Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila Headlines 2013 Packers Hall of Fame Class

The Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame announced their 2013 class of inductees on Tuesday, headlined by the team’s all-time sack leader Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila.

The defensive end will be joined by former kicker Chris Jacke and contributor Emil Fischer.

Gbaja-Biamila, who played for the Packers from 2000-08, finished his Packers career with 74.5 sacks. He had 10 or more sacks from 2001-04. His best seasons came in 2001 and 2004, when he had 13.5 sacks.

Gbaja-Biamila started his Packers career as a situational pass rusher. He didn’t start 16 games in a season until 2003. The thinking was he was too small to hold up as an every-down defensive end and there may have been some truth to that. Gbaja-Biamila never had more than 37 tackles in a season and he went back to being a situational pass rusher in 2006.

Late in career, he actually became more productive as his playing time decreased. Gbaja-Biamila recorded six sacks while starting 13 games in 2006, but put up 9.5 when he started only two in 2007.

His career ended when he was released after seven games in 2008.

Jacke was the Packers kicker during the majority of Mike Holmgren‘s tenure. He’s the Packers third all-time leading scorer behind Ryan Longwell and Don Hutson with 820 points.

Jacke, who kicked for the Packers from 1989-96, also holds team records for most career field goals from 50-plus (17) and most field goals in a game (5). He was a first-team All Pro in 1993.

Jacke left the Packers as a free agent in 1996. He would be replaced by Longwell.

The final member of the class, Fischer, was team president from 1948-52 and chairman of the board from 1952-58. Those were down years for the Packers, but Fischer oversaw the team’s 1950 stock sale and is credited with assuring the Packers place in the NFL after it absorbed the All-America Football Conference.