The Rotary Lombardi Award is hosted by the Rotary Club of Houston and benefits the American Cancer Society. The Award was initiated by the Rotary Club in 1970 shortly after the death of Vince Lombardi to cancer. Rotary Lombardi Award is a member of the National College Football Awards Association.

The Rotary Lombardi Award goes annually to the college football lineman -- offense or defense -- who, in addition to outstanding performance and ability, best exemplifies the discipline of Vince Lombardi. As the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, Lombardi first made a name for himself as the smallest but toughest member of Fordham University's "Seven Blocks of Granite," renowned in their day (1934-37) for being the most unyielding line in college football.

Appropriately, the trophy is a 40-pound block of granite atop a silver pedestal built over a foundation of discipline. The symbolic design was created by Houston Rotarian and professional artist, the late Mark Storm.

A distinguished committee of nearly 400 of America's most prominent college football coaches, football writers, sports broadcasters and previous Rotary Lombardi Award winners and finalists, participate in a three-tiered balloting process. Each year the selection committee selects twelve semifinalists, four finalists and the ultimate winner in balloting conducted by the accounting firm of KPMG Peat Marwick.

All four finalists, their head coaches and sports information directors are brought to Houston for two days of hospital visits , media interviews and local hospitality. The climax of the trip is the annual Rotary Lombardi Dinner, when a sellout crowd gathers to hear the announcement of the winner prior to its release to the national media.

Just weeks after his death in 1970, the Rotary Club of Houston was authorized by Vince Lombardi's widow, Marie, to establish the Lombardi Award, an annual honor which not only recognizes the nation's best collegiate lineman but which also celebrates the memory of one of football's greatest coaches.

As stipulated by Mrs. Vince Lombardi, net proceeds from all Award Dinners and associated activities are contributed to the American Cancer Society to help fight the disease that claimed the life of Coach Lombardi. Since the award's inception in 1970, over $3,100,000 has been raised to help the American Cancer Society's program of cancer research, public education and direct services to cancer patients.

Vince Lombardi guided the Green Bay Packers to their first two Super Bowl titles, leading the Packers to six divisional championships and five NFL Championships in a coaching career that led to his induction into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1971.

A fierce competitor on the field and a highly motivational man off the field, Lombardi first gained notoriety as one of the legendary "seven blocks of granite" while playing collegiately as a lineman at Fordham University in New York in the mid 1930's. He was a high school Latin and chemistry teacher before beginning a collegiate coaching career in his native New York.

He was named head coach of the Green Bay Packers in 1959 at the age of 46 and immediately turned around the fortunes of the Pack, guiding the club from a 1-10-1 mark in 1958 to a 7-5 record in his first season.

After the second of his Super Bowl titles in 1967 , he stepped down from his coaching duties in 1968 and served as Packers general manager. Missing the fast pace of the NFL sidelines, Lombardi accepted a position as general manager and head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1969 and guided Washington to a 7-5-2 mark. Tragically, he was stricken with cancer during that 1969 season and succumbed at the age of 57 in 1970.

Today the legacy of Mr. Lombardi is carried on by his estate, which includes his son, Vince Lombardi as well as by the annual Rotary Lombardi Award.