Michael Irvin wants to add Belichick’s name to the Lombardi Trophy
Aug/06/12 08:10 AM Filed in:
Michael IrvinHall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin knows how hard it is to win three Super Bowls, because he’s done it. And he says he’s so impressed with Patriots coach Bill Belichick winning three Super Bowls that the NFL should rename the trophy that goes to the Super Bowl winner and put Belichick’s name on it.
Irvin told the Boston Herald that if he had his way, he’d change the name of the Vince Lombardi Trophy to recognize Belichick as well.
“I think the world of Belichick,” Irvin said. “I told him this, ‘Man, if it was up to me, that trophy would be called the Lombardi/Belichick.’ I don’t care what they think. It would be called the Lombardi/Belichick. That’s how good he is to do what he’s doing in this day and age, what the league is now. I would call it the Lombardi/Belichick.”
The trophy given to the Super Bowl winners was just referred to as the “world championship trophy” for the first four years of its existence, but when Vince Lombardi — who led the Packers to victory in Super Bowls I and II — died in 1970, the name was changed to the Vince Lombardi Trophy, starting with Super Bowl V. Honoring Lombardi wasn’t just about recognizing his multiple titles, it was also about his role as one of the towering figures in the NFL during the era when the Super Bowl became America’s biggest annual sporting event.
If we’re going to add Belichick’s name, why not also add the name of four-time Super Bowl-winning coach Chuck Noll? Or three-time Super Bowl-winning coaches Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs? Or two-time Super Bowl-winning coaches Jimmy Johnson, Tom Coughlin, Mike Shanahan, Tom Flores, Tom Landry and Don Shula? Maybe we should call it the Lombardi/Belichick/ Noll/Walsh/ Gibbs/Johnson/ Coughlin/Shanahan/Flores/ Landry/Shula Trophy.
(profootballtalk.com)