Ron Kramer
Ronald John Kramer (June 24, 1935 – September 11, 2010) was an American professional football player who was an end in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Green Bay Packers. A member of two NFL champion teams with the Packers, he was named to the NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team and Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.
For the business executive, see Ronald Kramer (business).No. 88, 83
June 24, 1935
Girard, Kansas, U.S.
September 11, 2010 (aged 75)
Fenton, Michigan, U.S.
6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
234 lb (106 kg)
Michigan (1954–1956)
1957 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4
229
229
3,272
16
Kramer attended the University of Michigan from 1953 to 1957, winning a total of nine varsity letters in football, basketball, and track. Playing at left end for the Michigan Wolverines football team from 1954 to 1956, he was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in 1955 and a unanimous All-American in 1956. His jersey No. 87 was retired after Kramer's senior year, and he was inducted into both the College Football Hall of Fame and the University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor in 1978.
Kramer was selected by Green Bay with the fourth pick in the 1957 NFL Draft and played for the Packers for seven seasons (1957, 1959–1964). He was a key player on coach Vince Lombardi's first NFL championship teams in 1961 and 1962. Kramer was selected as a first-team All-NFL player in 1962 after catching 37 passes for 555 yards and seven touchdowns. He also played three seasons for the Detroit Lions from 1965 to 1967.
Early life[edit]
Born in Girard, Kansas,[1] Kramer moved to East Detroit, Michigan (now Eastpointe) at age five.[2] He attended East Detroit High School where he was an all-state player in football, basketball and track in high school. He competed in the shot put and long jump in track.[3] In December 1952, Kramer was named as an end on the United Press All-Michigan football team.[4]
NFL career[edit]
Green Bay Packers[edit]
Kramer was the fourth overall selection in the 1957 NFL Draft, picked by the Green Bay Packers.[3] Kramer also received an offer in February 1957 to play with the all-star basketball team that toured with the Harlem Globetrotters; he rejected the offer to play professional basketball.[17] As a rookie for the Packers in 1957, Kramer appeared in 11 games and caught 28 passes for 337 yards.[1] He missed the entire 1958 season due to service in the U.S. Air Force,[3][18] and the Packers had the worst record in the league at 1–10–1.
Kramer returned to the Packers in 1959, but caught no passes that year and only four passes during the 1960 season. Teammate Paul Hornung later described Kramer's evolution after Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959:
After retiring as a football player, Kramer went into the steel business. In 1969, he was hired as a vice president of Paragon Steel Corp. of Detroit.[26] He spent 22 years at Paragon before establishing Ron Kramer Industries in 1981, a company which is still in business today.[27][28] He had two children, Kurtis Kramer and Cassandra Koehler.[27]
Kramer received numerous honors and awards, including the following:
Kramer died in September 2010 at age 75.[32]
On September 15, 2012, Kramer was recognized as a Michigan Football Legend and his jersey (#87) was unretired and given to Brandon Moore. Each player honored with the No. 87 jersey will wear a patch over the left upper chest honoring Kramer, and dress at a locker labeled with a plaque bearing his name and time of tenure at Michigan.[33]
In 2019, despite not being in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he was chosen as a finalist for the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team.[34]