing in a more classic biographical style than Joe Posnanski in his Paterno book, certainly makes no effort to gloss over the inadequacies of Lombardi the man.
While beloved by the community and (if begrudgingly and sometimes after the fact) his players, he was not a great husband and father. While he was a faithful husband to wife Marie, he was often so absorbed in his work he failed to attend to her needs and desires, especially as his job path took him hop-scotching around the northeast and then to the frigid hinterlands of Green Bay. Similarly, his relationships with son Vincent and daughter Susan were alternately distant or strained, as neither met his expectations or were able to find his attention long enough to register as much as his players, coaches, and fans. I am rating the Lombardi biography one star less than the Paterno one, not because it is not as well written and researched (it is, despite the difference in style), but because the subject was not so recently an open wound in my life and those who follow football and current events. Writing from a further emotional distance, Maraniss had the time to give a considered and balanced approach to Lombardi that lacks just a bit of the immediacy of Posnanski's first-draft study of the recently-passed Paterno, while at the same time providing more depth and breadth. In the end, Lombardi's life, while cut short, was not as tragic as Paterno's rapid and utter fall from legend.
In fact, Maraniss makes the point briefly in the epilogue that perhaps Lombardi was better served to leave a world early that was on the brink of finding him either irrelevant or bypassed by events, the 'win-at-all-costs' symbol of a rigid conservatism being dashed to pieces by the turbulence of the late 1960s. While Lombardi was not a rigid conservative (he was in fact a Kennedy Democrat), his fame and legendary status had put him on a pedestal in a place not of his own choosing. Perhaps this position, so much like Paterno's, was their greatest similarity, their greatest weakness, and in the end their greatest mystery.
I listened to this as an audiobook, read by the author. For anyone interested in sport (like me) it's a fascinating insight into a man who became a top coach: his upbringing, his playing career (limited as it was) and ultimately his distinguished years coaching the American Football team the Green Bay Packers. What I liked most was the anecdotes about specific games and incidents that drew out his personality (tough, driven, obsessed even) and his coaching methods (rigorous, hugely detailed, ver I listened to this as an audiobook, read by the author. For anyone interested in sport (like me) it's a fascinating insight into a man who became a top coach: his upbringing, his playing career (limited as it was) and ultimately his distinguished years coaching the American Football team the Green Bay Packers. What I liked most was the anecdotes about specific games and incidents that drew out his personality (tough, driven, obsessed even) and his coaching methods (rigorous, hugely detailed, very specific). In one sense this book presents Lombardi one dimensional character only interested in winning football games, but dig under the surface and you see a love for his players which, at times, tortured him but was at the very core of his ability to motivate and inspire a group of men to become the greatest team of his generation.
David Maraniss is a truly gifted writer (his take on Clinton, is probably the finest biography I've ever read), and he does full justice to a football titan with this book. This is the definitive biography of Lombardi, and the only thing holding me back from a glowing 5-star rating is that Lombardi simply isn't the most fascinating subject for a 500+ page bio. He was a driven man who enjoyed phenomenal success, but even as an avid football fan I t David Maraniss is a truly gifted writer (his take on Clinton, is probably the finest biography I've ever read), and he does full justice to a football titan with this book. This is the definitive biography of Lombardi, and the only thing holding me back from a glowing 5-star rating is that Lombardi simply isn't the most fascinating subject for a 500+ page bio. He was a driven man who enjoyed phenomenal success, but even as an avid football fan I thought this dragged just a bit in places. Still, if you want to learn about Lombardi or if you're just a fan of the sport, this is a real pleasure. 4 stars, recommended.
Excellent book. I had never read much about Coach Lombardi but found this to be a very well balanced and interesting account of his life. The author did not get carried away with the bigger-than-life aspect of Lombardi but gave us a good look at the man, warts and all. I am always amazed at the sacrifices great mean have to make in their lives, and those closes to them that have to sacrifice also. The lack of closeness with his son and the problems that his wife had to deal with are two examples Excellent book.
I had never read much about Coach Lombardi but found this to be a very well balanced and interesting account of his life. The author did not get carried away with the bigger-than-life aspect of Lombardi but gave us a good look at the man, warts and all. I am always amazed at the sacrifices great mean have to make in their lives, and those closes to them that have to sacrifice also. The lack of closeness with his son and the problems that his wife had to deal with are two examples.
Lombardi had the ability to make men believe they could achieve great things, taught them what they had to do to accomplish them, then inspired them to make it happen. The true signs of a great leader in football and in life. Debunks the myth of the coaching legend and made him human. I took away a lot of football coaching advice, some things I would want to implement but others I would stay away. He had favorites, football was all-consuming and he was too egotistical. I was really surprised on how he treated his family and children versus his close friends and players. One of the most significant takeaways was his life paradoxes between fear and love and certainty vs uncertainty.
