Vince Lombardi Trophy
Vince Lombardi Trophy | |
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![]() The Vince Lombardi Trophy | |
Awarded for | Winning the Super Bowl |
Location | Various cities by rotation |
Country | United States |
Presented by | National Football League |
First awarded | 1967 |
Currently held by | Seattle Seahawks |
Official website | SuperBowl.com |
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honor of legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi.
History
During lunch with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1966,[1] Tiffany & Co. vice president Oscar Riedner made a sketch on a cocktail napkin of what would become the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The original trophy was produced by Tiffany & Co. in Newark, New Jersey.[2] Others have since been handcrafted by the company in Parsippany, New Jersey.[3] The trophy was first awarded to the Green Bay Packers in 1967 (when the Super Bowl's official designation was the AFL-NFL World Championship Game) after they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.
The award was initially inscribed with the words "World Professional Football Championship". It was officially renamed in 1970 in memory of legendary NFL head coach Vince Lombardi, after his death from cancer, to commemorate his leading the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls.[4] In 1971, it was presented for the first time as the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Super Bowl V when the Baltimore Colts defeated the Dallas Cowboys 16-13. It has also been referred to as the "Tiffany Trophy" after the Tiffany & Co.[5][6][7]
Since Super Bowl XXX, the award has been presented to the winning team's owner on the field following the game. Previously, it was presented inside the winning team's locker room. In the case of the community-owned Packers' two titles since Super Bowl XXX, the team's President & CEO has accepted the trophy.
Unlike trophies such as the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is made every year and the winning team maintains permanent possession of that trophy, with one notable exception being Super Bowl V's, won by the then-Baltimore Colts. The city of Baltimore retained that trophy as part of the legal settlement between the team and the city after the Colts' infamous "Midnight Mayflower" move to Indianapolis, Indiana on March 29, 1984. Since then, both the relocated Colts and their replacement in Baltimore, the Ravens, have won the Super Bowl and earned trophies in their own right.
Since Super Bowl XLV, the Vince Lombardi Trophy is also prominently featured in the standardized logo design now used for all future Super Bowl games.[8]
Appearance
The Vince Lombardi Trophy stands 22 inches (56 cm) tall, weighs 7 pounds (3.2 kg) and depicts a football in a kicking position on a three concave sided stand, and is entirely made of sterling silver.[9]
The words "Vince Lombardi Trophy" along with the roman numerals of that year's Super Bowl are engraved on and the NFL shield is affixed onto the base. After the trophy is awarded, it is sent back to Tiffany's to be engraved with the names of the participating teams, the date, location, and the game's final score.[10] It is then sent back to the winning team for them to keep. Smaller replicas are made for each person on the winning team.
For the first four championship games, both the NFL and the AFL logos were in the center of the trophy. Starting from Super Bowl V through XLII, the old NFL shield has been on the forefront. As of Super Bowl XLIII, a newer, modernized NFL shield (with eight stars and a rotated football designed akin to that atop the trophy) replaced the older logo. Otherwise, the trophy has had no significant changes made since the first Super Bowl. The Green Bay Packers are the only team with all 3 versions having won Super Bowls I, II, XXXI, and XLV.
Teams with the most Vince Lombardi Trophies
The Pittsburgh Steelers hold the most Vince Lombardi Trophies, with six. The San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys are tied for second with five each. The Green Bay Packers and the New York Giants are in third with four; and the New England Patriots, Washington Redskins and the Oakland Raiders are all in fourth with three.
Although no team has ever won three straight Super Bowls, two teams have won three Lombardi trophies in four years. They are the Dallas Cowboys (1992, 1993, 1995) and the New England Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004). Also noteworthy is that the Pittsburgh Steelers have won four Super Bowls in six years (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979) and were the first team to win four Lombardi trophies overall.
Gallery
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The six Lombardi trophies won by the Pittsburgh Steelers, the most in the NFL and the first team to win four.
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Lombardi trophies belonging to the San Francisco 49ers, the first team to win five.
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Three of the four Lombardi trophies belonging to the Green Bay Packers, including the first two trophies ever awarded.
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The four Lombardi Trophies won by the New York Giants.
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The three Lombardi trophies belonging to the New England Patriots.
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vince Lombardi Trophy. |
- ↑ Let's Learn About the Vince Lombardi Trophy, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
- ↑ NIx, Naomi (January 7, 2014). "Original Vince Lombardi trophy comes home to Newark". The Star-Ledger. Retrieved 2014-01-07.
- ↑ Horovitz, Bruce (January 30, 2002). "Football's super prize reaches icon status". USA Today. Retrieved February 19, 2012.
- ↑ Tanier, Mike (January 31, 2010). "Excess Reigns at Super Bowl and That's No Ballyhoo". The New York Times.
- ↑ "Super Bowl Trophy". IX Games.
- ↑ Weiner, Evan (February 3, 2011). "Super Bowl XLV: Vince Lombardi wanted no part of the Super Bowl". United States Sports Academy. Retrieved February 19, 2012. "The Jets apparently didn’t think too highly of the Tiffany Trophy the organization received for winning [Super Bowl III]"
- ↑ Christl, Cliff (February 7, 2011). "Packers GM Thompson made all right moves". Rockford Register Star. Retrieved February 19, 2012. "[Packers General Manager Ted] Thompson actually clapped his hands in celebration a few times, spoke a few words and helped hoist the Tiffany trophy with [President Mark] Murphy and coach Mike McCarthy"
- ↑ "2011 logo is first of NFL's standard look". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
- ↑ Official Site of the National Football League. NFL.com (2007-09-18). Retrieved on 2013-07-29.
- ↑ George, Shannon (September 10, 2009). "Let's Learn About: The Vince Lombardi Trophy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
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