Total Packers has been rooting for Jerry Kramer to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame for many years. Our persistence was rewarded on Saturday, when Kramer was named as one of this year’s eight inductees.
Monty nicely made the case that that Jerry should be in the HOF back in 2014.
Here are some other bits of miscellany.
This was the 11th time Kramer had been nominated for the honor.
He was born in Montana, played on the Sandpoint, Idaho high school team and at the University of Idaho, and then spent all his 11 years with the Green Bay Packers, including all nine years when Vince Lombardi was the coach.
A sometimes placekicker (pre-soccer-style), Kramer kicked 90 extra points and 29 field goals for the green and gold.
His college roommate was Wayne Walker, who went on to be a three-time All-Pro linebacker for the Detroit Lions. Walker also was at times a placekicker in the pros.
Things have changed: the 6’3” lineman played at a weight of 245 pounds.
Kramer wasn’t the picture of health. He underwent 22 surgeries in his time with the team – some due to non-football accidents.
He was previously inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (1975), the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame (1993), and the Idaho Athletic Hall of Fame (2015).
Kramer is also a member of the NFL’s 50th Anniversary team – with his selection, every member of that team is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The 16 players on the team were selected in 1969. Joining Kramer were Packers receiver Don Hutson, linebacker Ray Nitschke, and tackle Cal Hubbard.
Kramer collaborated with Dick Schaap to produce the best-selling Instant Replay, which primarily chronicled his 1967 season with the Packers. The book had the perfect ending: Kramer’s block that allowed Bart Starr to sneak into the end zone in the epic “Ice Bowl” game.
He has six children and five grandchildren.
To raise college funds for his grandkids, he auctioned off his ring from the first Super Bowl. It sold for $125,000.
Kramer has been known for actively promoting himself for years as deserving to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Though he’s now 82, he still advertises himself as being available as a motivational speaker and for personal appearances at sports memorabilia shows, birthdays, anniversaries, book signings, and bar openings.
After living for years on a ranch in Parma, Idaho, Kramer now resides in Boise.