WHAT IT TAKES TO BE NO. 1
Vince Lombardi is known as one of the greatest football coaches in history, leading the Green Bay Packers to five NFL Championships and the first two Super Bowls. Despite being known as a disciplinarian, my father always knew how to get understood that if you treat people with respect and treat them like winners, they will perform as winners. The cornerstone of Vince Lombardi's teaching methods were commitment, sacrifice, and mental toughness, three attributes which continue to be stressed by many of today's successful coaches.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest coaches in any sport, Vince Lombardi is a model of excellence. In the 1960's, Lombardi transformed the Green Bay Packers into a perennial powerhouse. He led the Packers to five NFL championships during his nine year coaching stint in Green Bay by demanding dedication, intensity and sacrifice from each and every player. Lombardi believed that desire and preparation determined success, whether on the football field or on business battlefield. His uncanny ability to motivate and his drive to succeed were primary reasons why Vince Lombardi is considered by many to be Football's
Greatest Coach.
He never had a losing season as a head coach in the NFL, and his 9-1 play-off record is simply astonishing.
Before he began his coaching career, Lombardi taught Latin and chemistry at a New Jersey high school.
The first group of Quotes are all from Vince Lombardi. It is no coincidence that the Super Bowl Trophy is named after him!
Winning is not a sometime thing; it's an all the time thing. You don't
win once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do
them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is
losing.
There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game,
and that's first place. I have finished second twice in my time at
Green Bay, and I don't ever want to finish second again. There is a
second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers.
It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we
do, and to win, and to win, and to win.
Every time a football player goes to ply his trade he's got to play
from the ground up - from the soles of his feet right up to his head.
Every inch of him has to play. Some guys play with their heads. That's
O.K. You've got to be smart to be number one in any business. But more
importantly, you've got to play with your heart, with every fiber of
your body. If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and
a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.
Running a football team is no different than running any other kind of
organization - an army, a political party or a business. The principles
are the same. The object is to win - to beat the other guy. Maybe that
sounds hard or cruel. I don't think it is.
It is a reality of life that men are competitive and the most
competitive games draw the most competitive men. That's why they are
there-to compete. To know the rules and objectives when they get in the
game. The object is to win fairly, squarely, by the rules-but to win.
And in truth, I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long
run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the
discipline. There is something in good men that really yearns for
discipline and the harsh reality of head to head combat.
I don't say these things because I believe in the "brute" nature of man
or that men must be brutalized to be combative. I believe in God, and I
believe in human decency.
But I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the
greatest fulfilment of all he holds dear, is that moment
when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and
lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious
...Vince Lombardi
Anybody who doesn't want to play winning football, get the hell out of here right now!
- Vince Lombardi
SOME QUOTES
Here are some other quotes that may give you inspiration or just something to think about:
"We have to be proud of the game of football. We need to boast about it, and we
need to stand up and be counted. . . .It's the greatest educational experience in
the world and individual could have. It's a game of courage, of sacrifice. It's
definitely a game of self-discipline."
... Lou Holtz
GENERAL INSPIRATION - THE BIG ONES!!
Football is a great deal like life in that it teaches that work, sacrifice, perseverance,
competitive drive, selflessness and respect for authority is the price each and every one of us
must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile.
... Vince Lombardi
After the cheers have died down and the stadium is empty, after the headlines have been
written and after you are back in the quiet of your room and the championship ring has been
placed on the dresser and all the pomp and fanfare has faded, the enduring things that are
left are: the dedication to excellence, the dedication to victory, and the dedication to doing
with our lives the very best we can to make the world a better place in which to live.
... Vince Lombardi
"RISK MORE than others think is safe.
CARE MORE than others think is wise.
DREAM MORE than others think is practical.
EXPECT MORE than others think is possible."
... Author Unknown
To succeed...You need to find something to hold on to, something to motivate you,
something to inspire you.
... Tony Dorsett
I will always be someone who wants to do better than others. I love competition.
... Jean-Claude Killy
WINNING - IT DOES MATTER!
"If winning isn't everything, why do they keep score?"
... Vince Lombardi
"Winning is not a sometime thing; its an all the time thing. You don't win
once in a while; you don't do things right once in a while; you do them
right all the time. Winning is a habit."
... Vince Lombardi
"Sure, winning isn't everything. It's the only thing.
... Harry Sanders
"Winning is not everything -- but making effort to win is."
... Vince Lombardi
I firmly believe that any man,s finest hour, the greatest
fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has
worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the
field of battle - victorious.
... Vince Lombardi
"Winning is the by-product of doing things right."
... Tubby Raymond
"Losers let it happen.
WINNERS MAKE IT HAPPEN.
Losers always have an excuse.
WINNERS ALWAYS HAVE AN IDEA.
Losers identify with problems.
WINNERS IDENTIFY WITH SOLUTIONS.
Losers say, 'it might be possible, but it's too difficult.'
WINNERS SAY, 'IT MIGHT BE DIFFICULT, BUT IT'S ALWAYS POSSIBLE.'"
... Author Unknown
Most games are lost, not won.
