Idaho joins effort to get Kramer into Hall of Fame
BOISE — Members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio are among the most elite, recognizable and honored athletes of their time. They have been rewarded for their skill and dedication to the game, but the roster of Hall of Fame legends remains incomplete — one great player from the glory days of the Green Bay Packers is missing.
That oversight has football fans and an entire state rallying around the cause of Packer legend and Sandpoint and University of Idaho alumnus, number 64, Jerry Kramer.
Kramer is the only member of the NFL’s 50th Anniversary All-Time team not in the Hall of Fame, but even more impressively those who played with and against him agree that Kramer belongs in Canton.
The University of Idaho in conjunction with Gallatin Public Affairs, is asking all football fans to put the old rivalries aside and join together in support of Kramer’s nomination to the Pro-Football Hall of Fame.
“Jerry Kramer is not just a great football player, but a great Idahoan and he represents very well what we call a legacy of leading,” said Duane Nellis, University of Idaho president. “I strongly encourage Idahoans to take a few moments and write a letter endorsing his selection to the Hall of Fame. A new generation of football fans and those who make the selection decisions deserve to know more about one of Idaho’s and the game’s true greats.”
The “Get Kramer to the Hall” effort is a true grassroots movement by Kramer’s supporters who feel there has been an athletic injustice to an Idahoan who is indisputably one of the best professional football players ever. Kramer is known for many things during his 10 year career in the NFL: his Packers won two Super Bowls, five NFL championships and he was a perennial All-Pro selection.
In addition to being named to the 50th Anniversary team, Kramer was selected for the NFL 1960’s All-Decade team. Kramer kicked the winning field goal in the 1962 NFL Championship game and made what many consider the most famous block in NFL history against the Dallas Cowboys when he paved the way for Packer quarterback Bart Starr to score as time was running out in the famous “Ice Bowl” game in 1967.
Gallatin Public Affairs, on a volunteer basis, has helped coordinate the “Get Kramer to the Hall” campaign along with Kramer’s daughter. The firm’s Idaho office will be submitting a nomination packet to the Hall of Fame Senior Selection Committee on June 1.
The nomination packet will include statements of support from 15 Hall of Fame coaches and players, including Frank Gifford, Roger Staubach, Bob Lilly, Larry Csonka, Joe Gibbs and Alex Karras. Letters of recommendation from these NFL greats reveal both their surprise that Kramer is not already enshrined with the best and that his career as arguably the best offensive lineman of his generation is worth of the Hall of Fame.
“Jerry Kramer belongs in the Hall of Fame and quite frankly, I thought he had already been inducted,” says Frank Gifford, Hall of Fame 1997.
“Jerry Kramer is a Hall of Fame lineman,” says Roger Staubach, Hall of Fame 1985.
“He is still a player that means a lot in the NFL. Jerry Kramer played offensive line the way it is supposed to be played. Canton isn’t complete without Jerry Kramer,” says Jordan Gross, 2 time NFL Pro Bowl.
“Certainly a man that laid the ground work for (Paul) Hornung, (Jim) Taylor, and Bart Starr should be in the Hall as well,” says Larry Csonka, Hall of Fame 1987.
The last time the Pro-Football Hall of Fame considered Kramer was in 1997. His daughter Alicia has worked diligently to get him considered again and inducted, now it is time for the public to show its support for a great player and a great Idahoan.
All Idahoans and all football fans are being asked to write a letter or send a postcard in support of Kramer and his contributions to professional football.
Pro Football Hall of Fame
Attn: Nominations
2121 George Halas Drive N.W.
Canton, OH 44708
Editor’s note: Last year a host of Daily Bee readers sent in reasons why Kramer should be in the Hall of Fame. The list was then hand-mailed to all of the Hall of Fame voters.
Since Kramer is a Sandpoint native, please take a few minutes and let the Hall of Fame know about its glaring omission of a worthy member.