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THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Jerry's stories, Part 2: NFL draft, and what's next

| April 25, 2021 1:30 AM

Jerry Kramer wrote four books, starting with the best-seller "Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer," about his 1967 season with the Packers.

Ever think of writing another one?

"I never thought I would write my name," Kramer said with a laugh last week, while in Coeur d'Alene to speak at the North Idaho Sports Banquet at The Coeur d'Alene Resort.

Kramer then mentioned an English teacher he had at Sandpoint High.

"She was a cut-up, kind of a smart-aleky, lovely lady, quick as a whip," he recalled.

"And she heard that I had written a book, and I was on the best seller list, and she said, ‘I didn’t know he could read.’"

Kramer, now 85, said he had no aspirations of writing a book until legendary sports writer Dick Schapp approached him.

"He said, 'Let’s do a book,'" Kramer recalled.

"What do you mean, do a book?"

"Write a book."

"What the hell do I know about writing a book?"

"Well," Schapp told him, "you’re going to take a tape recorder, and you’re going to record your daily activities, and your emotions and your feelings and your teammates’ comments and all that, and we’ll transcribe it, and I’ll organize it into a book.

"I said ,'Who gets final say?'"

"He said, 'You do.'

"I said, 'Let’s talk.'

"So we went into New York, and we talked to the publisher, and I come back from that all blown up, all impressed with myself," Kramer recalled.

"I looked in the mirror and I said ‘Son, you’ve got to come up with some lonnng, flowery phrases. I mean multiple syllables. You’ve got to talk at a whole different level now that you’re going to be an author.'

"And that lasted about two days," Kramer said. "I got in front of the mirror again and I said, ‘Hey, fool, it is what it is, and you is what you is. And the best thing you can do is tell it exactly how you see it to be — honestly — and let the chips fall where they may, and if they don’t like it, they don’t like it. But you’re going to say why, here’s what I was thinking, and it’s not going to be bullshit, it’s going to be real.

"So I got out of that wonderful frame of mind."

And once his teammates found out he was writing a book ...

"Guys were giving me all kinds of crap," recalled Kramer, who graduated from Sandpoint High in 1954, and then starred at the University of Idaho before embarking on an eventual Pro Football Hall of Fame career with the Packers. "I finally ended up in the toilet. My roommate (running back Jim Taylor) was giggling at me, and someone would come in to the damn toilet and Tommy Joe (Crutcher, a linebacker) would throw water over the top of the toilet, got a bucket and doused me with water, so then I ended up out in the car. Most of my tape recording was in the car.

"I think we had a 10 o’clock curfew, maybe 11. I’d go out there for an hour in the evening, and I wasn’t inhibited about saying things. I trusted Dick explicitly, and I knew that he would protect me. And If I looked stupid on something he’d say, let’s talk about this."

TAYLOR BECAME Kramer's roommate in 1967. Kicker Don Chandler, Kramer's previous roommate, was still interested in playing, but didn't want to show up for training camp. So, the story goes, the Packers told him to stay home.

So Chandler retired.

Willie Davis, a defensive end, was Kramer's roommate his final season, in 1968.

"Willie and I were the first mixed roommates in Green Bay," Kramer said. "Second in the league. Chicago had a couple of guys who were mixed race.

"Willie and I got to be pals, because he was a wonderful player, and he gave it everything he had, and did it the right way — and he was funny, and he was bright.

"And he had an MBA from the University of Chicago, and he was looking to do things in life, like I was, and we were getting out of football at the same time, so we developed a friendship. He became one of my best pals."

They talked about business opportunities after football, among other things.

"We’re laying awake one night, in bed … lights out, 11 o’clock," Kramer recalled.

"I said, 'Will?'

"'Yeah, J?'

"'Do you believe in Black power?'

"'No, J, I don’t believe in Black power.'

Huh, I’ll be damned, Kramer thought.

"'Will?," Kramer asked.

"J?'

"'Do you believe in white power?'

"'No J, I don’t believe in white power.'

"'Will, what the hell do you believe in?,'" Kramer asked.

"Green power, J … green power.'"

After football, Kramer would sometimes stay with Davis at his house in Los Angeles.

"I had a suite at the Willie Davis home in L.A.," he said. "My room was upstairs, overlooking the ocean. My room was called the Kramer suite."

Davis would sometimes stay at Kramer's house in Parma.

Green power.

"Now, he never did say if he meant greenback or Green Bay Packers," Kramer noted.

"And he went on to serve on 15 New York Stock Exchange boards … American Express … MGM … Sara Lee … Johnson Controls … Dow … exceptional human being."

BACK WHEN Kramer played, NFL teams played six exhibition games, followed by 12, then later 14, regular-season games.

This year, NFL teams will play three preseason games, followed by 17 regular-season games.

Would Kramer and the players of his day liked that ratio of preseason to regular-season games?

"We would have certainly liked the salaries they’re getting today," Kramer said with a laugh. "We would have enjoyed making a decision about a contract that was going to pay $40 million, and you weren’t trying to decide whether you wanted to play another year or not.

