Vince Lombardi

American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

Vince Lombardi was a legendary American football coach who led the Green Bay Packers to three straight and five total NFL Championships in the 1960s, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches and leaders in American sports history.

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About the Vince Lombardi

Vincent Thomas Lombardiwas an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football Leagueand 90%in the postseason for an overall record of 105 wins, 35 losses and 6 ties in the NFL. He was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the NFL Super Bowl trophy was named in his honor.

Frequently Asked Questions

Vince Lombardi was an American professional football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). He is considered one of the greatest coaches and leaders in American sports history.

Vince Lombardi was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967, where he led the team to three straight and five total NFL Championships. He also served as the head coach and general manager for the Washington Redskins from 1969 until his death in 1970.

Vince Lombardi never had a losing season as an NFL head coach, compiling a regular-season winning percentage of 73.8% (96–34–6) and 90% (9–1) in the postseason. He led the Green Bay Packers to the first two Super Bowl victories in 1966 and 1967.

Vince Lombardi died on September 3, 1970, during the NFL preseason, after a battle with cancer.

Vince Lombardi began his coaching career as an assistant and later as head coach at St. Cecilia High School in Englewood, New Jersey. He also coached at Fordham University, the United States Military Academy, and the New York Giants before becoming the head coach and general manager of the Green Bay Packers.

Vince Lombardi is considered one of the greatest coaches in American sports because of his unparalleled success in the NFL, leading the Green Bay Packers to three straight and five total NFL Championships in seven years, in addition to winning the first two Super Bowls.

46 Quotes by Vince Lombardi

  1. 1.

    The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  2. 2.

    The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  3. 3.

    Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to ignore the minor hurts, the opponent’s pressure, and the temporary failures.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  4. 4.

    Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  5. 5.

    Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  6. 6.

    If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  7. 7.

    Success demands singleness of purpose.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  8. 8.

    We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  9. 9.

    Winners never quit and quitters never win.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  10. 10.

    Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  11. 11.

    Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  12. 12.

    If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  13. 13.

    The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  14. 14.

    People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  15. 15.

    The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group. If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must exert.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  16. 16.

    It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  17. 17.

    Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  18. 18.

    Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn’t do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one another.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  19. 19.

    It’s easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you’re a winner, when you’re number one. What you got to have is faith and discipline when you’re not a winner.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  20. 20.

    Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  21. 21.

    Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  22. 22.

    I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  23. 23.

    I don’t think there’s a punch-line scheduled, is there?

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  24. 24.

    If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  25. 25.

    Football is like life – it requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication and respect for authority.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  26. 26.

    Fatigue makes cowards of us all.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  27. 27.

    The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  28. 28.

    The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  29. 29.

    We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  30. 30.

    The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  31. 31.

    The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  32. 32.

    Show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  33. 33.

    Dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you’re willing to pay the price.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  34. 34.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  35. 35.

    Leaders aren’t born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  36. 36.

    The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  37. 37.

    Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist but football is only two things – blocking and tackling.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  38. 38.

    Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all time thing. You don’t win once in a while, you don’t do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  39. 39.

    Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  40. 40.

    Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  41. 41.

    Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  42. 42.

    Winning isn’t everything, but the will to win is everything.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  43. 43.

    The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  44. 44.

    If you can accept losing, you can’t win.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  45. 45.

    Some of us will do our jobs well and some will not, but we will be judged by only one thing-the result.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)

  46. 46.

    A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.

    Vince Lombardi

    American football player, coach, and executive (1913-1970)