Vince Lombardi Trophy

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy was originally called the "World Championship Game Trophy" in 1967, when the Super Bowl was originally named the AFL-NFL World Championship Game. It 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.

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. The trophy, created by Tiffany & Co. is valued at $25,000, [ [http://www.superbowl.com/features/general_info] ] and depicts a regulation-size football in kicking position that is made entirely of sterling silver, standing convert|23|in|cm tall, weighing convert|7|lb|kg, it takes approximately four months and 72 man-hours to create. The words "Vince Lombardi Trophy" is 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.

The team is allowed to keep the trophy at their own facility, 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, the team that replaced them in Charm City, have won the Super Bowl and earned their own trophies outright.

As of 2008, the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, and San Francisco 49ers are tied with five Vince Lombardi Trophies apiece, with five more teams tied for second with three apiece.

ee also

*Super Bowl
*List of Super Bowl champions

References