This should FINALLY be the perfect year for Jerry Kramer.
Kramer, a standout offensive guard with Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers, the Idaho product has too long been ignored when it comes to joining the NFL's Hall of Fame.
For whatever reason (or reasons) the voting media has not opened the HOF door for Kramer, though many of those he faced en route to being part of five NFL titles (and the first two Super Bowl Champions) have endorsed him time and time again.
I’ve enjoyed watching some tremendous athletes perform in the NFL over the years. But, I find it
hard to understand how, year after year, the HOF can bypass Jerry Kramer for inclusion. Kramer was a do-everything kind of player, a throw-back.
How versatile was he? In the 1962 and '63 seasons, he filled in as a placekicker (straight-ahead, old-school!) and did so with success, He was a major factor in Green Bay winning the NFL title in 1962 -- the first of five -- when he hit field goals of 26, 29 and 30 yards in a 16-7 win. He was 9 of 11 in field goals in that '62 regular season. In all he hit 29 of 54 regular season field goals AND tacked on 90 of 95 extra points.
Here's an OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, for goodness sake, who scored nearly 200 points. Here's a multiple all-pro, key versatile member of five NFL title teams with the Green Bay Packers AND starting guard on the NFL’s First 50 Years squad -- Yet he’s the only member of that group not good enough for the NFL’s Hall of Fame?
How versatile was he? In the 1962 and '63 seasons, he filled in as a placekicker (straight-ahead, old-school!) and did so with success, He was a major factor in Green Bay winning the NFL title in 1962 -- the first of five -- when he hit field goals of 26, 29 and 30 yards in a 16-7 win. He was 9 of 11 in field goals in that '62 regular season. In all he hit 29 of 54 regular season field goals AND tacked on 90 of 95 extra points.
Here's an OFFENSIVE LINEMAN, for goodness sake, who scored nearly 200 points. Here's a multiple all-pro, key versatile member of five NFL title teams with the Green Bay Packers AND starting guard on the NFL’s First 50 Years squad -- Yet he’s the only member of that group not good enough for the NFL’s Hall of Fame?
Kramer is a finalist this year, and the announcement will come at Super Bowl LII. It's time for the NFL to do the right thing and do so while he is still alive and can enjoy the honor – we are losing
greats from the 1960s and ‘70s at an alarming rate.
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