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When Pride Still Mattered

A Life Of Vince Lombardi

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About The Book

In this groundbreaking biography, David Maraniss captures all of football great Vince Lombardi: the myth, the man, his game, and his God.

More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor of the American experience. The son of an Italian immigrant butcher, Lombardi toiled for twenty frustrating years as a high school coach and then as an assistant at Fordham, West Point, and the New York Giants before his big break came at age forty-six with the chance to coach a struggling team in snowbound Wisconsin. His leadership of the Green Bay Packers to five world championships in nine seasons is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a living legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning.

About The Author

Photograph by Linda Maraniss
David Maraniss

David Maraniss is an associate editor at The Washington Post and a distinguished visiting professor at Vanderbilt University. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for journalism and was a finalist three other times. Among his bestselling books are biographies of Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Roberto Clemente, and Vince Lombardi, and a trilogy about the 1960s—Rome 1960; Once in a Great City (winner of the RFK Book Prize); and They Marched into Sunlight (winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Prize and Pulitzer Finalist in History).

Product Details

  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster (September 3, 2000)
  • Length: 544 pages
  • ISBN13: 9780684870182

Raves and Reviews

"An astonishingly good book. . . . A triumph, a classic American biography."

– Robert W. Creamer, The Washington Post Book World

"Forges a near-perfect synthesis of fine writing and fascinating material. May be the best sports biography ever published."

– Ron Fimrite, Sports Illustrated

"A superb book, one of the best on football that we have."

– Michael Oriard, The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A monumental biography."

– Michael Bauman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

"A masterly biography. . . . A finely crafted, multifaceted portrait of a life driven by obsession."

– Tim Long, The Miami Herald

"Both the reach of the research and the grasp of Lombardi's character are impressive. It is a wonderful work."

– Lester Munson, Chicago Tribune

"It is simply a superb biography."

– Bill Brashler, Chicago Sun-Times

Awards and Honors

  • Frankfurt eBook Award

Resources and Downloads

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More books from this author: David Maraniss