This is a story about some very interesting facts regarding St. Vince and the Super Bowl...
The Lombardi Trophy
January 28, 2009
Written by Bob Fox - PackerChatters Staff
There is a reason why the trophy presented to the NFL champion is called the Lombardi trophy. Why is that? First off, Vince Lombardi and his Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. In those wins, the Packers outscored their two opponents by a 68-24 margin. But it is much more than that.
Lombardi always played to win...no matter if it was the pre-season, regular season or post-season. Lombardi had .728 winning percentage in the regular season during his time as a head coach in the NFL, which includes the 1969 season with the Washington Redskins (that season was Washington's first winning season in 13 years by the way).
In the pre-season during his career, Lombardi had an even better .840 winning percentage by winning 42 out of 50 games. But it was the post-season where Lombardi really stood out. Lombardi was 9-1, or a .900 winning percentage, plus 5 NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls. And the one game he lost, a 17-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, was a game which ended with FB Jim Taylor being tackled on the Eagle 10 yard line by Chuck Bednarik as time ran out.
Lombardi only won 96 regular season games as a head coach. Four coaches have won over 200 games in NFL history with Don Shula leading the way with 328 wins, followed by George Halas with 318 wins, followed by Tom Landry with 250 wins and also Curly Lambeau, the Packers 1st head coach and founder, with 226 wins.
None of those coaches had regular season winning percentage over .700 like Lombardi did. All had issues in the post-season as well. Shula was 19-17 in the post-season, including a record of 2-4 in the Super Bowl. Landry was 20-16 in the post-season, with a 2-3 record in the Super Bowl.
Halas was 6-3 in the post-season, but he did win 8 NFL championships as two of his championships came before the playoff format started in 1933. Lambeau was 3-2 in the post-season, and won 6 NFL titles as he too won three titles before the playoff format started.
Vince Lombardi is the benchmark for all that the NFL stands for in coaching. Lombardi had many quotes during his time as a coach, but the one that stands out the most to me concerning victories is this short but sweet one, "Winning is a habit". Indeed, winning was a habit for Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the man whose name is on the trophy that will be given to the WINNER of each Super Bowl game.
Why is it called the Super Bowl?
By the way, people still ask about how the Super Bowl got it's name. It actually came from Lamar Hunt's daughter. Hunt was the then owner of the Chiefs, and like most kids of that era, Hunt's daughter had a super ball. The super ball was a rubber ball (with something super inside it) that could bounce way up into the air and over houses. I had one myself. Anyway, rumor has it that the championship game between the NFL and the AFL would take its name from that toy.
Interesting Super Bowl history in Tampa
Super Bowl XLIII will be the fourth Super Bowl to be played in Tampa. The first two games were played at the Big Sombrero...Tampa Stadium (Super Bowl XVIII and Super Bowl XXV), also know as Houlihan's Stadium form 1996-1998. The last Super Bowl game that was played in Tampa was at Raymond James Stadium (Super Bowl XXXV), the same location for the site of Super Bowl XLIII this year.
The underdogs have fared well historically in the Super Bowls in Tampa the past. Both the Los Angeles Raiders (+3) in 1985 and the New York Giants (+7) in 1991 were underdogs going into the game, and both ended up winning with the Raiders destroying the Redskins 38-9 and the Giants edging the Buffalo Bills 20-19 thanks to Scott Norwood's wide right 47 yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds.
In the 2001 Super Bowl, the Ravens (-3) were the favorites, which is surprising, as they were a Wild Card team in the AFC, and the Giants were the number one seed in the NFC and had just whipped the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. But the Ravens showed that the experts were right as they pummeled the Giants 34-7.
Most experts have put the Pittsburgh Steelers as 7 point favorites over the Arizona Cardinals in this year's Super Bowl. By the way, the Tampa Bay area has seen one Lombardi trophy come back to Tampa, as the Bucs beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21 in San Diego. The Bucs were ironically 4 point dogs in that game.
