I didn’t have the chance to see the TV documentary “Vince
Lombardi: A Football Life” when it first aired—much to my regret, as I would
have liked to see how it depicted the influence of my alma mater, St. Cecilia
High School of Englewood, NJ, where he began his coaching career.
But, in researching the episode of his pro career
that fascinates me the most—his leadership of the Green Bay Packers in its last
NFL championship during his years there—I came across this vivid 10-minute YouTube segment from the documentary, on his
“Ice Bowl” victory over the Dallas Cowboys, which occurred 50 years ago today.
Interviews with son Vince Lombardi Jr., lineman
Jerry Kramer and quarterback Bart Starr (the last two instrumental in the win)
add personal behind-the-scene perspectives on this epic game. Game-day
conditions (15 degrees below zero, (-35 degrees wind-chill factor) made a hash
of the coach’s high-tech attempt to keep the turf easy to run upon, leading to
something close to a fight for survival between the upstart,
dynasty-in-the-making Cowboys and the aging but proud Packers.
On the coldest day to that point in NFL playoff
history, the Pack launched its final drive with 4½ minutes to go. The winning
play, on third down, with 16 seconds to go, represented “the culmination of
everything Lombardi and his Packers had been preparing for for the last nine
years,” according to Lombardi biographer David Maraniss.
I recommend Maraniss’ superb account of the coach’s
life, WHEN PRIDE STILL MATTERED, for additional colorful details on this climax
of Lombardi’s career. (For instance, Frank Gifford, broadcasting the game, told
listeners: “I just took a bite out of my coffee.")
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