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

by John Eisenberg

Back in their glory days, the Packers had returned home from important road wins to find enormous, cheering crowds waiting at the train station. When they won their first NFL title in 1929 by beating the Bears in Chicago, they were greeted by ten thousand people. The custom had continued into the 1940s, with raucous station greetings serving as exclamation points to big wins—and preludes to all-night, citywide drinking binges, with the police happily looking the other way at closing time. The tradition had faded along with the Packers in the 1950s, their airport greetings dwindling to a few diehards. But this Thanksgiving victory in Detroit kindled the old spirit. A season sweep of the Lions, who had dominated the NFL in the 1950s, reminded fans of the days when they supported a winner. Millions of TV viewers across the country had watched Lombardi’s improving team. That was exciting. Some three thousand people had gathered by early evening when the charter landed. A light snow fell in the fading light. The fans massed behind a fence and waited as the plane taxied up to the terminal. They cheered and held up signs as the players ducked out of the plane and waved. Lombardi, emerging last, thanked the fans for coming.