Until now, Dan Lauria was best known for his role as the loving, doting Dad on the hit ABC television series, “The Wonder Years.”
But now, Lauria has been enjoying a different role, portraying legendary football coach Vince Lombardi in the Broadway show, “Lombardi,” based on the coach’s life with the famed Green Bay Packer teams of the 1960s.
It’s a role that Lauria, who used to live in Ridgewood for a while, was born to play.
“After I was picked to play the part, I did a lot of research on Coach Lombardi,” Lauria said after a recent performance of the show, which opened to rave reviews at the Circle in the Square Theater on 50th Street in New York last week. “The NFL was great in helping me and they got me in touch with some of the old Packer players.”
Lauria said that he spent about an hour with Hall of Fame lineman Fuzzy Thurston to talk about Lombardi, the New Jersey native who got his start coaching high school football in Bergen County at the now-defunct St. Cecelia’s of Englewood.
“I got some great stories from the Packers,” Lauria said. “It helped with getting some of his mechanisms and characteristics down.”
Lauria was a football player during his days growing up in Lindenhurst, N.Y.
“When I was a junior in high school, we were the best team in New York State and we got a trophy presented to us by Vince Lombardi, who was an assistant coach with the Giants at the time,” Lauria said. “I got to shake Coach Lombardi’s hand. I knew who he was at the time, because I was a big Giants fan and still am.”
Lauria said that when the current cast of “Lombardi” did the show in Green Bay, he admitted to the audience that he was a Giants fan.
“I almost got killed for saying that,” Lauria laughed.
Lauria was also a football coach in his younger days, serving as a graduate assistant coach at the University of Iowa under the legendary Hayden Fry, so playing a football coach isn’t a hard stretch.
“I really had a lot of help from the NFL after taking the role,” Lauria said. “We also had people come out of the woodwork to help.”
Legendary Bergen County football coach Mickey Cochrane, a close, personal friend of Lombardi’s who coached Bill Parcells in high school, offered his advice as well.
“A lot of people came out and wanted to be a part of it,” Lauria said. “It really made it fun work. I don’t think I’ve ever had more help in researching a role. It made me feel almost like Lombardi’s foot came across my tail and kicked me, saying, ‘It’s game time.’”
The play, which stars Lauria as the coach and famed TV actress Judith Light of “Who’s the Boss” fame as Marie Lombardi, the coach’s wife, was performed in previews throughout September.
Several local coaches, like St. Anthony basketball coach Bob Hurley and North Bergen football coach Vince Ascolese, were able to see the show, as did this columnist.
Ascolese recalled a time that he went to a clinic in Atlantic City in the 1960s and met Lombardi.
“He asked me if Joe Coviello was still coaching,” Ascolese recalled about his meeting with Lombardi.
The late Coviello was the greatest football coach ever in Memorial High School history and was once the all-time leader in coaching victories in New Jersey.
“You know, he once beat me,” Lombardi told Ascolese about Coviello.
It’s a true fact. When Coviello was coaching at Memorial, his team defeated Lombardi and St. Cecelia’s, 43-6, in 1946.
The show is a must-see for all local football fans. Lauria truly becomes Vince Lombardi. You almost forget you’re watching an actor. He’s Lombardi through and through, down to the wire-framed glasses and intimidating scowl.
“I really felt like he was Lombardi,” Ascolese said. “It was uncanny.”
Make sure you get a chance to see “Lombardi” on Broadway….
This week’s local grid observations: While Ronald Butler of Lincoln earns the Athlete of the Week nod, there were other impressive performances last week.
Eddie Delgado of Secaucus had a great game in the Patriots’ impressive 26-17 win over Glen Rock last week. The talented Patriot back collected 244 yards on 28 carries and scored three touchdowns in the victory….
Talk about déjà vu. A year ago, Savon Huggins of St. Peter’s Prep earned Athlete of the Week honors and a week later, he broke the school’s rushing record, going for 312 yards in a win over St. Joseph of Montvale.
Well, last week, a week after he was the Athlete of the Week for gaining 178 yards and five TDs against Union City, Huggins went one step better, rushing for 201 yards on just 11 carries, all in the first half, with five more touchdowns, leading the Marauders to a huge 56-0 win over Bayonne.
So much for that Athlete of the Week jinx…
Speaking of that Prep win over Bayonne, it’s very apparent that the Marauders have to do something to find better competition, that facing the Hudson County teams is no longer a viable option. These teams facing the Marauders are just not competitive and it’s not going to get any better the next two weeks, when Prep takes on Memorial and Ferris….
Also, this is the worst year for unbalance among the local grid teams. There are a handful of good teams, like seven at most, and then the rest are beyond awful and totally non-competitive. That idea has to be addressed as well in the future…
Power point update: The logjam of local teams reside in North Jersey Section 2, Group I, where unbeaten 6-0 Secaucus is currently in second place with 82 points, trailing only New Providence. Lincoln (5-1) has 80 points, which is currently good for fifth place, but only two points separate the No. 2 and No. 5 seeds. Hoboken (5-1) has 63 points and is currently sitting in seventh place in the standings. It sure makes for interesting times the final two weeks before the cutoff.
In North Section 1, Group IV, North Bergen (4-2) is in good position, currently sitting fourth. With two wins, the Bruins can clinch a home game in the first round. Union City (3-3) is currently eighth in the bracket and the Soaring Eagles can get in with wins over Morris Catholic and North Bergen in the next two weeks.
In Non-Public Group 1, St. Anthony (6-0) has already clinched a playoff berth and right now owns the top seed in the bracket with 95 points, which means home games for the Friars in the first two rounds.
In Non-Public Group 4, the Marauders of St. Peter’s Prep (5-1) have 87 power points, good for fifth place in the toughest bracket in New Jersey. The Marauders will need some major help to climb into the top four spots, so it appears like the Marauders will be road warriors in the upcoming state playoffs…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Football Top Five: 1. St. Peter’s Prep (5-1). 2. St. Anthony (6-0). 3. Secaucus (6-0). 4. Lincoln (5-1). 5. North Bergen (4-2)…
Hudson Reporter H.S. Soccer Top Five: 1. Bayonne (10-2-2). 2. St. Peter’s Prep (11-5). 3. Union City (9-4-1). 4. North Bergen (7-6-2). 5. Secaucus (7-5-1)…–Jim Hague
Jim Hague can be reached at OGSMAR@aol.com.