... Casey Stengel
Before you can win a game, you have to not lose it.
... Chuck Noll, ex-Pittsburgh Steelers Coach
The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers,
on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or
would have done, or what they can’t do.
... Dennis Waitley
Winning isn’t everything, wanting to is.
... Anonymous
Winners never quit and quitters never win.
... Unknown
A winner never whines.
... Paul Brown
In war there is no substitute for victory.
... Douglas MacArthur
When your are playing for the national championship, it’s not a matter of life or
death. It’s more important than that.
... Duffy Daugherty
LEADERSHIP
"Leaders are made, they are not born. They are made by hard
effort, which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any
goal that is worthwhile."
... Vince Lombardi
The leader can never close the gap between himself and the group.
If he does, he is no longer what he must be. He must walk a
tightrope between the consent he must win and the control he must
exert.
... Vince Lombardi
TEAMWORK
Teamwork is what the Green Bay Packers were all about. They didn't
do it for individual glory. They did it because they loved one
another.
... Vince Lombardi
People who work together will win, whether it be against complex
football defenses, or the problems of modern society.
... Vince Lombardi
The achievements of an organization are the results of the
combined effort of each individual.
... Vince Lombardi
Ask not what your teammates can do for you. Ask what you can do for your
teammates.
—Magic Johnson
The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch
of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.
... Babe Ruth
"Team work is the essence of life."
... Pat Riley
MENTAL TOUGHNESS
"I guess what it comes down to is that success demands singleness of purpose. In
this game we're always looking for catch-phrases - so I call it mental toughness."
... Vince Lombardi.
It's not whether you you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."
... Vince Lombardi
"You can measure a man's character by the choices he makes under pressure." --
... Winston Churchill
"Those who complain how the ball bounces are often the ones who dropped it." --
... Author Unknown
"There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big
difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether the
attitude is positive or negative."
... Author Unknown
The minute you start talking about what you’re going to do if you lose, you have
lost.
... George Shultz
"Smile when it hurts most."
... D.A. Chapple
You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what
you do.
... A J Kitt
We must either find a way or make one.
— Hannibal
"You are either the capitve or the captain of your thoughts. You can resign
yourself to being average or you can dare to dream...WHAT YOU SEE IN YOUR MIND'S
EYE IS WHAT YOU GET. Each of us becomes that make-believe self that we have
imagined, dreamed about, and thought about most."
... Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do
something, you can do it — as long as you really believe 100 percent.
... Arnold Schwarzenegger
If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it.
... Ronnie Lott
The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s
determination
... Tommy Lasorda
Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is
absolutely necessary.
... Ray Knight
I think I’ve always had the shots. But in the past, I’ve suffered too many mental
lapses. Now, I’m starting to get away from that and my mental discipline and
commitment to the game are much better. I think I’m really taking a good look at
the big picture. That’s the difference between being around for the final or
watching the final from my sofa at home.
... Andre Agassi
I’ve always made a total effort, even when the odds seemed entirely against me. I
never quit trying; I never felt that I didn’t have a chance to win.
... Arnold Palmer
I always felt that my greatest asset was not my physical ability, it was my mental
ability.
... Bruce Jenner
CONFIDENCE AND SELF-BELIEF
What’s the worst thing that can happen to a quarterback? He loses his confidence.
... Terry Bradshaw
Each Warrior wants to leave the mark of his will, his signature, on important acts
he touches. This is not the voice of ego but of the human spirit, rising up and
declaring that it has something to contribute to the solution of the hardest
problems, no matter how vexing!
... Pat Riley
Confidence is a very fragile thing.
... Joe Montana
Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.
... Satchel Paige
Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all
the locks.
... Joe Paterno
It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed
in myself.
... Muhammad Ali
Ingenuity, plus courage, plus work, equals miracles.
... Bob Richards, Pole Vaulter
You learn you can do your best even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired and
maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage.
... Joe Namath
You need to play with supreme confidence, or else you’ll lose again, and then
losing becomes a habit.
... Joe Paterno
"A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself
and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the
competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things
in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be
done."
Unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his career and puts
everything he has into it - his mind, his body, his heart - what's life worth to him...?
... Vince Lombardi
PERSEVERANCE
Once you agree upon the price you and your family must pay for success, it enables you to
ignore the minor hurts, the opponent's pressure, and the temporary failures.
... Vince Lombardi
"It is alright to be disappointed, but a winner can never allow himself to be
discouraged."
... D.A. Chapple
Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.
... Vince Lombardi
Our greatest glory was not in never falling, but in rising when we fell.
... Vince Lombardi
It's easy to have faith in yourself and have discipline when you're a winner, when you're
number one. What you've got to have is faith and discipline when you're not yet a winner.
... Vince Lombardi
Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.
... Samuel Johnson
Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: Nothing
is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not: Unrewarded
genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: The would is full of educated
derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
... Anonymous
It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.
... Seneca
When you’re playing against a stacked deck, compete even harder. Show the world how
much you’ll fight for the winner’s circle. If you do, someday the cellophane will crackle off a
fresh pack, one that belongs to you, and the cards will be stacked in your favor.
