The Vince Lombardi Trophy, also known simply as the Lombardi Trophy or just the Lombardi, is the

trophy A trophy is a tangible, decorative item used to remind of a specific achievement, serving as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most commonly awarded for sports, sporting events, ranging from youth sports to professional level athlet ...

awarded each year to the winning team of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

's championship game, the

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

. The trophy is named in honor of NFL coach Vince Lombardi, who led the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

to victories in the first two Super Bowl games. During lunch with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1966, Tiffany & Co. vice president Oscar Riedner made a sketch on a cocktail napkin of what would become the Vince Lombardi Trophy: a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

in a kicking position on a three concave sided stand. The original trophy was produced by Tiffany & Co. in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. Others have since been handcrafted by the company in Parsippany, New Jersey. As of 2017, the trophy is produced at the Tiffany & Co. Forest Hill manufacturing facility in Cumberland, Rhode Island. The first trophy, inscribed with the words "World Professional Football Championship," was awarded to the

on January 15, 1967, after they defeated the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I. Following the death of Vince Lombardi in September , the trophy was officially renamed in his memory. It was presented for the first time as the Vince Lombardi Trophy to the Baltimore Colts after their victory over the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. T ...

in Super Bowl V. Originally, the trophy was presented inside the winning team's locker room. Since Super Bowl XXX in January 1996, it has been presented to the owner of the winning team on the field. Packers team president and CEO Bob Harlan and Mark Murphy accepted the trophy on behalf of the Green Bay community after Super Bowl XXXI and Super Bowl XLV, respectively. Unlike trophies such as the

Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup () is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, and the International Ic ...

and the

Grey Cup The Grey Cup () is both the championship game of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the trophy awarded to the victorious team playing in the namesake championship of professional Canadian football. The game is contested between the winners ...

, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is cast every year, and the winning team maintains permanent possession of it. The one exception is the trophy won by the then- Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V. The city of

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

retained possession of the trophy, albeit a replica, as part of the legal settlement after the Colts made their infamous "Midnight Mayflower" relocation to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

, Indiana, on March 29, 1984. Both the relocated Colts and their successors, the Ravens, have since earned trophies in their own right. Since Super Bowl XLV, the Vince Lombardi Trophy has been prominently featured in the Super Bowl logo design.

Appearance

The Vince Lombardi Trophy stands tall, weighs 107.3 ounces or approximately and depicts a

in a kicking position on a three concave sided stand, and is entirely made of sterling silver. The words "Vince Lombardi Trophy" along with the

Roman numerals Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

of that year's Super Bowl are engraved on and the NFL shield is affixed onto the base. After the trophy is awarded, it is sent back to Tiffany's to be engraved with the names of the participating teams, the date, location, and the game's final score. It is then sent back to the winning team for them to keep. Smaller replicas are made for each person on the winning team. For the first four championship games, both the NFL and the AFL logos were in the center of the trophy. Starting from Super Bowl V, only the NFL shield was on the front. Beginning with

Super Bowl XXXVIII Super Bowl XXXVIII was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2003 Carolina Panthers season, Carolina Panthers and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2003 New England Patriots season, New E ...

, the shield took on a frosted appearance. Starting with Super Bowl XLIII, the slightly redesigned NFL shield began appearing on the trophy, still with a frosted appearance. Other than the logo, the trophy has had no significant changes made since the first

. While no franchise possesses all four versions, the Green Bay Packers, New England Patriots, New York Giants, and Pittsburgh Steelers have three of the four designs.

Rob Gronkowski denting incident

On April 9, 2019, Rob Gronkowski (who had retired from the New England Patriots two weeks before) used the Super Bowl LIII Vince Lombardi trophy as a bat to bunt a practice pitch from wide receiver Julian Edelman during the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

season opener where he was to throw the ceremonial first pitch with his former teammates. It left a baseball-sized dent in the trophy, his third overall, and his former team's sixth. The humorous documentary-style video released by the Patriots about the incident became popular, with special teamer Matthew Slater, who witnessed the incident first hand, saying that if anyone can get away with it, it would be the "MVP (Edelman) and the future Hall of Famer (Gronkowski)." Patriots vice president of media relations Stacey James stated that, "Maybe they’ll fix it down the road. That’s something they can always fix in the future, but at least for now, we’re going to keep the dent and tell the story."

Teams with most Vince Lombardi Trophies

The Super Bowl is currently played in early February (the game originally took place in early to mid-January), culminating a regular season that generally begins in September of the previous calendar year. For example, Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7, 2016, determined the league champion for the 2015 NFL season. The years shown below refer to the season, not the date that the Super Bowl was actually played: * Six: The

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

( 1974,

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 – Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, 2008) are tied with the New England Patriots (

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, 2003,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, 2016,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

) with six wins. * Five: The

(

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, 1977,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, 1993, 1995) and the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

( 1981, 1984, 1988, 1989,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

) are tied for third with five each. * Four: The

(

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Canadian Confederation, Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 6 – Vietnam War: United States Marine Corps and Army of ...

