Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs are set to take on Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers for the right to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The victor will be crowned and handed the prestigious award that symbolizes the hard work and dedication it took to earn it.
With every team starting every season hoping to end it by lifting that trophy in triumph, one may wonder just how it got its name. We take a closer look at the highly coveted trophy and the history of how it became what it is now.
What Is the Vince Lombardi Trophy?
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the award handed to the franchise that won that year’s Super Bowl. The entire reason teams play the game of football in the NFL is to earn this award at season’s end.
All 32 teams in the NFL will tell you that their ultimate goal is to make it to the Super Bowl and ultimately win the big game, earning them the right to hold and celebrate with the iconic trophy.
Only one team earns that right each year, with the 49ers and Chiefs set to battle it out for the distinction in Super Bowl LVIII.
Why Is It Called the Vince Lombardi Trophy?
The trophy got its name from NFL legend and former Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi. Lombardi and his Packers team, representing the NFL, won the very first Super Bowl against the AFC’s Chiefs back in 1967 by a 35-10 score.
Due to Lombardi leading the first team ever to win the Super Bowl as we now know it and then repeating the feat the following season, the trophy was posthumously memorialized in his name in 1970. That ensured Lombardi’s great legacy and all his accomplishments live on through the iconic trophy.
Who Makes the Lombardi Trophy?
Since 1967, the Tiffany Co. has been the one to make the trophy for the NFL. At that time, NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle met with the jewelry company to ask them to design the trophy, a task given to Tiffany’s design chief Oscar Riedener, who came up with the version of the trophy that remains to this day.
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The timeless design has remained unchanged, and the Lombardi Trophy has long been considered the crown jewel and ultimate symbol of NFL success.
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