The book flowed and definitely engag Debunks the myth of the coaching legend and made him human. I took away a lot of football coaching advice, some things I would want to implement but others I would stay away. He had favorites, football was all-consuming and he was too egotistical.
I was really surprised on how he treated his family and children versus his close friends and players. One of the most significant takeaways was his life paradoxes between fear and love and certainty vs uncertainty. The book flowed and definitely engaging throughout the football parts. When Pride Still Mattered is the story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to win transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country. It is also a great football story, abundant with accounts of Lombardi's thrilling life in that world, from his playing days with the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordham in the 1930s to the glory of coaching the Green Bay When Pride Still Mattered is the story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to win transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country. It is also a great football story, abundant with accounts of Lombardi's thrilling life in that world, from his playing days with the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordham in the 1930s to the glory of coaching the Green Bay Packers of Starr, Hornung, Taylor, McGee, Davis, and Wood in the 1960s. It is also a study of national myths, tracing what Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Maraniss calls the fallacy of the innocent past, and an absorbing account of the mythmakers from Grantland Rice to Howard Cosell who shaped Lombardi's image.
I really enjoyed this book! To start with, I am a huge football fan and its fun to watch. Just reading this book about arguably the best coach of all time, that being Vince Lombardi got me really excited. It started the book telling where he was born and what he went through as a young person.
I thought that it must have been hard to go through all he did. He is honestly probably the most patient person i have heard about. Despite all the adversity and troubles he had gone through he waited his whole life to become a coach in college and later on in the AFL or better knows as the NFL today. He was the best coach of all time by far. He led the Green Bay Packers to three straight super bowl wins and possibly the longest home streak that will ever be established. This book is good for anyone who enjoys learning about legends or football for that matter.
It also could help people understand some of the reasons he made the decisions he did. 'A life without football is not life' this was one of the many intelligent quotes by Vince. His words had such an impact on people that often they would base there life off of what he said. He is one of my Role models for sure. We recently have been talking about legacy in our American Tale.
I think that I would want my legacy to be just like Vince Lombardi a man that started off as a regular citizen and then exploded onto the scene not only in football but in the world in general. He had a huge effect on the way the game of football is played to this very day and age. His legacy i think should be known as legendary. Just because of all of the huge accomplishments that he has under his belt. Not only is it hard to be an elite coach in an elite league but to win like he did was just something special.
Vince could be a role model to anyone really. He was a great family man and took care of his family no matter what the cost.
When Pride Still Mattered is the story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to prevail transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country. It is also a vibrant football story, abundant with accounts of Lombardi's thrilling life in that world, from his playing days with the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordham in the 1930s to the glory of coaching the Green Bay Packers of Starr, Hornung, Taylor, McGee, Davis, and Wood in the 1960s. It is also a study of myths, tracing what Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Maraniss calls the fallacy of the innocent past, and an absorbing account of the mythmakers from Grantland Rice to Howard Cosell who shaped Lombardi's image. It was sad to see a legend like Vince die of Cancer. When Pride Still Mattered is the quintessential story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to prevail transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country. It is also a vibrant football story, abundant with accounts of Lombardi's thrilling life in that world, from his playing days with the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordham in the 1930s to the glory of coa When Pride Still Mattered is the quintessential story of the American family: how Vince Lombardi, the son of an immigrant Italian butcher, rose to the top, and how his character and will to prevail transformed him, his wife, his children, his players, his sport, and ultimately the entire country.
It is also a vibrant football story, abundant with accounts of Lombardi's thrilling life in that world, from his playing days with the Seven Blocks of Granite at Fordham in the 1930s to the glory of coaching the Green Bay Packers of Starr, Hornung, Taylor, McGee, Davis, and Wood in the 1960s. It is also a study of national myths, tracing what Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David Maraniss calls the fallacy of the innocent past, and an absorbing account of the mythmakers from Grantland Rice to Howard Cosell who shaped Lombardi's image. Vincent Thomas Lombardi was born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, on June 11, 1913. His early life was shaped by the trinity of family, religion, and sports; they seemed intertwined, as inseparable to him as Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He was deeply influenced by the Jesuits, who taught him the philosophy he later used with his players, subordinating individual desires to a larger cause. The geography of his rise was the opposite of the small-town boy who makes it in the big city. This son of New York did not achieve fame until he took a job in remote Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Vince Lombardi Children
Before that, he had toiled anonymously for twenty years, first as a high school coach in New Jersey, then as an assistant at Fordham, at West Point (under the influential Colonel 'Red' Blaik), and finally with the New York Giants. He was already forty-six when he was finally hired to coach the hapless Packers in 1959, leading them in the most storied period in NFL history, winning five world championships in nine seasons. By the time he died of cancer in 1970, after one season in Washington during which he transformed the Redskins into winners, Lombardi had become a mythic character who transcended sport, and his legend has only grown in the decades since. Many now turn to Lombardi in search of characteristics that they fear have been irretrievably lost, the old-fashioned virtues of discipline, obedience, loyalty, character, and teamwork. To others he symbolizes something less romantic: modern society's obsession with winning and superficial success. In When Pride Still Mattered, Maraniss renders Lombardi as flawed and driven yet ultimately misunderstood, a heroic figure who was more complex and authentic than the stereotypical images of him propounded by admirers and critics.
