Legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi is held up by many as the standard to which all football players and coaches should try to measure up to. A five-time NFL Champion (including the first two Super Bowls), Lombardi’s legacy lives on still today. The trophy awarded to the Super Bowl winner bears his name and the way he coached, taught, and lived is still studied by many inside and outside of Green Bay.
One of the things the Hall of Fame coach is remembered for was his no-nonsense attitude. Players who did not give full effort were promptly released or traded. Legend has it that when Hall of Fame center Jim Ringo let Lombardi know he wanted $25,000 or a trade, the Packers’ coach and general manager traded him.
Indeed, many have looked up to Lombardi in many ways as a symbol of what a “masculine” man should be like. However, they might be surprised to learn that they would find themselves on the opposite side of certain social and cultural issues from the legendary coach.
Green Bay Packers Head Coach Vince Lombardi Hated Racism
As a dark-skinned Italian living in New York City, Lombardi faced a great deal of racism himself growing up. When he came to Green Bay, the Packers had just one African American on the team. That was soon to change.
Unfortunately, Lombardi’s desire to bring in better players, who happened to be African American, was not something everyone on the team wanted to get on board with. Those players were promptly traded or released.
According to Packers historian Cliff Christl, that myth about Ringo being traded because he wanted a pay raise is a myth. It was because he was racist:
“Myth has it that Lombardi traded future Hall of Fame center Jim Ringo because he brought an agent with him to Green Bay to negotiate his contract. But just as Lombardi had traded defensive end Bill Quinlan and safety John Symank a year earlier for their racial biases, he got rid of Ringo for the same reason.
“The true story was that Pat Peppler, Lombardi’s personnel director, handled the Ringo negotiations by phone. It was during the offseason and Ringo was living in Easton, Pa. What’s more, in their last conversation, Peppler said Ringo repeatedly referred to Lombardi by an Italian epithet.”
Christl also notes that Lombardi would not let any of his players dine at restaurants that would not serve Black players. When game sponsors of an exhibition in Columbus, Georgia wanted the Packers to come early and help promote the game all week, Lombardi refused because of the Jim Crow laws in the South.
When his African American players had a hard time finding places to live, he helped the state of Wisconsin pass a fair housing act, “despite fierce opposition from the real estate industry, Milwaukee-area Democrats and most Republicans.”
Green Bay Packers Legend Vince Lombardi Also Hated Discrimination Against Gay People
Back in 2013, NBA player Jason Collins revealed to the world that he was gay. At the time, he was one of the first active professional athletes to come out. His announcement sparked much debate among fans of all sports, and it highlighted one thing about Lombardi that many had forgotten: he did not take any form of discrimination lightly, including those against homosexuals.
In a 2013 interview with ESPN, Lombardi’s daughter Susan said:
“My father was way ahead of his time. He was discriminated against as a dark-skinned Italian American when he was younger, when he felt he was passed up for coaching jobs that he deserved. He felt the pain of discrimination, and so he raised his family to accept everybody, no matter what color they were or whatever their sexual orientation was.
“I think it’s great what Jason Collins did, because it’s going to open a lot of doors for people. Without a doubt my father would’ve embraced him, and would’ve been very proud of him for coming out.”
Lombardi’s brother, Harold, was gay, and that may have played a part in his fierce defense for gay players. He famously told his assistant coaches that if any of them questioned a gay player’s manhood, he would fire them.
Harold died years ago, but he was survived by his partner of 41 years Richard Nicholls. Of the legendary head coach, Nicholls said:
“Vin was always fair in how he treated everybody…a great man who accepted people at face value for what they were, and didn’t judge anybody. He just wanted you to do the job.”
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