fishgutmartyr Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20150131_How_Lombardi_almost_became_Eagles_coach.html How Lombardi almost became Eagles coach $224.95 Buy Now < prev next > Frank Fitzpatrick, Inquirer Staff WriterPosted: Saturday, January 31, 2015, 3:01 AM image: http://media.philly.com/designimages/partnerIcon-Inquirer-2014.jpg As Philadelphia's scarred football fans will again be reminded on Sunday, the Eagles have won none of the XLIX Super Bowls. But had things worked out differently 57 years ago, they might not only possess a Lombardi Trophy or two by now, they might have had Vince Lombardi himself. Sports history often pivots on seemingly inconsequential acts. And if the legendary coach hadn't abruptly changed his mind in 1958, subsequent NFL history might have had a distinctly green-and-silver hue. That January, a year before the Green Bay Packers hired him, Lombardi agreed to become the Eagles head coach. Had New York Giants owner Wellington Mara not intervened or Lombardi been less thoughtful, it's easy to imagine Philadelphia and not Green Bay winning five NFL titles in the 1960s, including the first two Super Bowls. "Lombardi coaching the Eagles. That would have been something, wouldn't it?" Vince McNally Jr., whose father was the Eagles GM in 1958, said this week.According to Lombardi biographer David Marannis and other sources, the fateful scenario began after the 1957 season. The defending-champion Giants had blown an East Division title by dropping their final three games. Lombardi, their ambitious 44-year-old offensive coordinator, was frustrated and eager to advance his career. On Jan. 11, 1958, Eagles general manager Vince McNally fired coach Hugh Devore, whose teams had gone 7-16-1 in two lackluster seasons. McNally initially wanted Buck Shaw. The two had met many years earlier. When the silver-haired Shaw coached Santa Clara, the Philadelphia-born GM had been an assistant at rival St. Mary's. Shaw, now at Air Force, had spent the previous three decades coaching in sunny California and he balked at coming East. He'd be interested, he said, only if he could spend off-seasons on the West Coast. Eagles ownership - a large and often dysfunctional group of local businessmen and civic leaders that the newspapers dubbed the "Happy Hundred" - wouldn't agree to that concession and McNally turned elsewhere. "It doesn't surprise me that Daddy tried to hire Lombardi," said Katherine McNally, the late GM's daughter. "He knew him very well and he really liked him." Lombardi was one of the league's best-known and well-respected assistants. He and defensive coordinator Tom Landry were such an effective pair that Giants head coach Jim Lee Howell often joked that his job consisted of making sure the footballs were properly inflated. But while he'd interviewed for several head jobs, including Wake Forest and Notre Dame, Lombardi remained an assistant. When McNally contacted him, he was receptive. When the two city-born Catholics quickly agreed on a salary of $22,500, Lombardi was on the verge of accepting. His interest spiked, McNally called on NFL commissioner Bert Bell - a former Eagles owner - to close the deal. According to Marannis' "When Pride Really Mattered", Bell telephoned Lombardi at home in New Jersey on a Saturday. Sometime during that conversation, Lombardi agreed to coach the Eagles. Word traveled quickly in the 12-team league and within a few hours, Mara, the Giants owner, was on the phone with his coordinator. If he'd stay in New York, the Giants would match the Eagles salary offer and increase the amount of his life-insurance policy to $100,000. Besides, Mara told him, Howell was 53 and talking about retirement. Then he hit Lombardi with the deal-breaker. "They'll never let you run the team they way you want to," Mara said. He had a point. Philadelphia's ownership was an unwieldy mess. There were factions. There were meddlers. The head of the group, Frank McNamee, even had another job. He was Philadelphia's fire commissioner. "One day we were having an owners meeting at the Warwick [hotel]," Art Modell, the late Browns owner, told the Daily News in 1995. "Frank was in the middle of a speech and heard fire engines. He stopped talking and ran to the window to see which way they were going." Lombardi wavered, promising to reconsider. In the meantime, Mara's wife, Ann, phoned Marie Lombardi. "Don't leave," she pleaded. Devoutly Catholic, Lombardi, at his wife's request, retreated to St. James Church in Red Bank, N.J. He sat alone in a pew for hours. "Don't pray," Marie had advised him. "Think." The next morning, Lombardi called Mara. "I think you're right," he said. "I won't take it." He