Jerry Kramer should be in the NFL Hall of Fame

From 1958 to 1968, there was an offensive guard who absolutely dominated the NFL. He is one of the best offensive lineman of all time and he made life completely miserable for defensive linemen. This guard is Jerry Kramer. Right now, Kramer is not in the Hall of Fame. Sportswriters have repeatedly denied his induction into the Hall. This is absolutely ridiculous. All NFL fans know that the Packers dominated the ‘60s. When people name the main contributors to the Packers' championships, they think of Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Jim Taylor, Paul Hornung and legendary coach, Vince Lombardi. It is a travesty that Kramer isn't one of the players mentioned often. Any fan who knows anything about football in the ‘60s also knows that it was the decade of one of the single most famous plays in NFL history. That play was called the "Packers sweep". ~~~~~~~~~~ Championships ~~~~~~~~~~ As you can see from above, Kramer was the starting right guard on one of the most dominant dynasty in NFL history. Here are the NFL championships that Kramer won with the Packers: 1961 – Defeated New York Giants (37-0) 1962 – Defeated New York Giants (16-7) 1965 – Defeated Cleveland Browns (23-12) 1966 – Defeated Dallas Cowboys (34-27) 1967 – Defeated Dallas Cowboys (21-17) Super Bowl I – Defeated Kansas City Chiefs (35-10) Super Bowl II – Defeated Oakland Raiders (33-14) Five NFL Championships and two Super Bowls? That is simply amazing. Kramer has more rings than most players you will ever find. He was a key component of the Packer offense that averaged 28.4 points per championship game. In these games, the Packers averaged a whopping 38.14 rushing attempts per game, 143.57 rushing yards per game, barely over one rushing touchdown per game and 3.7 yards per attempt. That's right, the Packers had a total of 267 attempts, 1,005 yards and 8 touchdowns. Kramer was a primary reason for the success off the running game that allowed over 1,000 yards in championship games alone. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Packer Sweep ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The aforementioned "Packers sweep", also known as the "Lombardi sweep", could be the most famous play in NFL history. It was the staple of the dominant Green bay running game. When the Packers needed a short-yardage play, they called the "Packers sweep". This play consisted of either Paul Hornung or Jim Taylor running a sweep, following the two pulled guards, Jerry Kramer and Fuzzy Thurston. Kramer ran this play to absolute perfection. Kramer was the key blocker in one of the most famous playbook plays ever. ~~~~~~~~~~~ Rushing Offense ~~~~~~~~~~~ Kramer blocked for some of the best rushing offenses of the time. He led some backs to very, very good seasons. Leading Packer rusher during Kramer's years: Year Rusher Attempts Yards YPA TD NFL Rank 1958 Paul Hornung 69 310 4.5 2 26 1959 Paul Hornung 152 681 4.5 7 8 1960 Jim Taylor 230 1,101 4.8 11 2 1961 Jim Taylor 243 1,307 5.4 15 2 1962 Jim Taylor 272 1,474 5.4 19 1 1963 Jim Taylor 248 1,018 4.1 9 2 1964 Jim Taylor 235 1,169 5.0 12 2 1965 Jim Taylor 207 734 3.5 4 5 1966 Jim Taylor 204 705 3.5 4 10 1967 Jim Grabowski 120 466 3.9 2 19 1968 Donny Anderson 170 761 4.5 5 9 In seven of Kramer's eleven seasons, the Packers' rushing offense was one of the top five in the NFL and three more of those seasons were in the top ten. Only two seasons in his entire career was the rushing offense outside of the top ten. That is consistency and excellence at its finest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Versatility and Clutch Performance ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Don't think Kramer's performance at right guard warrants a Hall of Fame plaque? Then listen to this. Kramer was not just an offensive lineman, he was a key part to Green Bay's special teams unit as the place kicker. And don't assume that Kramer was a below average kicker. He actually led the league in field goal percentage in 1962 and he made 94.7% of his career extra-point attempts. Kramer also won games for his team with field goals, important games. In the 1962 NFL Championship, Kramer won the game with two late field goals after hitting one earlier in the game, a game which the Packers won by just nine points. There is no reason for Kramer to not be in the Hall of Fame. Get him in there, sportswriters!