Why Isn’t Packers Legend Jerry Kramer In The Pro Football Hall Of Fame?

The Green Bay Packers open the NFL regular season on Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks.

One of the team’s former stars, Jerry Kramer, was part of Vince Lombardi’s legendary dynasty of the 1960s. He’s been eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame since the mid-1970s, but he’s been turned away each time after appearing on 10 ballots.

Terry Bell spoke with his daughter Alicia Kramer, who has been waging a multi-media campaign to get her dad enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

Terry Bell: For listeners not familiar with your dad’s career, get them up to speed as to why you think he’s an NFL Hall of Famer.

Alicia Kramer: My dad played under Vine Lombardi in the 1960s. He was a three-time Pro Bowler. He was a five-time selection All Pro. He was second team All Pro. He’s a five-time NFL champion, which means two-time Super Bowl champion. Dad’s also part of the 1960s All Decade Team, and he’s a member of the NFL’s 50th Anniversary team, as well as being in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. So Dad has quite a line of credentials to belong in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

TB: And that’s every bit as impressive as all of the other men in the Pro Footbal Hall of Fame. So why isn’t this NFL luminary in the Hall?

AK: That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Dad has been announced as a Pro Football Hall of Famer, and fans refer to him as a Pro Football Hall of Famer, but yet he has that one accolade that he hasn’t gotten yet. And we want to know why, and that’s why I started this campaign. Dad clearly has the resume to be in the Hall of Fame, but we don’t understand exactly why he hasn’t made it yet.

TB: Some perspective — he’s been nominated ten times.

AK: Yes, sir.

TB: Have you spoken to some of the voters who’ve been holdouts, and what do they tell you? What case do they make?

AK: There’s one particular voter — Peter King from Sports Illustrated. He is very adamant about (former Packer star quarterback) Bart Starr’s opinion. Bart Starr has written a letter on behalf of (teammate) Bob Skoronski and Jerry Kramer to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s told us this. But Peter King keeps saying that — it seems like to me — that Bart Starr is standing in the way of Jerry Kramer from getting into the Hall of Fame. I just have a hard time believing that one of Dad’s own teammates is standing in the way of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

TB: There’s another vote coming up in 2015, when does the campaign begin in earnest?

AK: Usually I give a little time, because we don’t want to take anything away from the current nominees. But we want to keep people pushing, and pushing hard, until the next time that the vote is up.

Alicia Kramer is the daughter of former Packers great and ten-time nominee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Jerry Kramer. You can follow Alicia on Twitter, in case you want to be a part of the campaign; her handle is @jerrykramer4hof.