Lambeau Ladies by Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic
Vince Lombardi famously led the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships—including the first two Super Bowls. Football devotees also know that Lombardi was media savvy with a flair for soundbites. Less known is the role of his wife, Marie Lombardi, and the wives of his championship players. They were their own Packer-backing support team.
In Lambeau Ladies, Laura Kostelnik Biskupic and Katherine Biskupic report on the role of the women behind the Packers. In an age before the star accommodations given pro athletes, the wives packed brown bag lunches for their husbands each day. The authors conducted interviews with surviving ‘60s Packer spouses and children, whose memories are usually pleasant and often funny. Many became lifelong friends through their shared endurance of Green Bay winters and “Lombardi time,” the forced ultra-punctuality imposed by the coach. The wives bundled up for the infamous 1967 “Ice Bowl” game, when windchills were estimated at minus 59 degrees.
Lombardi insisted on treating Black players no different than other teammates. “Vince set the tone with the way he recruited his players,” said Packer son Willie Wood, Jr. “And so the Black families and the white families got together. They fit well together, which was not always the case in the sixties.”
