When Pride Still Mattered - Epilogue

Certain people bend the world around them, and the people in their orbit have to order themselves accordingly.

That seems to be the case with Vince Lombardi, a singular figure in sports, the world, and in the lives of just about everyone he encountered. His death left a gaping hole, and the people who had to carry on without him never seemed to find a way to fill the gap he’d left. 

Marie Lombardi, as you’d expect, suffered the most, making for a sad ending to a difficult life story. For so long it seemed like she was a prisoner to her husband’s ambitions, but the last few chapters of the book seem to suggest that wasn’t as much the case. She knew what she was in for and wanted to be there, battling with Vince every step of the way because that’s who she was, not because she was a hostage in a football marriage. Vince Lombardi was just the defining impetus of her life, and that’s how she liked it.

Maybe it’s melodrama, but the end of When Pride Still Mattered makes it seem like a light went out in the universe when Lombardi died, and those he illuminated felt like they had little else to do but fumble along in the dark without him. I’ve wondered if it was better for Lombardi to have burned out rather than fade away, and it may have been for him. But I equally wonder whether or not the people in his life were irrevocably hurt by what was best for Lombardi, whether they chose that life or not.