Super quarterbacks again
Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals will be attempting to become the first starting QB in NFL history to win a Super Bowl for two different teams. Warner won the Lombardi trophy in 2000 as the starting QB of the St. Louis Rams against the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV, plus Warner also lost a Super Bowl with the Rams in 2002 to the New England Patriots 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Warner is the second starting QB in NFL history to bring two different teams to the Big Dance. Craig Morton was the first, and he lost both times. Morton first led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl V against the Baltimore Colts, where the Colts won the game 16-13 thanks to a Jim O'Brien field goal. Then Morton led the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl XII against his former team the Cowboys, as the Boys won 27-10.
However, Warner and Morton are not the only two QBs that have been at or played in Super Bowls for two different teams. Earl Morrall led the 1968 Baltimore Colt team to Super Bowl III against Joe Willie Namath and the New York Jets where the Colts were upset 16-7 in a game that still is considered the biggest upset in Super Bowl history as the Jets were 18 point dogs. Morrall was also the back up to Bob Griese during the three straight Super Bowls that the Miami Dolphins played in...Super Bowl's VI, VII, and VIII.
Morrall was actually the starting QB for part of the 1972 season when the Dolphins became the only undefeated team in modern NFL history as Griese went down with a leg injury for most of the season. Morrall actually started the first playoff game that year for the Dolphins, but in the AFC championship game, Griese took over again as his health had improved and he was the starting QB in the Super Bowl as well as the Dolphins won 14-7 against the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Speaking of Griese, Bob's son Brian, who is currently a Tampa Bay Buc, has also been part of two different Super Bowl teams. Griese was with the Denver Broncos in 1998 when the Broncos won their second straight Lombardi trophy against the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII. Griese was also the backup QB to Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI, when the Chicago Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.
Speaking of the Bears, Jim McMahon was the crazy leader and the starting QB of the 1986 Chicago team that won Super Bowl XX 46-10 over the New England Patriots. There is no team that hates the Bears more than the Packers, but ironically enough it was McMahon who was Brett Favre's backup in Super Bowl XXXI when the Packers beat the Patriots 35-21.
The Lombardi Trophy
January 28, 2009
Written by Bob Fox - PackerChatters Staff
There is a reason why the trophy presented to the NFL champion is called the Lombardi trophy. Why is that? First off, Vince Lombardi and his Green Bay Packers won the first two Super Bowls. In those wins, the Packers outscored their two opponents by a 68-24 margin. But it is much more than that.
Lombardi always played to win...no matter if it was the pre-season, regular season or post-season. Lombardi had .728 winning percentage in the regular season during his time as a head coach in the NFL, which includes the 1969 season with the Washington Redskins (that season was Washington's first winning season in 13 years by the way).
In the pre-season during his career, Lombardi had an even better .840 winning percentage by winning 42 out of 50 games. But it was the post-season where Lombardi really stood out. Lombardi was 9-1, or a .900 winning percentage, plus 5 NFL titles, including the first two Super Bowls. And the one game he lost, a 17-13 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, was a game which ended with FB Jim Taylor being tackled on the Eagle 10 yard line by Chuck Bednarik as time ran out.
Lombardi only won 96 regular season games as a head coach. Four coaches have won over 200 games in NFL history with Don Shula leading the way with 328 wins, followed by George Halas with 318 wins, followed by Tom Landry with 250 wins and also Curly Lambeau, the Packers 1st head coach and founder, with 226 wins.
None of those coaches had regular season winning percentage over .700 like Lombardi did. All had issues in the post-season as well. Shula was 19-17 in the post-season, including a record of 2-4 in the Super Bowl. Landry was 20-16 in the post-season, with a 2-3 record in the Super Bowl.
Halas was 6-3 in the post-season, but he did win 8 NFL championships as two of his championships came before the playoff format started in 1933. Lambeau was 3-2 in the post-season, and won 6 NFL titles as he too won three titles before the playoff format started.
Vince Lombardi is the benchmark for all that the NFL stands for in coaching. Lombardi had many quotes during his time as a coach, but the one that stands out the most to me concerning victories is this short but sweet one, "Winning is a habit". Indeed, winning was a habit for Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the man whose name is on the trophy that will be given to the WINNER of each Super Bowl game.
Why is it called the Super Bowl?
