What today’s Pride Night naysayers could learn from all-time great NFL coach Vince Lombardi
Jason Collins publicly came out as gay in 2013, ESPN ran a feature story chronicling Lombardi’s long-time support of LGBTQ+ rights.
His brother was gay, providing Lombardi with a greater understanding of gay people during a time in which homosexuality was still viewed as taboo.
The partner of Lombardi’s brother, Hal, always said he thought Vince always treated gay people well because of him. Though Hal’s partner, Richard Nicholls, never met Vince (he died suddenly in 1970 due to cancer), he thinks the all-time great Green Bay Packers coach would’ve been supportive regardless.“Through Hal and in what I’d read and seen, Vin was always fair in how he treated everybody,” he told ESPN. “I just thought he appeared to be a great man who accepted people at face value for what they were, and didn’t judge anybody.
He just wanted you to do the job.”Lombardi demanded excellence from his players, and received it. He never endured a losing season, and went 9-1 in the playoffs.
