The most recent inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame representing the Green Bay Packers, Jerry Kramer has had a long and interesting football career. Taken by the Packers as the 39th overall selection in the 1958 NFL Draft, he waited 50 years before being inducted in Canton at age 82. Kramer is recognized as one of the toughest Packers to ever play the game.
From his birthplace in Jordan, Montana, to early childhood in Utah, then to Idaho for middle and high school, Kramer moved around a lot but was definitely a standout athlete at Sandpoint High School, doing well enough to earn a scholarship to the University of Idaho. While a Vandal, Kramer not only was a two-way football player but earned a letter for track and field (shot put/discus).
After college, he joined the Green Bay Packers under Scooter McLean, but after finishing with the worst record in the league, the Packers brought in a new coach who would help Kramer become a star: Vince Lombardi. Under Coach Lombardi, Kramer would earn Pro Bowl honors three times, be named to the 1st team All-Pro team five times, be a five time league champion, and most importantly, serve a key role in the Packers winning Super Bowl I and II.
Part of Packer lore is the surgery Kramer had during the 1963 season, in which wood fragments which were lodged in his abdomen from an accident a decade earlier were removed. Kramer is also known for providing the key block that enabled Bart Starr to win the “Ice Bowl” championship game of 1967.
Kramer was named to the NFL’s 1960s All Decade Team as well as the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. (Interestingly, two other Packer players, Jim Taylor and Ray Nitschke, were also taken in the 1958 NFL draft with Kramer and are also enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.)
Kramer has written several books, including a best seller, Instant Replay, which was rereleased in 2006. His CD set, Inside the Locker Room, contains the entirety of Vince Lombardi’s last locker room address to the Packers, recorded after the win in Super Bowl II.
Jerry Kramer has returned to Idaho to spend time with his six children and five grandchildren. Two of Kramer’s sons, Matt and Jordan, followed in their father’s footsteps and played football at Idaho, where there dad’s number is retired. Jerry continues to be active in the community and at Packer events, where he enjoys interacting with fans.
An incredible motivational speaker, Kramer is the true ambassador of “The Teacher” Coach Lombardi. Great stories about overcoming adversity, teamwork, winning/losing and good to great and being things right every time are a few topics you can hear Kramer talk about on stage.
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