"We didn’t make anything like that; my top salary was around $27,000, maybe $30,000. Of course, there was always championship money that almost doubled your salary. And we thought we were doing well, and we were doing well. I’m just stunned by the numbers today.

"Coach (Vince) Lombardi signed a five-year contract, the first five years in Green Bay, for $35,000 a year. (Raiders coach Jon) Gruden is getting $8 or $9 million, I think."

Kramer had praise for the work of current NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.

"I started an organization called Gridiron Greats, a long time ago," Kramer said. "I was out of football, but it was like in the '70s. I was working on the pension and disability problems, and they were very minimal.

"I met with Merlin Olsen (former Rams defensive tackle, and later an actor and broadcaster). I got him to join me, and 8 or 9 other guys, and we met with the commissioner for a couple of years, about every 3 months, and I believe he came up with $900 million for the commissioner’s contribution. But he made a dramatic increase in our pensions and disability problems.

"I was getting $350 a month (in pension) when I first retired, and I’m getting $4,000 a month now. When you make more with your pension than you did when you played ... "

TOUGHEST DEFENSIVE lineman Kramer ever faced?

"Boy, there were about five guys," he recalled. "One of them was Leo Nomellini, Hall of Famer from San Francisco … Artie Donovan, Baltimore Colts ... Merlin Olsen, Los Angeles Rams … couple other guys ... "

One of the other guys was Alex Karras, Detroit Lions.

"Alex and I got to be really great pals after we got off the field," Kramer said.

"We broadcast Canadian football for a couple of years. And it was a little touchy for the first game or two. He would point something out and I would correct him. Just kinda bitchy about the whole thing and he said to me one day, ‘We had some great games, didn’t we Jer?'

"'Alex, we had some really great battles,'" Kramer replied. "'I remember trying a 50-yard field goal in Green Bay, and you came through late and hit me with a forearm and said ‘Stick that in your book, you blankety-blank-blank-blank.'

"And he kinda blushed and put his head down and giggled and I giggled, and it broke the ice. And I went home with him that week to do his television show, and we got to be pretty good pals."

Another story ...

"I was playing against Merlin (Olsen) one day, late in my career, and I had two busted ribs," Kramer said. "And my team doc told me I’d be OK, don’t worry about it, you’ll be all right."

Yeah, right, Kramer thought.

"The gun goes off (which signified the end of the game in those days) and he looks at me and says ‘What’s the matter? What’s wrong?'

"'Nothing. I’m fine.'

"'Baloney! What’s wrong?" Olsen said.

"'Well, I’ve got a couple busted ribs.'

"'I knew it. I knew something was bothering you.'

"So he knew me well enough to know I was having a little bit of a problem."

THE NFL draft begins Thursday. When Kramer was selected in the fourth round in 1958, with the 39th overall pick, it wasn't anything close to the three-day, nationally televised production it is these days.

"I remember, I came out of class," Kramer recalled. "We were at the University (of Idaho), and Wayne Walker, my pal (who went on to play 15 seasons with the Detroit Lions), was waiting for me. I had like a 1 o’clock class. And the news came that I had been drafted by Green Bay. And so he was anxious to tell me. So he was waiting for me to come out of class.

"He goes, 'Hey, you got drafted.'

"'Oh cool. Who?'" Kramer replied.

"'Green Bay.'

"'Wow, that is sensational. Where the hell is Green Bay?'

"He said, 'It’s back there by Chicago, it’s on a big lake.' So we didn’t know where Green Bay was.

"And then the memorable part of that was, I went to the East-West Shrine Game — Wayne and I both played in that all-star game. And Green Bay was in town playing the 49ers. So the general manager called me and asked if we could have a meeting.

"I had asked my coach, coach (Skip) Stahley, about my salary. I had no contract. I had no advice, I had nothing.

"He said 'Jerry, if you can get $7,000 you’d be doing really well.'

"I said OK.

"General manager, Verne Lewellen, said, 'Well son, we’d like to sign you to a contract … what kind of money you talking?'

"I said, '$8,000.' So I upped it a thousand.

"He goes, 'OK, sign here.'

"I went, I left some on the table.

"So I told him I needed a $250 bonus. We were in San Francisco, and I had a hole in my pocket.

"I got a check, and Wayne and I enjoyed our next week in San Francisco."

KRAMER STILL keeps busy these days, with autograph sessions and other appearances. He's working on a documentary of his playing career, something that has been in the works for a few years.

"My final project, If I could write the script, would be a Lombardi movie," Kramer said. "I’ve got about nine scripts at home, people that have got ideas … and I’ve been talking to a guy that’s been doing my documentary about getting a script written. And I talked with Herb Kohler … he’s about $11 or $12 million dollar net worth. And we made a presentation to him … seven, eight, nine years ago. And it took about 2 hours. And he looked at me at the end of two hours and said, 'Show me the script.'

"'We don’t have a script.'

"'OK, well let’s go see somebody else.'

"And I’m going, 'What the hell is wrong with us?'

"So we’re trying to develop a script."

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.

photo

Jerry Kramer.