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In Search of Vince Lombardi: A Historian's Memoir
By Michael O'Brien
o
|N September 20, 1985, while eating breakfast at Donut World in Menasha, Wisconsin, my heart sud¬ denly fluttered as I read Bud Lea's column in the sports pages of the Milwaukee Sentinel. "Last Sunday," Lea began, "in the press box of Lambeau Field, Dick Schaap passed out Jerry Kramer's newest book. Distant Replay." Then came the ominous sentence: "The immediate reaction among those receiving copies was, 'Oh no, not another book about Lombardi's Packers.' " By then, I was concluding my sev¬ enth year of research and writing on "another book" about Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. I believed that my book was much dif¬ ferent from all the others, arrd in many re¬ spects much better—but would anyone take the time to notice? I vividly imagined the crotchety sportswriters in the press box atop Lambeau Field throwing my book out the back window and into the parkiirg lot.
I had heard the old canard many times: "We-kno w-e very thing-w-e-need-to-kno w- about-Vince-Lombardi-so-why-are-you- studying-him?" Indeed, Bud Lea himself had expressed that viewpoint to me two years ear¬ lier when I requested an interview with him. Initially he had resisted, assuming that I was merely rehashing tired old material. (Never¬ theless, Lea gave an excellent interview and provided new insights, especially on Lombar¬ di's tense relationship with the media.) Fhe at¬ titude Lea and his peers reflected was widely held. Since so many books and articles had
been written about Lombardi, did the world really need another one?
My rejoinder was—and is—that all pre¬ vious studies had been written by contempo- raryjournalists (principally sportswriters) and by men who had played under Lombardi. Most were superficial, and tended to perpetu¬ ate inaccuracies and misconceptions; many dealt only with brief periods of Lombardi's life. There was no full-dress biography based upon painstaking research and written by a trained historian.
The two best books about Lombardi were both memoirs and bestsellers, but they were not biographies. Vince's book Run to Daylight (1963), written with the collaboration of W. C. Heinz, chronicled Vince's thoughts and actions during a single week—Monday through Sunday—during the championship season of 1962. It provided a unique inside look at the way Vince prepared his players for a game. Because of Heinz's lucid style and the book's fresh, intimate perspective on profes¬ sional football, reviewers lavished praise on Run to Daylight. Similarly, Jerry Kramer's In¬ stant Replay (1968) furnished a candid behind- the-scenes glimpse of Lombardi's Packers written by a star lineman of another champi¬ onship team. Kramer, who played right guard, kept a diary of the 1967 season and re¬ corded his feelings from training camp to Su¬ per Bowl II as his coach bullied, maligned, mothered, and inspired the players. Neither of these outstanding books was a biography of
Copyright ©1987 try The State Historical Society oj Wucimsin All rights of reproduction in any form reserved
Object Description
| Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 71, number 1, autumn, 1987 |
| Article Title | Wisconsin magazine of history: Volume 71, number 1, autumn, 1987 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | State Historical Society of Wisconsin |
| Series | Wisconsin Magazine of History ; v. 71, no. 1 |
| Format-Digital | xml |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol71no010000 |
| Description | This issue includes articles on Vince Lombardi and the creation of Wisconsin’s income tax, as well as a piece by Aldo Leopold on oak trees. |
| Volume | 071 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year | 1987-1988 |
Description
| Title | 3 |
| Page Number | 3 |
| Article Title | In search of Vince Lombardi: a historian's memoir |
| Author | O'Brien, Michael, 1943- |
| Page type | Article |
| Format-Digital | jpeg |
| Publisher-Electronic | Wisconsin Historical Society |
| Rights | © Copyright 2007 by the Wisconsin Historical Society (Madison, Wisconsin) |
| Publication Date-Electronic | 2007 |
| ISSN | 1943-7366 |
| Identifier-Digital | vol71no010005 |
| Volume | 071 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Year | 1987-1988 |
| Full Text | In Search of Vince Lombardi: A Historian's Memoir By Michael O'Brien o |N September 20, 1985, while eating breakfast at Donut World in Menasha, Wisconsin, my heart sud¬ denly fluttered as I read Bud Lea's column in the sports pages of the Milwaukee Sentinel. "Last Sunday" Lea began, "in the press box of Lambeau Field, Dick Schaap passed out Jerry Kramer's newest book. Distant Replay." Then came the ominous sentence: "The immediate reaction among those receiving copies was, 'Oh no, not another book about Lombardi's Packers.' " By then, I was concluding my sev¬ enth year of research and writing on "another book" about Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. I believed that my book was much dif¬ ferent from all the others, arrd in many re¬ spects much better—but would anyone take the time to notice? I vividly imagined the crotchety sportswriters in the press box atop Lambeau Field throwing my book out the back window and into the parkiirg lot. I had heard the old canard many times: "We-kno w-e very thing-w-e-need-to-kno w- about-Vince-Lombardi-so-why-are-you- studying-him?" Indeed, Bud Lea himself had expressed that viewpoint to me two years ear¬ lier when I requested an interview with him. Initially he had resisted, assuming that I was merely rehashing tired old material. (Never¬ theless, Lea gave an excellent interview and provided new insights, especially on Lombar¬ di's tense relationship with the media.) Fhe at¬ titude Lea and his peers reflected was widely held. Since so many books and articles had been written about Lombardi, did the world really need another one? My rejoinder was—and is—that all pre¬ vious studies had been written by contempo- raryjournalists (principally sportswriters) and by men who had played under Lombardi. Most were superficial, and tended to perpetu¬ ate inaccuracies and misconceptions; many dealt only with brief periods of Lombardi's life. There was no full-dress biography based upon painstaking research and written by a trained historian. The two best books about Lombardi were both memoirs and bestsellers, but they were not biographies. Vince's book Run to Daylight (1963), written with the collaboration of W. C. Heinz, chronicled Vince's thoughts and actions during a single week—Monday through Sunday—during the championship season of 1962. It provided a unique inside look at the way Vince prepared his players for a game. Because of Heinz's lucid style and the book's fresh, intimate perspective on profes¬ sional football, reviewers lavished praise on Run to Daylight. Similarly, Jerry Kramer's In¬ stant Replay (1968) furnished a candid behind- the-scenes glimpse of Lombardi's Packers written by a star lineman of another champi¬ onship team. Kramer, who played right guard, kept a diary of the 1967 season and re¬ corded his feelings from training camp to Su¬ per Bowl II as his coach bullied, maligned, mothered, and inspired the players. Neither of these outstanding books was a biography of Copyright ©1987 try The State Historical Society oj Wucimsin All rights of reproduction in any form reserved |