Any discussion of the most influential names of NFL history is certain to include Vince Lombardi and George Halas.

The two men were the legendary head coaches in the most ancient – and bitter – rivalry in NFL history, the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. Their animosity on the field, however, shadowed a deeply respectful relationship off it.

Lombardi arrived in Green Bay in 1959. By then, Halas was in another successful stint as the Bears’ head coach, a role in which he served intermittently between 1920-68. During, and after, that time, he ran the Bears’ front office. Under his watch in Chicago, the Bears collected eight NFL titles.

Their relationship, at least indirectly, dated to Lombardi’s time as a New York Giants’ offensive assistant from 1954-58.

In the 1956 NFL title game,

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