A championship ring awarded to legendary National Football League coach Vince Lombardi in 1956 will be among seven lots featured in SCP Auctions' Winter Premier online auction, which begins Jan. 4.
Lombardi, who led the Green Bay Packers to a 98-30-4 record and five NFL titles from 1959 to 1968 — including victories in the first two Super Bowls — was an offensive assistant for the Giants in 1956 when New York defeated the Chicago Bears 47-7 at Yankee Stadium.
The items were consigned by the late coach's only son, Vince Lombardi Jr., Sports Collectors Daily reported. The ring is 10-karat gold and was given to Lombardi after coach Jim Lee Howell's team added a championship win after an 8-3-1 season. It was New York's first NFL title in 18 years; the Giants would not win another NFL title until Super Bowl XXI in January 1987.
The other items that will be auctioned include a congratulatory telegram to Lombardi from President John F. Kennedy in 1961; a Packers’ 14-karat gold and diamond cufflink; a Patek Philippe wristwatch presented to the Packers coach on “George Halas Night” in September 1968 by the Chicago Athletic Association; and a Bulova wristwatch given to Lombardi in August 1968 before the Bishop’s Charities Game against the Giants.
“It is truly an honor for SCP Auctions to put these items up for bid on behalf of the Lombardi Family,” SCP Auctions president David Kohler said in a news release.
Bidding will end on Jan. 21.
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