(Editor’s note: Knox Pages City Editor Carl Hunnell will portray Vince Lombardi this weekend in the Mount Vernon Players production of “Lombardi” at the Mount Vernon Grand Hotel. There will be shows on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night.)
MOUNT VERNON — Vince Lombardi was a professional and personal enigma. That puzzled will be solved Friday and Saturday at the Mount Vernon Grand Hotel.
Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers won five NFL championships in seven years in the 1960s, including three in a row, and the first two Super Bowls. He never had a single losing record as a head coach at any level.
A larger-than-life figure despite his own small physical stature, Lombardi was iron-willed, loud, extremely profane and demanding of everyone in his life, including his players and his family.
But he was also a man who attended Catholic Mass every day and was ahead of his time in many ways in terms of civil and human rights, creating a supportive environment for black and gay football players.
His own personal experiences with prejudice as an Italian-American, and having a gay brother, helped to develop his view of the world.
Lombardi once said he didn’t view his players as black or white, only Packer green. He loved his players — but demanded they show the same overwhelming dedication to winning that burned deep his own soul. Those who didn’t do this experienced his wrath.
His daughter, Susan, was quoted as saying, “Like the saying goes, my father treated them all the same, like dogs.”
In 1969, the year before he died, Lombardi returned to coach the Washington Redskins and worked with at least five gay men, including three players. One of them was a struggling running back named Ray McDonald.
In his biography, “When Pride Still Mattered,” author David Maraniss wrote that Lombardi demanded assistants work with McDonald.
“And if I hear one of you people make reference to his manhood,” Lombardi was quoted as saying, “you’ll be out of here before your ass hits the ground.”
The play “Lombardi” debuted on Broadway in 2010, starring Dan Lauria (of The Wonder Years) and Judith Light (of Who’s The Boss?). Having grown up as a life-long Packers fan, it’s a role I have wanted to play since the show was created.
As we approach the opening of the show, I am humbled at the opportunity to help a wonderful cast of local actors bring Lombardi back to life, thanks to director/actor/playwright Jim Stoner, of Fredericktown.
Stoner understands the pull of football, and racism, on the American psyche, having researched, written and created “The Black Cyclone” play, the story of Charles Follis, the first black professional football player.
The cast of six local actors will bring the “Lombardi” characters to life, including Mount Vernon’s Christine Hamilton as Marie and Seth Bennett from Fredericktown as McCormick.
Stoner (Paul Hornung), Kevin Hutchinson (Jim Taylor) and Dimetrius Caldwell (Dave Robinson) portray the three Packers stars, all of whom are now enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, along with their coach.
“When Pride Still Mattered,” upon which “Lombardi” is based, is one of the best sports biographies ever written. Published in 1999, the book is a 544-page deep dive into all aspects, good and bad, of Lombardi.
Obviously, there is no way to stage a play as in-depth as the book. Playwright Eric Simonson takes a week-long snapshot of Lombardi’s life in 1965, at the height of the coach’s powerful presence in the NFL.
The show includes Lombardi’s wife, Marie, three of his players (Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung and Dave Robinson), and a fictional reporter from “Look” magazine named Michael McCormick.
Simonson cleverly uses the reporter to explore the relationship among Lombardi, his players and his own family.
Through flashbacks, audience members witness Lombardi’s first memorable meeting with his team. They see his frustration boiling over a lack of head coaching opportunities before the Packers called in 1958 and watch his heated contract negotiations with Taylor.
And they see the private, painful hell Lombardi created for himself when his fear of losing far outstripped his joy of winning.
It’s a rapidly-paced production that will be staged in the hotel ballroom. It offers seating to about 100 audience members per night, the perfect intimate setting for an evening (or afternoon) spent with the greatest coach in NFL history, warts and all.
(Tickets are $10 and can be purchased on-line, on the Mount Vernon Players Facebook page or in Mount Vernon at PackMail, Crickets on Main, Paragraphs Bookstore, and KUDOS Artists Co-Op. For more information, call 740-504-9399 or e-mail mountvernonplayers@gmail.com.)
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