A 50-year wait for a Green Bay Packers legend is finally over. Jerry Kramer will be a Pro Football Hall of Famer.
Kramer, the right guard who helped open holes for Hall of Fame backs Paul Hornung and Jim Taylor, and protected Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr on five NFL championship teams, was selected from senior committee candidacy for induction into the Hall of Fame Saturday in Minneapolis.
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His enshrinement will happen in August at the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Jerry Kramer is in! @ProFootballHOF Class of 2018! #PFHOF18 pic.twitter.com/kQdDHMmVfI
— NFL (@NFL) February 4, 2018
Kramer, a member of the Packers from 1958-68, will be the 14th member of the Lombardi-era Packers to receive enshrinement. That team won five NFL titles from 1961-67, a record for one franchise in a decade - and an unprecedented three titles in a row (1965-67).
The 4th round draft pick from the University of Idaho was a five-time first-team All-Pro member and a three-time Pro Bowler.
He was chosen as a member of the NFL's 50th anniversary team, the only member so far not to receive enshrinement. He also was named to the 1960's first-team All-Decade team.
Jerry Kramer getting the news from @ProFootballHOF President David Baker! #PFHOF18 pic.twitter.com/jLY0KuOPTW
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) February 4, 2018
Not only was he a right guard, but with Paul Hornung injured in 1962, Kramer took over the kicking duties for the team.
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In the 1962 NFL title game, he booted three field goals and an extra point, 10 of the Packers' 16 points in their 16-7 victory over the New York Giants to win their second title.
The fifth and final title put Kramer forever in the NFL spotlight, as with 16 seconds left in the "Ice Bowl" 1967 NFL title game, the incredible part he played on a double-team block of Cowboys defensive tackle Jethro Pugh (a play he says he suggested during the week) launched Bart Starr forward to the game-clinching touchdown in a 21-17 win.
After his retirement in 1968 and his first year of eligibility in 1974, Kramer had been passed over 43 times for candidacy for the Hall of Fame - until today.
