Packers, Steelers share a love for Lombardis
Truth be told, Terry Bradshaw wasn't jumping for joy when the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him No. 1 overall in 1970. He was going to a team, after all, that had won only 14 of 70 games the five previous seasons.
During that same five-year period, the Green Bay Packers were 52-22-3 and won three championships.
Bradshaw had dreams of taking the Steelers where the Packers had been, but he first had to convince himself it was possible.
"A reporter asked me [about playing in Pittsburgh], and I did this silly thing and said, 'It's great to be here and to turn this team into a winner, and definitely we're going to win.' I was just some young kid shooting his mouth. You say all the things you know they want you to say: 'We're going to win; we're going to win.' I've seen that interview [since], and I'm, like, that's so bad. I really wasn't that sure.
"Now, it's nice to know that I was part of a team that started the legacy, and it's carried on close to 40 years."
Super Bowl XLV offers the most storied matchup in Super Bowl history:
Titletown vs. Steel City.
Cheeseheads vs. Terrible Towels.
Lambeau Leap vs. Steel Curtain.
Go, Pack, Go! vs. Here we go, Steelers, here we go!
Lombardis vs. more Lombardis.
"Here's the thing you've got to understand: When you go to Green Bay and you're a rookie, you think people don't know who you are," said Forrest Gregg, a Hall of Famer who played and coached in Green Bay. "But they know who you are. Right away they're going to start putting pressure on you. They're going to say, 'Are you guys going to beat the Bears this year?' It's kind of the expectation of the Green Bay fans. They don't like losing, and they think they should win because they have for such a long time."
It's the same in Pittsburgh.
"No one wants to lose," said Mean Joe Greene, a Hall of Fame defensive tackle who played for the Steelers from 1969-81. "But we expected to win."
The Steelers now have more Lombardi Trophies than any other team with six. Coach Mike Tomlin walks by them every day at the team's offices on the South Side.
The Lombardis, as Tomlin lovingly calls them, never become just a part of the décor. They are too priceless for that. Neither are they taken for granted. They are too hard to obtain.
"The initial introduction to them is awe-inspiring, really," Tomlin said. "I probably had the same impression everyone has when they walk in there. But on a daily basis, it creates a hard resolve in me to pursue the next one."
The trophy is named for Vince Lombardi, head coach of the Packers from 1959-67. He won five league championships, including the first two Super Bowls.
The Packers won another Super Bowl to end the 1996 season, their 12th championship. It is the most in NFL history -- three more than the Bears and five more than the Giants.
"I'm not sure there would be a Green Bay without the Packers," said Bart Starr, the Packers' Hall of Fame quarterback. "The Packers mean everything, and winning means everything."
The reminders are everywhere at Lambeau Field. The three Lombardis are encased in glass at the players' entrance. Twelve banners, one for every title, hang in the hallway as well as in the indoor practice facility.
Winning isn't everything, as Lombardi once stated. It's the only thing.
"It reminds you of what it's all about," Packers cornerback Charles Woodson said. "Those teams have something to show for their hard work. Not that I don't have anything or the guys don't have anything to show for their hard work, but that epitomizes it. We see it every day. The pictures that we see going in and out of Lambeau, the team pictures of the championship teams, all of those things are reminders of what we're trying to become. Hopefully, we can make our place in history."
Charean Williams,
817-390-7760
This story was originally published February 4, 2011 at 7:05 PM with the headline "Packers, Steelers share a love for Lombardis."