Does Every Player Get a Lombardi Trophy?

Every player does not get a Super Bowl Trophy. They are offered a replica of the original worth $1000 to $1500 to take it home.  

The Vince Lombardi Trophy replica is generally small and does not weigh as much as the genuine one. The members of the winning team rightfully receive it. 

Once a team wins the finals of the game, the prestigious Super Bowl Trophy popularly known as the Lombardi Trophy is awarded by organizing an awarding ceremony on the field. It is presented generally to the head coach or owner of the team and then passed on to other legendary players of the match. 

During the victory function, the concaved pedestal only consists of the “Vince Lombardi Trophy” and the NFL shield engraved on it. Once the ceremony is over, the trophy is sent back to Tiffiny and Co. to incorporate the winning team’s name and “Super Bowl [Roman numeral for the championship season] Champions.”

The Green Bay Packers were the first team to receive the esteemed insignia of the championship in 1967 and went for it again in 1968. In Super Bowl I, they beat the Kansas City Chiefs and the II was their win against Oakland Raiders. The game was termed the “AFL-NFL Championship Game” at that time.

During the commencement years, there was a tradition of presenting the trophy inside the winning team’s locker room. After 1996, NFL began to hand it to the possessor of the team on the field. At present days, the championship relic is awarded by organizing a big fat event on the field after the match. 

League Championship award is generally presented by the commissioner of the National Football League and presenters from various networks reach out to interview the receivers afterward.

The last Vince Lombardi Trophy for Super Bowl LVII was awarded to Kansas City Chiefs on February 12, 2023. The Chiefs had a 38-35 win over Philadelphia Eagles. The match was played at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona which was physically attended by 67,827 fans.

Yes, every player gets a Super Bowl Ring if they are from the winning team. The ring is categorized into classes A, B, and C. 

The design is customized every year to give it a luxurious flashy look with immense use of gemstones and diamonds and includes players’ names, the team’s logo, jersey numbers, and “World Champions” and “Super Bowl [number in Roman numerals] engraved on it. 

Super Bowl Ring history has seen many of them featuring a trophy or ball-shaped diamond on the top in such a way that it indicates at least some achievements of the team including the number of super bowl trophies it has or the winning score and more. 

The outline of the collectible memento symbol completely relies on the team’s thoughts and the weight of their pocket. The NFL shares only $5000-$7000 expenses per ring up to 150 rings for the champions. 

All other additional expenditures are to be taken care of by the team itself. The ring thus crafted is presented in an appealing elegant box to the players. 

Who Can Receive The Super Bowl Rings?

The Super Bowl Champion team can present the circlet to whomsoever they want including:

• All players including active, inactive, and those on injured reserves
• Head coach and members of the coaching staff
• Trainers
• Team executives and official personnel
• General Club staff including those in the front office
• Former coaches and Players who have been a part of the team at any point in the season
• Sometimes for the fans as a charitable purpose

Although the ring is distributed to most of the personnel involved in the team, the trend of the past 15-20 years shows the culture of giving less valued ones to the non-players and front office staff. 

Class A is given to the active players and coaches involved in the match which contains lots of diamonds and rose gold, class B consists of a metal Lambordi Trophy with diamonds surrounding and the class C ring has no diamond at all.

This was widely practiced by Redskins in Super Bowl XVII and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII.

The excessive use of jewelry has taken the Bowl ring to the next level. For instance, Last year, the Los Angeles Rams’ use of .23 and .26-carat diamond in their ring was the most diamond-carat weight in championship history. 

Similarly, the Buccaneer’s Super Bowl LV victory was marked by the introduction of the ring having 319 diamonds to signify their 31-9 win over the Chiefs. It also had a removable top that unveiled a replica of Raymond James Stadium.

Besides all of these, some losing teams also receive the ring, not worth as much as the winning team but given for their win to become champions of their respective conference. 

It is called Vince Lombardi Trophy to honor the great coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi who led the team to win two Super Bowls in a row. 

The original trophy however was not termed the Vince Lombardi Trophy but rather World Professional Football Championship Trophy. It was only called so after the death of Lombardi in 1970.

The history regarding the design of the trophy is interesting to take note of. A lunch meeting was scheduled between Oscar Reinder, the president of Tiffany and Co., and NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle in 1966. 

It is said that Reinder had no idea about American Football at that time and he was watching the games to be prepared for his meeting. During that time, he tore a box and cut the present-day concave pedestal, and fixed the design to submit.

So when they met at the lunch, Riender sketched the outline of the trophy on a cocktail Napkin and was immediately approved by Rozelle. The trophy is being presented in the same design of a ball ready to be kicked held by a concave pedestal ever since. 

The first of all was manufactured by Tiffany and Co. and later they began hand-crafting it in Parsippany, New Jersey. Since 2017, it is made at Tiffany and Co. Forest Hill manufacturing facility located in Cumberland, Rhode Island.

The first renamed trophy was received by the Baltimore Colts for their win over the Dallas Cowboys in the finals of the Super Bowl V. 

Different from all other trophies including the Grey Cup and the Stanly Cup, every year a new Lombardi Trophy is cast and the winning team is awarded and they get to keep it permanently. 

The Super Bowl Logo design has been featuring the Lombardi Cup since Super Bowl XLV.

The Vince Lombardi Trophy is made of sterling silver sheets which are imported from Italy. The trophy is 22 inches (56 cm) tall and weighs 7 lbs. 

The triangular-concave base holds a regular-sized game ball entirely made up of silver. The trophy is given a realistic touch in such a way that it even has dimples like that of the original game of football. They are had-punched and the whole of the trophy is hand-made. 

The four different silversmithing techniques are applied while manufacturing the relic. At first, the silversmith heats the silver up to 537 degrees and solders it, and molds it into the trophy. The engraving on the cup is also done by hand.

It is worth $50,000 and takes a total of four months time to complete the production. After the manufacturing is completed it is polished to give its shine back.

The Trophy has not undergone any significant changes in its design except the appearance and disappearance of the NFL and AFL logos, the engraving of the only NFL logo, and the inclusion of a slightly redesigned logo of the National Football League. Other than that, it has not seen a single modification and stands today as it was in 1967.

The esteemed cup is owned by Pittsburgh Steelers the most in number which is six. Similarly, the Dallas Cowboys and the San Fransisco 49ers have five each of the Super Bowl Championship Trophy. 

Vince Lombardi Trophy’s history dates back to 1967 when it was first awarded to the Buccaneers. Since that time it’s been awarded to 56 teams to date. 

Let’s look at the list of Lombardi Trophy Winners since 2000 in the table below: