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August 8, 2007

Mike Lombardi has great memories of Bill Walsh

By TOM WILLIAMS
Sports Columnist


Since it was published over 10 years ago, former Ocean City High School athlete Mike Lombardi has always had a copy of "Finding The Winning Edge", the inspirational book by former San Francisco 49ers coach Bill Walsh, on his desk.

Lombardi, the successful NFL personnel executive, worked with Walsh in San Francisco, with Bill Belichick in Cleveland, Jon Gruden in Oakland and, last week, started a new job with Mike Shanahan in Denver. All four have won Super Bowl championships.

"And the other three were all influenced by Bill Walsh," said Lombardi Monday night from Denver. "Look at the influence he has had in the NFL. He changed the face of the sport. And that was one of his greatest attributes - he was never afraid of change and had the convictions to know when he was right. He was a superior intellect who not only taught the men he worked with to play football, but also how to live their lives successfully."

Lombardi worked with Walsh from 1984-87, earning a Super Bowl ring in the process. It was his first job in the NFL after a successful stint at UNLV, where he coached Randall Cunningham. Lombardi had played varsity football and baseball at OCHS before transferring to Valley Forge Military Academy his senior year so he could play football for his summer neighbor and former Ocean City coach John Cervino.

In addition to his work in NFL personnel offices, Lombardi also worked with Jim Nantz for a couple of successful seasons on The NFL Today, the studio show that was seen before, at halftime and after each game on CBS-TV. Recently, for a few weeks, he also did some TV work for the NFL Network in between his positions in Oakland and Denver.

"I'm really happy to be working for Mike Shanahan," Lombardi said. "I've competed against his teams and developed a real respect for him over the years."

Four months ago, Lombardi had lunch in San Francisco with Walsh, Jim Harbaugh, the new head coach at Stanford, and Harbaugh's father. "I am so glad we had that lunch," said Lombardi. "We just sat around and shared stories for two hours. I took my copy of his book and finally asked him to sign it. I'm so glad that I did.

"Bill couldn't eat that day because he was going to have a blood transfusion right after we finished. He just drank iced tea. Then he had his transfusion at 2 and showed up to watch Stanford practice at 2:30.

"After that lunch I thought about him a lot. There was a famous speech made by Douglas MacArthur that described Bill. MacArthur talked about the 'love of wonder'. I got a copy of the speech and sent it to Bill."

"...the poet said that youth is not entirely a time of life, it is a state of mind," MacArthur said. "It is not wholly a matter of ripe cheeks, red lips or supple knees. It is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a freshness of the deep springs of life.
It means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity, of an appetite for adventure over love of ease. Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years. People grow old only by deserting their ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up interest wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust.
Whatever your years, there is in every being's heart the love of wonder, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what's next and the joy and the game of life. You are as young as your faith, as old as your doubt; as young as your self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.
In the central place of every heart there is a recording chamber; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer and courage, so long are you young."

"That was Bill," said Lombardi. "He never stopped living his life, always had that appetite for what is next and had that love of wonder. At that lunch in April he was talking about writing another book."

Walsh died on July 30 after battling leukemia for a long time. The 49ers will wear their cherry-red throwback jerseys in their season opener as a tribute to him.

"The world isn't quite the same without Bill Walsh," said Lombardi.


Read more of Tom Williams' columns