One of my favorite quotes about Lombardi was uttered by 'ole number 74, the GREAT defensive tackle and HOFer, Henry Jordan. When asked about Lombardi he said, "He's fair. He treats us all the same... like dogs."
Jordan said that because of how hard Lombardi worked the players and a couple of Lombardi quotes explain why Vince was so ******* them: "Fatigue makes cowards of us all", and "The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender".
I've used my favorite quote from Lombardi in my signature here. It's special to me for two reasons, the first is the context of the quote: When Lombardi came to Green Bay, the Packers were the worst team in the NFL and had been (or close to it) for the past decade. Other teams used to threaten players by telling them they better shape up or they'll be sent to Green Bay. On the first day of camp Lombardi says the following in the first meeting he has with the QBs:
"Gentlemen, we are going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well we will not catch it, because nothing is perfect. But we are going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process we will catch excellence. I am not remotely interested in just being good."
Of course Packers fans at the time would have been elated if the team were "just good" but Lombardi knew better and aimed much higher. The other reason I like this quote is its application to all aspects of life. After that meeting Bart Starr called his wife and excitedly told her, "Honey, we’re going to start to win. The guy talked about perfection!"