Lombardi-isms: Lessons to Learn From Football

My husband’s high school is playing in the state football competition tomorrow! We are quite excited to see the Lake Orion Dragons perform on the home field of the Detroit Lions and sure hope to see them bring home a victory!

In honor of our community’s celebration, I want to share some quotes from one of the greatest football coaches in history, Vince Lombardi.

If you have any interest in football whatsoever, I highly recommend the book: “That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory.” A friend recently gave it to me and I couldn’t put it down!

My dad grew up in the Vince Lombardi era and bleeds green and gold for the Green Bay Packers. After reading this book, I now understand why! Lombardi achieved the “impossible” and there are many lessons we can all learn from this amazing story.

Meanwhile, enjoy these Lombardi-isms:

• A school without football is in danger of deteriorating into a medieval study hall.
• Coaches who can outline plays on a black board are a dime a dozen. The ones who win get inside their player and motivate.
• Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.
• The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.
• I don’t think there’s a punch-line scheduled, is there?
• 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.
• If it doesn’t matter who wins or loses, then why do they keep score?
• If you can accept losing, you can’t win.
• 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.
• Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
• People who work together will win, whether it be against complex football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
• Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.
• The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.
• The quality of a person’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.
• The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That’s real glory. That’s the essence of it.
• We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.

Enjoy your weekend and…go Dragons!

-Susan Kruger

EB 091317