For the Lombardi years I would recommend the following:
You can geek out on this video.
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You'll see that the Power Sweep is not just a play but the fulcrum of a system, with a variety of plays run out of a single set. You'll see the demands he places on the linemen and lead blocker to read the defensive formation and react post snap in determining their blocking assignments in concert with each other. The principles of zone blocking are laid out here. This is genius football. We tend to forget there were no helmet speakers in those days; Starr was managing the process on the field, calling the plays.
Less geeky, I agree with XPack in highly recommending the following books:
When Pride Still Mattered by David Maraniss, a comprehesive biography of Lombardi.
You get the full picture of the Lombardi principles of professionalism, discipline and dedication to a craft, quaint and often sorely lacking notions today. Lombardi was both a paradoxical and a master psychologist, if that makes any sense, and you get the full flavor of that in this book.
Instant Replay by Jerry Kramer, a diary of a season by a Hall of Fame lineman with a look inside the locker room which was controversial at the time.
I can't recall how much these books touch on the subject of integration and tolerance, but Lombardi was at the forefront. There were black players before Lombardi, but I don't know if anyone before was as outspoken in their defense. Consider the case of Lionell Aldridge:
"Aldridge, also a black man, wanted to marry a white woman. There was another player, Cookie Gilchrist, who was said to have been blackballed from the league for marrying a white woman. Aldridge went to Lombardi and said, "Coach, I don't
not want to play football, but I want to marry this woman." Lombardi responded, "You marry her. You're a good man. And I'll handle Pete Rozelle and the NFL. Don't you worry about it." Aldridge just started crying. Then Lombardi said, "And I'd better get an invitation to that wedding, or you'll regret it the rest of your life."
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap10...i-of-broadway-dan-lauria-reflects-on-nfl-icon
Marv Fleming, a Packer tight end, was the first NFL player to wear an earring. He was a softspoken guy so rumors circulated that he was gay. While Fleming says the rumors were false, it was a time where that would have gotten him bounced out of most locker rooms but not Lombardi's.
Going back to the first golden age of Packer football, I see there's a biography of Curly Lambeau:
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I haven't read it. If you do you can tell me if its any good.