By the way, people still ask about how the Super Bowl got it's name. It actually came from Lamar Hunt's daughter. Hunt was the then owner of the Chiefs, and like most kids of that era, Hunt's daughter had a super ball. The super ball was a rubber ball (with something super inside it) that could bounce way up into the air and over houses. I had one myself. Anyway, rumor has it that the championship game between the NFL and the AFL would take its name from that toy.
Interesting Super Bowl history in Tampa
Super Bowl XLIII will be the fourth Super Bowl to be played in Tampa. The first two games were played at the Big Sombrero...Tampa Stadium (Super Bowl XVIII and Super Bowl XXV), also know as Houlihan's Stadium form 1996-1998. The last Super Bowl game that was played in Tampa was at Raymond James Stadium (Super Bowl XXXV), the same location for the site of Super Bowl XLIII this year.
The underdogs have fared well historically in the Super Bowls in Tampa the past. Both the Los Angeles Raiders (+3) in 1985 and the New York Giants (+7) in 1991 were underdogs going into the game, and both ended up winning with the Raiders destroying the Redskins 38-9 and the Giants edging the Buffalo Bills 20-19 thanks to Scott Norwood's wide right 47 yard field goal attempt in the closing seconds.
In the 2001 Super Bowl, the Ravens (-3) were the favorites, which is surprising, as they were a Wild Card team in the AFC, and the Giants were the number one seed in the NFC and had just whipped the Minnesota Vikings in the NFC Championship game. But the Ravens showed that the experts were right as they pummeled the Giants 34-7.
Most experts have put the Pittsburgh Steelers as 7 point favorites over the Arizona Cardinals in this year's Super Bowl. By the way, the Tampa Bay area has seen one Lombardi trophy come back to Tampa, as the Bucs beat the Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21 in San Diego. The Bucs were ironically 4 point dogs in that game.
Super quarterbacks again
Kurt Warner of the Arizona Cardinals will be attempting to become the first starting QB in NFL history to win a Super Bowl for two different teams. Warner won the Lombardi trophy in 2000 as the starting QB of the St. Louis Rams against the Tennessee Titans 23-16 in Super Bowl XXXIV, plus Warner also lost a Super Bowl with the Rams in 2002 to the New England Patriots 20-17 in Super Bowl XXXVI.
Warner is the second starting QB in NFL history to bring two different teams to the Big Dance. Craig Morton was the first, and he lost both times. Morton first led the Dallas Cowboys to Super Bowl V against the Baltimore Colts, where the Colts won the game 16-13 thanks to a Jim O'Brien field goal. Then Morton led the Denver Broncos to Super Bowl XII against his former team the Cowboys, as the Boys won 27-10.
However, Warner and Morton are not the only two QBs that have been at or played in Super Bowls for two different teams. Earl Morrall led the 1968 Baltimore Colt team to Super Bowl III against Joe Willie Namath and the New York Jets where the Colts were upset 16-7 in a game that still is considered the biggest upset in Super Bowl history as the Jets were 18 point dogs. Morrall was also the back up to Bob Griese during the three straight Super Bowls that the Miami Dolphins played in...Super Bowl's VI, VII, and VIII.
Morrall was actually the starting QB for part of the 1972 season when the Dolphins became the only undefeated team in modern NFL history as Griese went down with a leg injury for most of the season. Morrall actually started the first playoff game that year for the Dolphins, but in the AFC championship game, Griese took over again as his health had improved and he was the starting QB in the Super Bowl as well as the Dolphins won 14-7 against the Redskins in Super Bowl VII.
Speaking of Griese, Bob's son Brian, who is currently a Tampa Bay Buc, has also been part of two different Super Bowl teams. Griese was with the Denver Broncos in 1998 when the Broncos won their second straight Lombardi trophy against the Atlanta Falcons 34-19 in Super Bowl XXXIII. Griese was also the backup QB to Rex Grossman in Super Bowl XLI, when the Chicago Bears lost to the Indianapolis Colts 29-17.
Speaking of the Bears, Jim McMahon was the crazy leader and the starting QB of the 1986 Chicago team that won Super Bowl XX 46-10 over the New England Patriots. There is no team that hates the Bears more than the Packers, but ironically enough it was McMahon who was Brett Favre's backup in Super Bowl XXXI when the Packers beat the Patriots 35-21.
