That First Season

How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory

By: John Eisenberg

Narrated by: Pat Young

John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader.

The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City. In a single year, Vince Lombardi - the grizzled coach who took no bull - transformed a team of underachievers into winners and resurrected a city known for its passion for sport.

That First Season chronicles Vince Lombardi's remarkable first year as head coach with the franchise he would reinvent and etch forever in football history. In a single year, as the grizzled coach who took no bull, he would transform a team of underachievers into winners and reignite a city known for its passion for its sport.

Eisenberg pushes away the mist that surrounds the Lombardi legend to bring listeners the real story of how the seeds of a football dynasty were sown. He also brings alive an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader.

©2009 John Eisenberg (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

The early stories of the Green Bay Packers

A wonderful look at what it takes to succeed from a time gone by. Stories most people have never heard because what we focus on and remember are the championships. Not what it took to get there. Highly recommended!

Terrific Content- Amazingly poor narration

Really enjoyed to content and the story. Hard to imagine someone writing a book and allowing the reckless mispronunciation to be as bad as this was. It really took away from the story that was being told. It's as if they pulled someone out of the grocery store and had them read this in the parking lot having never checked the proper names pronunciation of people or towns. Vince would've cringed.

Outstanding story from Lombardi Packers lore fans

Outstanding story from Lombardi Packers lore fans. Let's you in on the realities of what Coach Lombardi and the team went through, physically, mentally, and emotionally, not just the superman champion stuff.

Great story, but have issues with the reading

This is an unbelievable story of how Vince Lombardi turned around the Green Bay Packers in one season. Truly a great story. However, it was kind of hard to listen to at times because the names of many players and cities were just butchered. You would think they would ask somebody how to pronounce them instead of just guessing. Some were so far off I wasn't even sure who they were talking about, and I've lived in Green Bay my whole life.

Narration questionable

I feel like if someone is going to narrate a book about Vince Lombardi, they should know how to pronounce Wisconsin cities. Oh well, still a great book!