CANTON, Ohio — The long, long wait for Jerry Kramer has ended. At last, the star guard of the Green Bay Packers has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
A senior committee nominee, Kramer became eligible in 1974 after 11 seasons with the Packers in which he won five NFL championships and two Super Bowls. Now 82, he admitted to being bitter when often passed over for the hall, but that any such feelings "disappeared" when he got in this year.
Kramer noted the Packers went 1-10-1, the worst record in their history, when he was a rookie.
"Coach Lombardi arrived and the world turned around," said Kramer, one of the anchors of the vaunted Green Bay offensive line under Vince Lombardi, and the guy who sprung the block to lead Bart Starr's quarterback sneak to win the Ice Bowl against Dallas for the 1967 conference title. The Packers then won a second straight Super Bowl.
Kramer also spent some time placekicking for Green Bay. He made five All-Pro squads, the NFL's 50th Anniversary Team, NFL All-Decade Team of the 1960s and the Super Bowl Silver Anniversary Team.
He paid tribute to learning the importance of "preparation, commitment, discipline, consistency, pride, tenacity, belief in your team and belief in yourself."
"It was an incredible experience to be with him and have him bring you along," he said of Lombardi. "Approval and belief: powerful, powerful tools."
In his induction speech televised by the NFL Network, Kramer's first words were "thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you."
"I could say thank you the rest of the evening and not get it done," Kramer added. "It's a wonderful, wonderful moment; a wonderful opportunity to be here."
Kramer goes into the Hall of Fame with Randy Moss, Terrell Owens, Brian Urlacher, Robert Brazile, Brian Dawkins, Bobby Beathard, and Ray Lewis.
"It's a real privilege to be part of that group," he said.
Alicia Kramer, Jerry's daughter, introduced him, and several other members of the Kramer family were in attendance.
"The light of my life, folks, the light of my life," Jerry Kramer told the audience.
Before being drafted in the fourth round by the Packers in 1958, Kramer played football at the University of Idaho and Sandpoint High School.
"This clumsy ox sophomore showed up for practice one fall, and I had grown about a foot," Kramer said about his high school days. "And I couldn't walk and chew gum at the same time. I was just a mess. And I wanted to be a fullback. I didn't want to be a lineman. I wanted to be a fullback."
Kramer said the coach told him if he wanted to be a fullback, he would sit on the bench, but if he played tackle, he would probably start. At one point, he said, a line coach named Dusty Klein told Kramer he had big hands and big feet, and that one day, he would grow into them.
"And he said you're going to be a hell of a player one of these days," Kramer said. "And I looked at him, I was curious, you know, a little amazed, a little amused, a little bit of everything, and he looked me in the eye and said 'you can if you will.'"
The coach walked away and left Kramer thinking about what he meant by "you can if you will."
The rest is history.
It's a life lesson Kramer passed on to the audience as he wrapped up his induction speech Saturday night.
"After the game is over, the stadium lights are out, the parking lot's empty, you're back in the quiet of your room, championship ring is on the dresser, the only thing left at this time is for you to lead a life of quality and excellence and make this old world a little bit better place because you were in it," he said. "You can if you will."
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