Using the same meticulous reporting and sweeping narrative style that he employed in First in His Class, his classic biography of Bill Clinton, Maraniss separates myth from reality and wondrously recaptures Vince Lombardi's life and times. I hadn’t been out of college very long when my father, as a Christmas gift, gave me a plaque featuring a snippet of a Vince Lombardi speech. It was taken from one of Lombardi’s more common speeches, beginning with the statement that, “Winning isn’t a sometimes thing, it’s an all-the-time thing.” Since my dad gave it to me, I’ve kept it on the wall at my office, first at the newspaper I worked at and now behind me as a community college media relations specialist.
To me, the characteristics Lombar I hadn’t been out of college very long when my father, as a Christmas gift, gave me a plaque featuring a snippet of a Vince Lombardi speech. It was taken from one of Lombardi’s more common speeches, beginning with the statement that, “Winning isn’t a sometimes thing, it’s an all-the-time thing.” Since my dad gave it to me, I’ve kept it on the wall at my office, first at the newspaper I worked at and now behind me as a community college media relations specialist. To me, the characteristics Lombardi promotes in his speech and has come to symbolize in Americana — determination, discipline, honesty and old-fashioned values — are indistinguishable from my dad’s best characteristics.
As a result, I’m partial to books about Lombardi, and this will be the second to take a spot on my bookshelves. Last year I read THAT FIRST SEASON by John Eisenberg, about Lombardi’s first season with the Green Bay Packers and how he turned around a franchise that had previously been an NFL cellar-dweller.
WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED is more all-encompassing, and has positioned itself as the definitive Lombardi biography. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two books, but while THAT FIRST SEASON relies heavily on newspaper clippings from that season, Maraniss has obviously gone far beyond that, interviewing Lombardi’s children, friends, co-workers and former players, researching court and hospital records and even acquiring personal letters written to and from Lombardi. One letter is so personal between Vince’s wife Marie and his son Vincent that I’m amazed a member of the family was willing to share it with Maraniss. That research makes for a fascinating book, a biography that not only details Lombardi’s accomplishments and milestones, but also analyzes his relationships — with his family, mentor, religion, the Kennedys, his players and the Green Bay community. Maraniss is very fair in his analysis of Lombardi, detailing both his strengths and weaknesses, and showing how some of the characteristics that help Lombardi on the football field strain his relationships in other areas of his lives.
More than anything else, Maraniss handles his subject with respect, even while detailing his flaws. The only real criticism I can muster is that the beginning is slow — Lombardi doesn’t coach a game for the first 100 pages, and until he begins coaching under Red Blake at Army, the story seems to drag a bit. It’s important stuff for what Maraniss is trying to do — tell the complete story of Lombardi’s life — but that didn’t make me any less impatient to read about Lombardi’s interactions with Bart Starr and Paul Hornung.
Some of the stories from players about their reactions to Lombardi — and their obvious love for the Old Man — were my favorite parts of the book. If you're any sort of football fan, you've heard of Vince Lombardi.
The trophy that gets lifted in the air when your team wins the Super Bowl, the biggest game in all of football, has his name on it. He's a legend, an ideal.a myth.
And this myth-person is what David Maraniss sets out to - not destroy, but to reveal, I suppose. He makes it clear from the start that this particular biography is not a prostrate worshipping of a legend - that wouldn't be anything new to bring to the table. Instead If you're any sort of football fan, you've heard of Vince Lombardi. The trophy that gets lifted in the air when your team wins the Super Bowl, the biggest game in all of football, has his name on it.
He's a legend, an ideal.a myth. And this myth-person is what David Maraniss sets out to - not destroy, but to reveal, I suppose. He makes it clear from the start that this particular biography is not a prostrate worshipping of a legend - that wouldn't be anything new to bring to the table. Instead, he tries to tell the story of Vincent Lombardi: the guy who grew up with a huge Italian family, whose father had WORK and PLAY tattooed on his knuckles, who worked hard, taught proudly in classrooms and out of classrooms, and coached a great football team.
