Moments in NFL History: Championship trophy gets new, iconic name
After the merger of the American Football League and the National Football League in 1966, a common draft and a championship game were established between the two leagues. While the merger didn’t become “official” until 1970, both leagues crowned a champion, with those teams meeting to earn the “World Professional Football Championship Trophy.”
This trophy went to the NFL’s Green Bay Packers twice (1966 and 1967 seasons) and the AFL’s New York Jets (1968) and Kansas City Chiefs (1969) after their victories in the “World Professional Football Championship.” In 1970, with the merger now official, the game’s trophy gained its official name, paying homage to a man who had hoisted that same coveted piece of sterling silver.
On this date (Sept. 10) in 1970, the Vince Lombardi Trophy, named for the Hall of Fame coach, officially became the reward for winning the NFL’s yearly championship game, now called the Super Bowl.
LOMBARDI had died only a week earlier at age 57.
“It is a tremendous honor,” Vince Lombardi Jr. told the Hall in an exclusive interview recently to discuss the trophy’s name. “The National Football League is a great institution. We are honored that Coach Lombardi had a hand in building it.”
Lombardi, a five-time NFL champion (1961-62, 1965-67) and two-time Super Bowl champion (Super Bowl I, II), got his start in the NFL as an offensive coordinator with the New York Giants. He spent five seasons in New York, then made his way to Green Bay as head coach of the Packers in 1959.
At the helm in Green Bay, Lombardi posted an 89-29-4 regular-season record (.754 winning percentage), and he went 9-1 in the playoffs. His .738 winning percentage over his career, which included a short stint in Washington, places him behind only GUY CHAMBERLIN (.784) and JOHN MADDEN (.759) for NFL coaches.
It would take 29 seasons until the Vince Lombardi Trophy made its way back to Green Bay after the Packers’ Super Bowl II win. With Hall of Famers BRETT FAVRE and REGGIE WHITE leading the way, the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI over the New England Patriots. It would take another 14 years for the Packers to bring home the trophy for a fourth time. Capping the 2010 season, the Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers with help from Aaron Rodgers and Hall of Famer CHARLES WOODSON, leading to this call from Joe Buck:
Today, while the football world awaits the Super Bowl LXI champion to be crowned, the famed Vince Lombardi Trophy calls Canton home. You can see it for yourself – on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame & Museum.
