Vince Lombardi Trophy
| Vince Lombardi Trophy | |
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| Awarded for | Winning the Super Bowl |
| Presented by | National Football League |
| Location | Super Bowl (rotates cities) |
| Country | United States |
| First awarded | 1967 |
| Currently held by | New Orleans Saints |
| Official website | SuperBowl.com |
The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's championship game, the Super Bowl. The original name of the trophy was initially inscribed with the words “World Professional Football Championship” and was referred to generically as the world championship trophy,[1] it has been awarded since 1967 when the Super Bowl's official designation was the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. The trophy was renamed in 1970 in memory of legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi after his sudden death from cancer to commemorate his victories in the first two Super Bowls. There is another Vince Lombardi trophy awarded each year to the campus intramural sports champions of Fordham University, Vince Lombardi's alma mater and where he began his football legacy. The first official awarding of this trophy was in 1980-81 to a squad of student athletes named the BAMFs.
The trophy, created by Tiffany & Co. is valued at $50,000,[2] and depicts a regulation-size football in kicking position that is made entirely of sterling silver, standing 22 inches (56 cm) tall, weighing 7 pounds (3.2 kg), it takes approximately four months and 72 man-hours to create. The words "Vince Lombardi Trophy" are engraved and the NFL shield is affixed in a separate item onto the base. After the trophy is awarded, it is sent back to Tiffany's to be engraved with the winning team's name, the date and final score of the Super Bowl, and then is sent back to the winning team for them to keep. For the first four games, both the NFL and the AFL logos were in the center of the trophy. Starting from Super Bowl V through XLII, the NFL shield with more than 20 stars has been on the forefront. As of Super Bowl XLIII a newer, modernized NFL shield (with eight stars and a rotated football designed akin to that atop the trophy) replaced the older logo. Otherwise, the trophy has had no significant changes made since the first Super Bowl.
Since Super Bowl XXX, it is presented to the winning team's owner on the field following the game. Previously, it was presented inside the winning team's locker room. At every Super Bowl, two Lombardi trophies are present in the unfortunate event that one is accidentally destroyed in celebration.
Unlike trophies such as the Stanley Cup and the Grey Cup, a new Vince Lombardi Trophy is made every year and the winning team maintains permanent possession of that trophy, with one notable exception being the trophy that the then-Baltimore Colts won in Super Bowl V. The city of Baltimore, Maryland retained the trophy the team had from that Super Bowl as part of the legal settlement between the team and the city after the Colts' infamous "Midnight Mayflower" move to Indianapolis, Indiana on March 29, 1984. Since then, both the Colts and the Baltimore Ravens have won the Super Bowl and earned trophies in their own right.
The Pittsburgh Steelers hold the most Vince Lombardi Trophies, with six. The San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys are tied for second with five Vince Lombardi Trophies apiece. The New York Giants, New England Patriots, Green Bay Packers, Washington Redskins, and Oakland Raiders are all tied for third with three apiece.
The New Orleans Saints are the most recent recipient of the Vince Lombardi trophy, awarded for their win in Super Bowl XLIV.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Vince Lombardi Trophy |
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