Let me tell you - Maraniss is successful. At times, that is disappointing, as you realize that Lombardi, this huge figure of prestige and glory, had faults. A lot of them. He wasn't a great father, he could be very selfish. The main thing that I got from reading this though, was that he was still incredible. Almost more so, in fact, because of the realization that he was just a normal guy.
He could have used some improvement in many facets of his life, but he still worked very hard and became very successful and inspired a LOT of people to be better. The way the story is shared is masterful - the book is extremely well researched and carefully laid out. It hits all the high points you probably know about - turning the Packers franchise around, the Ice Bowl, the championships.but actually, a majority of the book covers Lombardi's pre-Packers life.
This is essential to understanding his person - the way he preferred to be acknowledged as a good Catholic or a good teacher than when he won awards for coaching, the way he wanted to be the best, how he felt judged and shunted for positions because of his Italian heritage. The title is a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that we always look on the past with rose colored glasses, and I really enjoyed the perspective. I would heartily recommend this book, although I caution that it is very long and probably those without prior interest in football/the Packers could probably stay away.
Solid, absorbing biography of a very complicated human being. The mythology of Lombardi over the decades has strayed far from what he was really about. As Maraniss shows, this began even before Lombardi died in 1970.
As with all of us, he often exhibited the very character flaws in himself that he readily criticized others for. Example: he said that family was most important to him, yet had a poor relationship with his son, a not quite as poor but still unsatisfactory relationship with his daugh Solid, absorbing biography of a very complicated human being. The mythology of Lombardi over the decades has strayed far from what he was really about. As Maraniss shows, this began even before Lombardi died in 1970. As with all of us, he often exhibited the very character flaws in himself that he readily criticized others for. Example: he said that family was most important to him, yet had a poor relationship with his son, a not quite as poor but still unsatisfactory relationship with his daughter, and a strained relationship with his wife.
Lombardi was a master motivator, and knew what buttons to push with each individual player that he coached. Despite his gregarious nature and volatile temper, he was in actuality somewhat shy and lonely. He was increasingly troubled by the fast rise of the NFL, the NFLPA, and TV in the 1960s and was greatly concerned about the future of the game. I would venture to guess that he would not be all that surprised at how the game is now, given the path it was clearly on when he left the scene. In some respects, as Maraniss points out, Lombardi may not have died before his time due to the above-mentioned changes in football and the larger changes in late 1960s society concerning demonstrations over Vietnam and the backlash by the younger generation against authority.
I thought that Maraniss was really able to capture the essence of Lombardi as a human being - something that I think he was not quite able to achieve with his biography of Roberto Clemente. Maraniss is fair to both admirers and detractors of Lombardi, and shows that both groups over-emphasized the man's strengths while masking his weaknesses. I did notice that, as with the Clemente book, Maraniss tended to inject more politics into the story than need be. I found that there were too many references to Richard Nixon, and I really did not see the point of several of them. David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of four critically acclaimed and bestselling books, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton, They Marched Into Sunlight War and Peace, Vietnam and America October 1967, and Clemente The Passion and Grace of Baseballs Last Hero. He is also the author of The Clinto David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and the author of four critically acclaimed and bestselling books, When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi, First in His Class: A Biography of Bill Clinton, They Marched Into Sunlight War and Peace, Vietnam and America October 1967, and Clemente The Passion and Grace of Baseballs Last Hero. He is also the author of The Clinton Enigma and coauthor of The Prince of Tennessee: Al Gore Meets His Fate and 'Tell Newt to Shut Up!'
David is a three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist and won the Pulitzer for national reporting in 1993 for his newspaper coverage of then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. He has won several other notable awards for achievements in journalism, including the George Polk Award, the Dirksen Prize for Congressional Reporting, the ASNE Laventhol Prize for Deadline Writing, the Hancock Prize for Financial Writing, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize, the Frankfort Book Prize, the Eagleton Book Prize, the Ambassador Book Prize, and Latino Book Prize. “I remember once he began a speech to us by asking ‘What is the meaning of love?’ ” recalled Bob Skoronski. “And this is what he said. He said, ‘Anybody can love something that is beautiful or smart or agile. You will never know love until you can love something that isn’t beautiful, isn’t bright, isn’t glamorous.
It takes a special person to love something unattractive, someone unknown. That is the test of love. Everybody can love someone’s strengths and somebody’s good looks. But can you accept someone for his inabilities?’ And he drew a parallel that day to football. You might have a guy playing next to you who maybe isn’t perfect, but you’ve got to love him, and maybe that love would enable you to help him. And maybe you will do something more to overcome a difficult situation in football because of that love.
He didn’t want us to be picking on each other, but thinking, What can I do to make it easier for my teammate?” —.