... Pat Riley
The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength,
not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.
... Vincent T. Lombardi
The game isn’t over till it’s over.
... Yogi Berra
The only way to overcome is to hang in. Even I’m starting to believe that.
... Dan O’Brien
If at first you don’t succeed, you are running about average.
... M.H. Alderson
Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.
... Bo Jackson
My motto was always to keep swinging. Whether I was in a slump or feeling badly or having
trouble off the field, the only thing to do was keep swinging
... Hank Aaron
Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.
... William A. Ward
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.
... John Wooden
I learned that if you want to make it bad enough, no matter how bad it is, you can
make it.
... Gale Sayers
TRAINING, PREPARATION, GOAL-SETTING AND HARD WORK -
MAKE A COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE!!
" I will demand a commitment to excellance and to victory... That is what life is all about. "
... Vince Lombardi
The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.
... Joe Paterno
If you'll not settle for anything less than your best, you will be amazed at what you can accomplish in your lives.
... Vince Lombardi
"Excellence is not a sometimes thing"
... Vince Lombardi
"The character of a person is in direct proportion to his commitment to
excellence."
... Vince Lombardi
"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream
it, you can make it so."
... Author Unknown
You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.
... Michael Jordan
If you train hard, you’ll not only be hard, you’ll be hard to beat.
... Herschel Walker
Sweat plus sacrifice equals success.
... Charlie Finley
Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.
... Coach Darrel Royal
Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about
achieving it and staying with that plan.
... Tom Landry
It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s
what you put into the practice.
... Eric Lindros
The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.
... Vidal Sassoon
The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and
the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of
ourselves to the task at hand.
... Vince Lombardi
There are only two options regarding commitment. You’re either IN or you’re OUT.
There’s no such thing as life in-between.
... Pat Riley
I’m a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
... Thomas Jefferson
The day you take complete responsibility for yourself, the day you stop making any
excuses, that’s the day you start to the top.
... O.J. Simpson
Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
... Thomas Edison
The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested
players.
... Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach
The best inspiration is not to outdo others, but to outdo ourselves.
... Anonymous
Other people may not have had high expectations for me... but I had high
expectations for myself.
... Shannon Miller
He who stops being better stops being good.
... Oliver Cromwell
The principle is competing against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, about
being better than you were the day before.
... Steve Young
You do not merely want to be considered just the best of the best. You want to be
considered the only ones who do what you do.
... Jerry Garcia, The Grateful Dead
You have to perform at a consistently higher level than others. That’s the mark of
a true professional.
... Joe Paterno
To be prepared is half the victory.
... Miguel Cervantes
Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it
is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. The relationship
between the soundness of the body and the activities of the mind is subtle and
complex. Much is not yet understood. But we do know what the Greeks knew: that
intelligence and skill can only function at the peak of their capacity when the
body is healthy and strong; that hardy spirits and tough minds usually inhabit
sound gods.
... JFK
The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the others willing to
let them.
... Robert Frost
The more I train, the more I realize I have more speed in me.
... Leroy Burrell
COURAGE, DETERMINATION AND STAYING FOCUSSED IN THE HEAT OF BATTLE
How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you become after
the game, whether you are a winner or a loser.
... Lou Holtz
It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.
... Archie Griffen, two-time Heisman winner ( 5’9’’)
There’s no substitute for guts.
... Paul “Bear” Bryant
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear — not absence of fear.
... Mark Twain
Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.
... Amelia Earhart
Show me a guy who’s afraid to look bad, and I’ll show you a guy you can beat every time.
... Lou Brock
When you’re riding, only the race in which you’re riding is important.
... Bill Shoemaker
My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: “Get out
of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you’ll
win....Channel your energy. Focus.”
... Carl Lewis
If you set a goal for yourself and are able to achieve it, you have won your race.
Your goal can be to come in first, to improve your performance, or just finish the
race — it’s up to you.
... Dave Scott, Triathlete
If you don’t do what’s best for your body, you’re the one who comes up on the
short end.
... Julius Erving
Think big, believe big, act big, and the results will be big.
... Anonymous
If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
... Author unknown
Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.
... Will Rogers
The first and great commandment is, Don’t let them scare you.
—Elmer Davis
RISK -
NOT BEING SCARED TO LOSE IN ORDER TO WIN!!
In order to win you must be prepared to lose sometime. And leave one or two cards
showing.
... Van Morrison
You can become a winner only if you are willing to walk over the edge.
... Damon Runyon
When someone tells me the is only one way to do things, it always lights a fire
under my butt. My instant reaction is, “I’m gonna prove you wrong.”
... Picabo Street
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
... Robert F. Kennedy
A ship in the harbor is safe. But that’s not what ships are built for.
... Anonymous
Ain’t no chance if you don’t take it.
... Guy Clark
When you face a fork in the road, step on the exhilarator!
... Pat Riley
AT THE END OF THE DAY -
BEING ABLE TO WALK AWAY!!
I know that I’m never as good or bad as any single performance. I’ve never
believed my critics or my worshippers, and I’ve always been able to leave the game
at the arena.
... Charles Barkley
