Word: lombardis
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...Cross Me." Lombardi hit Green Bay so hard the grass is still quivering. He demanded absolute authority-the power to hire and fire, to set salaries, even to design Packer uniforms. Once the whip was in his hand, he set it singing. "This is a violent sport," he told the Packers. "To play in this league, you've got to be tough -physically tough and mentally tough." He chased grandstand kibitzers off the training field, declared the rowdier Green Bay taverns off-limits, slapped $25 fines on players who showed up as little as one minute late for practice...
Methodically, relentlessly, Lombardi set out to build his winner. He traded boldly and shrewdly; from Cleveland alone, he got four of this year's Packer stars: Halfback Lew Carpenter, Tackle Henry Jordan, Defensive Ends Bill Quinlan and Willie Davis-two of the fiercest pass rushers in pro ball. Safetyman Willie Wood, an agile opportunist who leads the N.F.L. with nine pass interceptions this year, was signed as a free agent-nobody else wanted him-and All-League Guard Fred Thurston was a three-time loser (Chicago. Philadelphia. Baltimore) when Lombardi rescued him from obscurity in a trade with...
...Bring Back a Victory." Lombardi studied so many movies of old Green Bay games that his eyes were constantly bloodshot. He yelled so loud at practice that he lost his voice. ''I've never taught so much football in my life," he sighed wearily to his wife. "Mistakes decide ball games." he told the Packers, and any player who missed a block or dropped a pass instantly felt the sting of his acid tongue. In pre-game pep talks. Lombardi's speeches were like something out of the Spirit of Notre Dame. Once he got down...
That first year. Lombardi's adrenaline-filled Packers won seven of twelve games -including, admits Hornung. "a fistful that we had no business winning." In 1960. they won the Western Conference championship with an 8-4 record, dropped a 17-13 squeaker to Philadelphia in the X.F.L. championship playoff. Last year the Packers went all the way-and the title game, praise be, was at Green Bay. Nothing like it has ever been seen, before or since. Wrote New York Herald Tribune Columnist Red Smith, after the Giants were demolished: ''The poisonous polish of the Packers...
...Vince Lombardi. the architect of it all. gets an estimated $50.000 a year in salary. He lives in a comfortable $35,000 home whose den is filled with trophies won by Daughter Susan. 15. an accomplished horsewoman, and Son Vince. 20, a 195-lb. fullback for Minnesota's College of St. Thomas. If anybody in Green Bay had a $1.000.000 house, Lombardi would be that man. When he walks down the street, people greet him as some sort of demigod. After home games. Vince and his wife Marie eat dinner at Mancie's restaurant...