, 1996,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

), the New York Giants ( 1986, 1990, 2007,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

), and the Kansas City Chiefs ( 1969, 2019,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, 2023) are tied for fifth with four each. * Three: The Las Vegas Raiders (as

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

, as Los Angeles Raiders

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

), the Washington Redskins (now Commanders) ( 1982,

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

, 1991), and the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

( 1997, 1998,

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

) are tied for eighth with three each. Although none of these teams have ever won three straight Super Bowls, two teams have won three Lombardi trophies in four years and one team twice won the trophy two out of three consecutive years: The Dallas Cowboys (1992, 1993, 1995) and the New England Patriots (2001, 2003, 2004) and (2014, 2016) and (2016, 2018). The Pittsburgh Steelers won four Super Bowls in six years (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979). As an individual player, Tom Brady, a former quarterback with the New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, won seven Super Bowls in his career, more than any single NFL franchise. As an individual coach, Bill Belichick, a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants and Head coach with New England Patriots, has won eight Super Bowls in his career, more than any single NFL franchise or player.

Presentation ceremony

The trophy has been presented on a stage constructed on the field since Super Bowl XXX in 1996. A personality from the network broadcasting the game handles the presentation ceremony. Terry Bradshaw has hosted every presentation for Fox since Super Bowl XXXI, with the exception of Super Bowl XLVIII, when Michael Strahan substituted for him. Jim Nantz has handled the duties for CBS since Super Bowl XXXV. Dan Patrick hosted the ceremony for NBC from Super Bowl XLIII to Super Bowl LII. Mike Tirico hosted the ceremony for NBC for Super Bowl LVI. The winning owner, winning coach, winning quarterback, and (if not a quarterback) the game MVP are usually recognized. "The Lombardi Trophy Theme," composed by David Robidoux in 2005, plays during the trophy handoff. From

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at th ...

Super Bowl XXIX Super Bowl XXIX was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion San Diego Chargers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion San Francisco 49ers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...

, the trophy was held by the commissioner to begin the ceremony and the commissioner then handed the trophy directly to the team owner in the winning locker room. The lone exception to this was in Super Bowl V where the trophy presentation ceremony wasn't done by the commissioner but instead by Vince Lombardi's widow, Marie. From Super Bowl XXX to Super Bowl XXXIX, then from Super Bowl LIV to Super Bowl LVII, and again in Super Bowl LIX, the trophy was set on the stage to begin the ceremony and the commissioner handed the trophy directly to the team owner on the field. From Super Bowl XL to Super Bowl LIII, and also in Super Bowl LVIII, a former NFL player, usually a past Super Bowl MVP or notable figure of the host city's franchise, brought the Lombardi Trophy to the center of the stadium, as he walked past members of the winning team. Players who have partaken in Lombardi Trophy presentation ceremonies are listed below: * Super Bowl XL Presentation – Bart Starr (MVP,

and Super Bowl II) * Super Bowl XLI Presentation – Don Shula (former Miami Dolphins head coach) * Super Bowl XLII Presentation – Doug Williams (MVP, Super Bowl XXII) * Super Bowl XLIII Presentation –

Joe Namath Joseph William Namath (; ; born May 31, 1943), nicknamed "Broadway Joe", is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL) for 13 seaso ...

(MVP,

Super Bowl III Super Bowl III was an American football championship game played on January 12, 1969, at the Miami Orange Bowl, Orange Bowl in Miami, Miami, Florida. It was the third AFL–NFL Championship Game in professional American football, and the fi ...

) *

Super Bowl XLIV Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) c ...

Presentation – Len Dawson (MVP, Super Bowl IV) * Super Bowl XLV Presentation – Roger Staubach (former

quarterback and MVP, Super Bowl VI) * Super Bowl XLVI Presentation – Raymond Berry (former Baltimore Colts split end; coached New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX) * Super Bowl XLVII Presentation – Richard Dent (MVP, Super Bowl XX, played in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

) * Super Bowl XLVIII Presentation – Marcus Allen (MVP, Super Bowl XVIII) *

Super Bowl XLIX Super Bowl XLIX was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2014 NFL season, 2014 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2014 New England Patriots season, New Eng ...

Presentation – Kurt Warner (former

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

quarterback and MVP, Super Bowl XXXIV) * Super Bowl 50 Presentation – Terrell Davis (MVP, Super Bowl XXXII), who handed it to Namath, who handed it to Lynn Swann (MVP, Super Bowl X) * Super Bowl LI Presentation –

Willie McGinest William Lee McGinest Jr. (born December 11, 1971) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college footbal ...

(former New England Patriots linebacker), who handed it to Michael Strahan (former New York Giants defensive end). * Super Bowl LII Presentation – Darrell Green (former

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

cornerback, Super Bowl XVIII, Super Bowl XXII,

Super Bowl XXVI Super Bowl XXVI was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Washington Redskins and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Buffalo Bills to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion f ...

(played in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

)) * Super Bowl LIII Presentation – Vince Wilfork (former New England Patriots nose tackle), who handed it to Emmitt Smith (MVP, Super Bowl XXVIII (played in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

)), who handed it to Joe Namath. * Super Bowl LVIII Presentation - Larry Csonka (MVP, Super Bowl VIII), who handed it to John Elway (MVP,

Super Bowl XXXIII Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion and defending Super Bowl XXXII champion 1998 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion ...

Gallery

References