'Win, win, win:' The key to Lombardi's happiness in Green Bay

[Cheesehead]

On Lombardi's appearance at St. Norbert: "My recollection is that Vince quite often was wearing a suit jacket when I'd see him on campus. Sometimes, maybe I'd see him in a dress shirt when he took his jacket off. I don't ever recall seeing him in a T-shirt or his practice gear. I think when he went to Mass at St. Willebrord he'd be wearing a shirt and tie and jacket. I think he always dressed up to go to business and then came right here for business. Maybe when he'd get to his office in Sensenbrenner, he'd take his jacket off."


On how much time Lombardi spent on campus during camp: "Vince's office was in the basement of Sensenbrenner: the southwest corner. He didn't seem to spend a lot of time there. It was a small office. The coaches had another room where they could meet. It seems to me he'd stop there in the morning. I don't recall him being there in the evening. I'm sure he was staying at home. In fact, one time I asked Marie, 'What is it like living with Vince once training camp starts and during the season?' She said, 'Father, we don't talk.' I said, 'Marie, are you serious?' She said, 'Yes. We don't talk. He is so intense during the season.' She didn't mean that they didn't say good morning. But they didn't have a lot of casual conversation once football started."


On whether Lombardi ever showed his emotional side on campus outside of meetings: "I noticed when Vince was around Sensenbrenner that the players had respect for him and probably fear. But I never saw him lose his temper."


On whether he ever witnessed Lombardi confront one of his players: "There were times when Vince was in a pensive, contemplative mood when I saw him. I think if he had any dealings with anybody he'd call them to his office."


On Lombardi's faith: "He was very devout. It seemed to me he was very contemplative. Mass, his religion was very important to him. He stated that publicly, it was 'God, family and the Packers,' in that order. You could tell faith was very important to him and it played a role in his life. In those settings at Mass, he was a different man. There was no tenseness or intensity. Once he got into that environment, he was very relaxed. He put himself in a different mood, that contemplative mood. I think he was the kind of man who could immerse himself in the moment. That was why when he was with the team, he could be yelling and cursing. That was what he had to do as coach. But he was very calm when he was at Mass. And he really immersed himself in the readings, everything. He became a part of it."


On why Lombardi rarely mentioned his faith in interviews: "He wanted his faith to be private. I remember one time somebody wanted to write an article about his faith and going to daily Mass. He said, 'That's my private life.' He said his faith was very important to him, that Mass was a big part of his life, but he didn't share much beyond that."


On his own contact with players at St. Norbert: "The players lived on the first floor and second floor. I lived on second floor. The rookies were on second floor, but I remember Bart Starr being on second floor with Henry Jordan. They roomed together. I'm not sure they used the third floor. It was two in a room and what did they have, 75 players or so? My recollection is that they didn't use the third floor. I'd go into Bart Starr's room. He and Henry Jordan would be sitting there in their shorts before they went to bed at night. I'd see other players and say, 'Hello.' They knew who I was. I didn't have many long conversations. I'd talk to Bart once in a while. Later, when Vince was gone, I'd have a lot of conversations with some of the rookies. I became friendly with Scott Hunter. So quite a few would come into my sitting room and talk. We'd confer about different things. For example, what they thought would be an equitable salary for rookies. I remember they came up with $16,000. John Brockington was one. Kevin Hunt. Hunter. Charlie Hall. I think one of them was a kicker. I don't remember all their names, but there'd be seven or eight. And every once in a while, an assistant coach would come down and say, 'Father, they're supposed to be in bed now.' I think some of the assistant coaches stayed there during the Lombardi years. I think the ones who did the bed-checks stayed there. I knew they had curfew and one time I was a little embarrassed. I knew Phil Bengtson, too, from Premontre when I came here in 1960. I knew his son Jay. And Phil poked his head in one time and said, 'Father, time for them to be in bed.'"


On his relationship with Starr: "My cousin's three little boys lived in De Pere and were big fans of Bart Starr. I went to see him once and apologized for disturbing him. It was about 8 o'clock or whatever. He and Henry Jordan were sitting there and I told him what I wanted: An autographed picture for these three little boys who admired him so. He said, 'Father De Peaux, don't apologize. They are our fans. Without them, we are nothing.' He was so gracious. He gave me three glossy 8-by-12 autographed pictures. Then, one time they came and met him. He had said, 'Bring them around some time.'"


On whether he ever witnessed players violating curfew: "I never knew about anybody sneaking out, even during the Lombardi era with Paul Hornung and Max McGee. They talk about those two sneaking out, but I was in my room in bed. I'm sure they didn't make a lot of noise. And they were on first floor. I was on second floor."


On whether he ate with the team: "The players ate in what's called our union, where the cafeteria is. They ate in the big lounge on the second floor. They had their own dining room, their own waiters or waitresses. But I never went over there to eat. After exhibition games, they would have a gathering or a party upstairs in the union and sometimes I was invited to that. There would be players there and their wives, all the coaches, some of the media. I remember (Milwaukee Sentinel sportswriter) Bud Lea being there at times. It was very relaxed, especially if they won. They had a lot of food. Vince would be there. I was surprised in that I thought he would be the center of attention, but he would often be off to the side. It seemed that he felt a little uncomfortable being in the presence of his players in that kind of setting. And it seemed to me he didn't stay around too long. The players would be talking and laughing and eating. The team was always winning and the mood was very light. And it seemed that Vince let them do their thing. He wasn't right on top of them."