If Vince Lombardi Hadn't....

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This could be one of those "Well, duh." kinds of things.
But I suppose the Super Bowl trophy is named after Vince because he took the Packers to the first SB and they won.
The opposing team, the KC Chiefs, coach was Hank Stram.
The Stram or The Hank just doesn't have the same ring to it as The Lombardi.
What do you think?
Is my theory correct?
Even if the Packers didn't make it or lost the first SB I don't think it would have been called The Lombardi Trophy.
 

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Well... it's an interesting theory... frankly, with the 5 championships in 7 years, less one, or 4 of 7, I think it'd still be The Lombardi. See... "THE SUPER BOWL" back when the trophy was named, was still just a marketing term - championships won were CHAMPIONSHIPS. Now, teams with no legacy...no history...weren't in existence ...count "Lombardis" ... like it's the Packers, Bears, Giants and Cards fault that their teams are all "expansion franchises".

Still, in the truest sense of conjecture, I see "THE LOMBARDI" as symbolic of an NFL Championship. Not a Super Bowl Champion....therefore, LOMBARDI it is ... it's written in the wind, my friend. :)
 

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Lombardi led the Packers to 5 championships in 7 years including 3 in a row. He embodied the competitive spirit and credo that "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". Pete Rosell in one of the many wise things he did as commissioner of the NFL named the Championship Trophy for Lombardi after his death, before Superbowl V.
 

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In fact ESPN the Magazine crunched numbers a couple of years ago when the Patriots were having their big unbeaten streak. Belichek's Patriots fell just short of Lombardi's 10 year winning percentage. No franchise has equaled Lombardi's win percentage in the same amount of time.
 
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In fact ESPN the Magazine crunched numbers a couple of years ago when the Patriots were having their big unbeaten streak. Belichek's Patriots fell just short of Lombardi's 10 year winning percentage. No franchise has equaled Lombardi's win percentage in the same amount of time.
Really? That's news to me.

Seems like the big winning NFL thing we hear of time to time is the '72 Dolphins.
Yes, they had a perfect season, but that was when there were just 14 games during the season.
In a way, the Pats have surpassed the Dolphins with most consecutive wins in one season.
For some reason the NFL overlooks that just like they do with the stats mentioned above.
Those are just my observations.
 

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Guys... 5 Championships in 7 years ... THAT's the gold standard. Winning percentages aren't worth doodly squat unless you're Marty Schottenheimer, you know?
 
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Lombardi led the Packers to 5 championships in 7 years including 3 in a row. He embodied the competitive spirit and credo that "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". Pete Rosell in one of the many wise things he did as commissioner of the NFL named the Championship Trophy for Lombardi after his death, before Superbowl V.
I don't know enough about NFL coaching history which is why I'm asking:
Were't there other great coaches before Lombardi who accomplished similar things? Such as turning losing teams into winners? Winning X number of championships?

Since Lombardi won the first two SBs I think it contributes to his legacy even more so to the point of naming the trophy after him.
If Lombardi had done the same things back in the 30's, 40's or even early 50's then by the time the SB started, he would have been forgotten about and the trophy would probably be named after that winning coach.
Sports, especially football, is all about firsts.
 

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I don't know enough about NFL coaching history which is why I'm asking:
Were't there other great coaches before Lombardi who accomplished similar things? Such as turning losing teams into winners? Winning X number of championships?

Since Lombardi won the first two SBs I think it contributes to his legacy even more so to the point of naming the trophy after him.
If Lombardi had done the same things back in the 30's, 40's or even early 50's then by the time the SB started, he would have been forgotten about and the trophy would probably be named after that winning coach.
Sports, especially football, is all about firsts.

No, the whole point of the ESPN Mag article was that there was no other coach who has won as often over the same amount of time. The Dolphins only had one unbeaten season. They didn't dominate most of a decade.
 

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Oh, I almost forgot..Lombardi contributed a great deal to the league outside of wins. He was integral in helping leverage some things for the benefit of the NFL before the merger with the AFL. He also was on the front lines of civil rights in sports. Get ahold of Dave Robinson's book "The Lombari Legacy, Thirty People Who Were Touched By Greatness" to get some snap shots of things Lombardi did off of the field. He was a societal icon as well as a football coach (even being on the cover of Time Magazine at least once).
 

Croak

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BTW - Today is the day (Sept. 27, 1959) when Vince Lombardi coached his first game for the Packers in a win over Da Bears! (Just thought you'd like to know, no extra charge.)
 
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Oh, I almost forgot..Lombardi contributed a great deal to the league outside of wins. He was integral in helping leverage some things for the benefit of the NFL before the merger with the AFL. He also was on the front lines of civil rights in sports. Get ahold of Dave Robinson's book "The Lombari Legacy, Thirty People Who Were Touched By Greatness" to get some snap shots of things Lombardi did off of the field. He was a societal icon as well as a football coach (even being on the cover of Time Magazine at least once).
Your choice of words "societal icon" reminds me that he and his wife would host parties each week in their house after the Packers game!
Can you imagine?
A whole week of tough preparation for the upcoming game.
You spend all day Sunday in anticipation for the game.
You coach a whole game while yelling and screaming "What the hell is going on out there!"
Your team just won or lost.
And yet you still have the energy and time to host a party in your own home with friends and neighbors?
I don't think coaches would do that today.
I mean, look at those coaches who don't want to party in those Coors Light ads and those slackers keep trying to invite them to!
 

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