Any way you can: Linebacker Chris Hanburger grabs Gale Sayers' jersey to bring him down in the 1968 opener at Chicago. (Matthew Lewis/The Washington Post)

On February 4, 1969, Lombardi spoke with reporters in New York, after he had been honored at a Catholic Youth Organization dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria, and said: "Like anyone else, you always hope to own something . . . People say you're crazy to put your great reputation on the line. I say reputation, swepulation, the hell with it. I've found out the challenge in something is not maintaining it, but attaining it."

The next evening, in the room of a Green Bay hotel named in Lombardi's honor just six months earlier, Packers directors met for two hours and voted "with deep regret" to release Lombardi from his contract. They did not demand compensation. "I would not cheapen this deal by measuring his worth to us in dollars or a couple of players," said team president Dominic Olejniczak.

Lombardi arrived in Washington early on Thursday, February 6, attended a congressional prayer breakfast on Capitol Hill and then met with the Redskins staff. After lunch at Duke Zeibert's, Lombardi held a press conference in the Chandelier Room of the Sheraton-Carlton Hotel.

Other Pages in Chapter 2: 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 Names, Numbers Trivia Quiz Index

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