Other editions of book That First Season: How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory

The story of a team, a town, and a leader: Vince Lombardi’s first year as head coach of the Green Bay Packers, and how he turned them into a powerhouse. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn’t fielded a winning team in more than a decade, and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior—and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City. In a single year, Vince Lombardi—the grizzled coach who took no bull—transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a Wisconsin city known for its passion for sport. He would lead them to championship to championship, and bring out the best in players including Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Willie Davis, Forrest Gregg, and many more. From an award-winning sportswriter, That First Season is “a compelling read about perhaps the most compelling coach ever to stride an NFL sideline” (Washington Times). “Richly detailed in seamless prose, this is historical sportswriting at its finest.”—Lars Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of The Mannings: The Fall and Rise of a Football Family

John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughing stock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City. In a single year, Vince Lombardi€”the grizzled coach who took no bull€”transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a city known for its passion for sport.

When Vince Lombardi took the job of coaching the Green Bay Packers in 1959, he inherited a team that had gone from legendary to laughing stock. They hadn’t fielded a winning team in over a decade and had gone 1-10-1 in the 1958 season despite having seven future Hall of Famers on the team. They were a team accustomed to losing and in desperate need of a turnaround. That First Season chronicles that turnaround at the hands of Lombardi, himself serving as a head coach for the first time. The Packers were a team of talented underachievers more used to lax coaching and late nights than grueling practices and curfews. Lombardi’s no-bull coaching style helped hammer them into winners who operated with machine-like precision. Every football fan knows that the Packers under Lombardi were champions, but That First Season shows how he did it, bringing readers the inside story of a sports dynasty.