He was named "Coach of the
Century" by ESPN. The Super Bowl Trophy is named in his honor. And forty
years after his death, legendary coach Vince Lombardi’s words still ring true:
“Running a football team is no different than running any
other kind of organization — an army, a political party or a business. The
principles are the same.”
"Winning is not a sometime thing; it is an all the time
thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a
while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is
losing…"
"Every time a football player goes to ply his trade
he’s got to play from the ground up – from the soles of his feet right up to
his head. Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads.
That’s OK…"
"You’ve got to be smart to be number one in any
business. But more importantly, you’ve got to play with your heart, with every
fiber of your body. If you’re lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and
a lot of heart, he’s never going to come off the field second…"
"It is a reality of life that men are competitive and
the most competitive games draw the most competitive men. That’s why they are
there – to compete. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules, but to
win…"
"And in truth, I’ve never known a man worth his salt
who in the long run, deep down in his heart didn’t appreciate the grind, the
discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for discipline
and the harsh reality of head-to-head combat…"
"I don’t say these things because I believe in the
'brute' nature of man or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe
in God, and I believe in human decency. But I firmly believe that any man’s
finest hour – his greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear – is that moment
when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the
field of battle – victorious."
