This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/21/2017
God-fearing. Disciplinarian. Mentor. Coach. All of these words describe the late Vince Lombardi. But one more word that defines the former Green Bay Packers head coach is "meticulous," certainly as he was devising plays for his hard-working troops. This lot features three pages' worth of playbook notes written in regular pencil and red pencil by Lombardi's own hand during his tenure (1954-58) as Offensive Coordinator with the New York Giants under head coach Jim Lee Howell. Said Lombardi biographer, David Maraniss, "Howell readily acknowledged
the talents of Lombardi and [defensive coordinator] Tom Landry, and joked self-deprecatingly, that
his main function was to make sure the footballs had air in them.”
Each page measures 8.5" by 11" and one page includes notes on both sides. Plenty of X's and O's are present but so are words like "odd right," "odd left," "b hook" and "flood right." One
of the major offensive strategies Lombardi came up with in New York was
“rule" blocking (aka "zone" blocking) where offensive lineman would block an area instead of
one particular player, allowing the ball carrier to “run to daylight.”
Though the pages are marked from 1957, the outside folder in which they came is stamped in pencil "Covered 3-30-59," which would have marked pre-dated Lombardi's arrived in Green Bay, Wisconsin, be mere months. His gridiron legend was just beginning.
Comes directly from the Lombardi family with a letter signed by his son, Vince Lombardi Jr.