The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi.

A fierce competitor on the field and a highly motivational man off the field, Lombardi first gained notoriety as one of the legendary "seven blocks of granite" while playing collegiately as a lineman at Fordham University in New York in the mid 1930's. He was a high school Latin and chemistry teacher before beginning a collegiate coaching career in his native New York.

He was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959 at the age of 46 and immediately turned around the fortunes of the Pack, guiding the club from a 1-10-1 mark in 1958 to a 7-5 record in his first season.






Benefiting the