stayed with the Giants for another season, Then in January 1959, Green Bay made him coach and GM. The Eagles eventually convinced Shaw to take the job and in 1960 he led them to an NFL title, ironically with a championship-game victory over Lombardi's Packers. But Shaw left after that season and Lombardi's genius soon manifested itself in Green Bay. His eye for detail and talent quickly transformed the Packers into a dynasty. It's true Green Bay had talent when he arrived - Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Ray Mitschke, Forrest Gregg. But he'd have found some in Philadelphia too. Future Hall of Famers Sonny Jurgensen and Tommy McDonald, for example, were both picked in the '57 draft. That same draft, by the way, included another historical twist that will torment Eagles fans forever. Philadelphia, needing a running back, selected Clarence Peaks with the seventh overall selection. One pick earlier, the Cleveland Browns took Jim Brown. Holy shit! That puts everything in a whole new perspective--granted they won in 1960, but could you imagine what Lombardi could have done with them? What a freaking nightmare! Nothing that team has ever done matches the fucking Mara put on that team back then--nothing. And I've seen a good chunk of it--the Fumble, Cunningham's pass after Banks should have sacked him, the loss where we blocked their field goal and they just ran the ball in for a td, them breaking our win streak in 1990, that loss in 2010--it's all penny-ante stuff compared to this. It's so cathartic--like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. No matter how bizzarre, no matter how freaky, a loss to the Eagles will no longer have quite the sting it used to. I may not even be able to work up a good hate anymore--just pity. Today is a good day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/eagles/20150131_How_Lombardi_almost_became_Eagles_coach.html Holy shit! That puts everything in a whole new perspective--granted they won in 1960, but could you imagine what Lombardi could have done with them? What a freaking nightmare! Nothing that team has ever done matches the fucking Mara put on that team back then--nothing. And I've seen a good chunk of it--the Fumble, Cunningham's pass after Banks should have sacked him, the loss where we blocked their field goal and they just ran the ball in for a td, them breaking our win streak in 1990, that loss in 2010--it's all penny-ante stuff compared to this. It's so cathartic--like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders. No matter how bizzarre, no matter how freaky, a loss to the Eagles will no longer have quite the sting it used to. I may not even be able to work up a good hate anymore--just pity. Today is a good day. Amen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazedDogs Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 this makes my weekend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 I read that and thought again about what if Wellington Mara had simply pulled the plug on Howell. If your coordinators are just that good and your head coach is talking about retiring, retire him and pick one. Sure its easy to say it in hindsight considering the future success of Lombardi and Landry but as a businessman you have to always think long term and beyond yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fringe Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 this makes my weekendThink how happy it makes the Lombardi family. That would be the "Hank Stram" trophy given out tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphScott Posted February 1, 2015 Share Posted February 1, 2015 Yes. He also turned down Jack Mara to continue coaching the Packers when Jim Lee Howell retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Wagon Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Think how happy it makes the Lombardi family. That would be the "Hank Stram" trophy given out tomorrow. Or the Landry Trophy... C. Wagon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishgutmartyr Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Yes. He also turned down Jack Mara to continue coaching the Packers when Jim Lee Howell retired. Can't really blame him for that--he had turned the Packers into a machine at that point, and ya gotta watch it work...he would have been insane to come back to the Giants by then. it would have been like Jim Johnson quitting the Cowboys to join the Giants in 1991. He might have gotten one more championship from those teams, but the window was clearly closing with all the aging players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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