GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Relatives of Vince Lombardi are criticizing media reports suggesting that the family ignored the grave of the legendary Green Bay Packers coach and left its upkeep to a stranger.
The family wrote a letter to the Green Bay Press Gazette that was published online Friday. The letter took issue with a May 26 Press Gazette column that also ran on The Associated Press wire.
The column detailed the efforts of a man who tends the New Jersey burial plot out of admiration for Lombardi. Individuals quoted in the column say the grave was in disarray and wonder why the family was ignoring it.
The family's letter says the local Knights of Columbus had been tending to the site since the mid-1970s. It says it's incorrect to say the gravesite was ever abandoned.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
