Football's in Lombardi's name, not blood

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Apr 29, 2008 | by Dave Del Grande

AT AN early age, Mike Lombardi gave himself a tough challenge in life: to make Vince Lombardi proud.

A New Jersey native, Mike nonetheless grew up a Packers fan. His allegiance followed the great coach to the Redskins, and continues today, 38 years after the Hall of Famer's death.

Over the years, Mike got to know Vince's son, Vince Jr., and played a part in getting the latter's son hired in the personnel department of the Browns.

But despite all that, the former talent evaluator for the 49ers and Raiders, now 48 years old, believes he has failed in one key area.

"I was hoping and praying that I was related," Mike admitted Monday after his weekend gig as NFL draft analyst for the NFL Network. "But as far as I can tell, I'm not."

Now writing for cnnsi.com and doing guest spots on the Comcast and NFL networks, Mike Lombardi took a moment to discuss a lifetime of football.

On his proudest moment playing football: "We won the Group 2 South Jersey championship in high school. I was the starting defensive tackle. In college (at Hofstra), I was the long snapper for three years and never snapped one over the punter's head and into the end zone. You remember these things,"

On Vince Lombardi: "Seeing a guy with the same last name I had provided an inspiration to follow in his footsteps in some capacity. I'd go to clinics from Richmond, Va., to Boston every year trying to learn how to be a coach."

On his first NFL job: "In 1984, Tony Razzano hired me to be a go- fer in the 49ers office. Basically, I picked up Bill Walsh's dry cleaning. I got into the scouting department, and in my first draft, the first player we selected was Jerry Rice."

On working under Bill Belichick in Cleveland: "I'm a huge fan. He's probably the best listener I have ever worked with. The great success he has had doesn't surprise me in the least. I told Al Davis he would be a great coach, and Al interviewed him but didn't hire him."

On the highlights of the draft: "What struck me was that the new coaches all picked quarterbacks. And the Chiefs did a marvelous job. They got the best player in the draft in Glenn Dorsey with the fifth pick, then came back and got a quality offensive lineman (Branden Albert)."