Product Description

Vince Lombardi remains one of the most beloved and respected figures in professional football more than 35 years after his death. Like many other men of his stature, he is also something of a mystery to those outside of his intimate circle. Hall of Fame player and Lombardi favorite Paul Hornung enlisted his old teammates and others who are a part of the NFL or closely associated with the coach to share their most personal thoughts and reminiscences about the greatest coach who ever lived.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #852160 in Books
• Published on: 2006-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

From the Publisher
"Doing this book has been a labor of love for me. A love for football, for the era in which I played, and for the guys I played with and against. But mostly, a love for Vince Lombardi. After all these years, he still lives in the hearts of all of us. I hope this book does a little bit to explain why." —From the introduction by Paul Hornung

"And his emotions—he could cry very easily. … We had a new home and he came over to visit us. … He was praising Sherri for the job she had done, and she said, ‘Well, Coach, you’re the one who made this possible…we wouldn’t be here, except for you.’ "And he tears up immediately and walks over and gives her a big hug. When he turned around, he had tears running down his face. He came over and hugged me, and then he turned around and walked right out the door." —Bart Starr

"One play I missed a block. The next one I jumped offside. He jumped in and just reamed me out. He had me looking down, checking my shoeshine. I felt awful. "After practice, I went to the locker room and I was really thinking about packing it in. I really thought it was time for me to do something else. I had been there quite a while when Vince finally came into the locker room and saw me sitting there. He came over and patted me on the back. Then he tousled my hair. ‘Son,’ he said, ‘don’t you know that someday you’re going to be the best guard in football?’ That really got something started inside me." —Jerry Kramer

From the Inside Flap
More than 35 years after his death in 1970, Vince Lombardi is still widely considered one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century. He extolled the virtues of discipline, dedication, and determination and convincingly backed up his claims by leading a once downtrodden Green Bay Packers franchise to five world titles in nine seasons. Lombardi was beloved throughout the city of Green Bay—by his players, coaches, media, and fans alike. There were certainly those on his own teams and throughout the league whose relationships with the coach were more contentious than cordial, but he was universally respected, and he had the uncanny ability to make everyone around him willing to go to any length to earn his respect in return. One of the players whom Lombardi loved and respected most was Hall of Famer Paul Hornung. Hornung was dubbed the "Golden Boy" during his college career at Notre Dame and went on to become the centerpiece of Lombardi’s championship teams in Green Bay. Hornung’s off-the-field exploits often commanded the same attention as his game-day accomplishments, and his charismatic nature attracted a national spotlight onto otherwise sleepy Green Bay throughout much of the 1960s. Despite their run-ins, or, perhaps, partly as a result of them, Lombardi and Hornung were in many ways like father and son. The star player constantly tested his coach’s patience and often needed to be reined in, but Lombardi had tremendous respect for Hornung’s competitive fire and leadership, as well as his teammates’ adoration for him. Hornung was equally enamored with Lombardi, and the driving force behind this unique collection of stories was his desire to examine the man and the legend from a number of different perspectives. Hornung reached out to his old teammates, other NFL dignitaries, and a few others who knew Lombardi intimately and compiled these fascinating personal recollections and accounts of the greatest all-time football coach at work and at play. The result of Hornung’s efforts is quite possibly the most honest and revealing look at Lombardi’s remarkable life and career.

About the Author
Paul Hornung, who became known as the "Golden Boy" during his Heisman Trophy career at Notre Dame, was the leader of Coach Vince Lombardi’s great Green Bay Packers teams from 1959 to 1966. Lombardi called him "the best clutch player I ever coached." Now a semiretired businessman, Hornung lives in Louisville, Kentucky, his hometown.

Billy Reed wrote under the byline William F. Reed during his 29-year career with Sports Illustrated. A former sports editor of The (Louisville) Courier-Journal, Reed has written extensively about his friend Paul Hornung and coauthored his autobiography.

Customer Reviews

A bit sloppy
I have respected Paul Hornung's contributions to football and appreciate his perspectives. This is a well meaning book with some new recollections on Vince Lombardi--they help to provide additional insight into the coach and demonstrate the personal impact he had on his players and others that knew him. There are plentiful photos, most of Hornung and Lombardi ( most published before). However, this book is in need of better formatting and editing. First much of this book appears to based upon one or more of the subjects in a room and having their recollections taped. Their recollections appear to be transcribed as spoken. So you have someone referring to "you" or "you Paul" which reads awkwardly. Hornung then comments on each person who has shared their recollection. Some of these comments are just repeats of what the person said, others bring some insight into the player but not much. It would have been much better to have Hornung, summarize at the end of the book those recollections that especially resonated with him or better yet present a more detailed account of his encounters with the coach. Repeating each chapter title with for instance, Jerry Kramer on Lombardi, then, Jim Taylor on Lombardi, etc. is repetative and unnecessary.The title of the book is also misleading, it implies that the book is really about Hornung and Lombardi (yes I read the byline) when it really is about Players & Friends Remember Lombardi. The"farewell" speech by lombardi does not have any annotation so we do not know where or when and the context in which his comments were made. The farewell speach also contains an editing error where one sentence is repeated twice. Notwithstanding the issues noted, being a Packer fan, this was good read...

Lombardi and me
This took me back to the glory days of the Packers.These are the players I grew up watching play the game when it was real football.This gave new insights into the man and his relationship to the players.

Lombardi's shadow continues to be cast upon those who will listen.
Would have enjoyed more of Lombardi, Jr.'s, and Hornung's words. Some of the offerings were better skipped. Overall the book was a keeper. Lombardi's own speeches have been reread many times. Makes you realize how little leadership there is in the current majority in Congress.