Lombardi By: Jerry Kramer

During the 1960s, the decade when professional football became the magic sport in the United States, one man dominated the game like a colossus: the late Vincent Thomas Lombardi, part psychologist, part martinet, part strategist, part father-figure and all football coach.

Loved, hated, admired, feared, praised and condemned-a man who aroused only the strongest emotions--Vince Lombardi coached the Green Bay Packers for the first eight years of the 1960s and, during those eight seasons, won six divisional titles, five National Football League championships and the first two Super Bowls. Then, after one restless year away from coaching, he took over the Washington Redskins and promptly drove the Redskins to their first winning season in fourteen years.

Now, in LOMBARDI, some two dozen of the men who knew Vince Lombardi best offer their special views of a special human being. Here is Earl H. (Red) Blaik, recalling the days when he was head coach at the United States Military Academy and Lombardi was his tempestuous assistant. Here are Frank Gifford and Kyle Rote, remembering how the New York Giants offense flourished under Lombardi. Here are Paul Hornung and Bart Starr and Willie Davie talking about Lombardi's golden years in Green Bay. And here is Sam Huff, explaining why he came out of retirement to play for Lombardi in Washington.

Jerry Kramer, who was one of Lombardi's prize pupils in Green Bay, interviewed each of these two dozen men and edited the interviews. The result is a remarkably detailed, warm and credible portrait of Vince Lombardi-a book that goes far beyond football to capture the essence of a uniquely successful man.

Goodreads: 3.88

Hardcover, 1970