{{Infobox NFL biography , name = , image = , alt = , caption = , birth_date = {{Birth date, 1944, 2, 3, mf=yes , birth_place =

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

, U.S. , death_date = {{death date and age, 2011, 10, 20, 1944, 2, 3, mf=yes , death_place = Little Falls, Minnesota, U.S. , number = 68 , status = , position =

Guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

, height_ft = 6 , height_in = 3 , weight_lb = 255 , college =

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, high_school = Little Falls , draftyear = 1966 , draftround = 1 , draftpick = 13 , afldraftyear = , afldraftround = , afldraftpick = , teams = * Green Bay Packers ( 1966– 1974,

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

) , highlights = * 2×

NFL champion Throughout its history, the National Football League (NFL) and other rival American football leagues have used several different formats to determine their league champions, including a period of inter-league matchups to determine a true national c ...

( 1966,

1967 Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...

) * 2× Super Bowl champion ( I, II) * 3× First-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list t ...

(

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). Between 10,000 and ...

, 1974) * 3× Second-team

(

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, 1971,

1973 Events January * January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 15 – Vietnam War: ...

) * 5×

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

(

– 1971,

, 1974) *

Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

* Second-team All-Big Ten ( 1965) , statlabel1 = Games played , statvalue1 = 128 , statlabel2 = Games started , statvalue2 = 102 , statlabel3 = Fumble recoveries , statvalue3 = 3 , statlabel4 = , statvalue4 = , statlabel5 = , statvalue5 = , nfl = 2514894 Gale Herbert Gillingham (February 3, 1944 – October 20, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

for 10 seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) with the Green Bay Packers ( 1966– 1974,

).{{cite news , url=http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/128848353.html , newspaper=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel , last=Hendricks , first=Martin , title=Gillingham survived some tough Packer years , date=August 31, 2011 , access-date=January 11, 2016{{cite news , url=http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7130594/green-bay-packers-former-guard-gale-gillingham-dies-67 , publisher=ESPN , agency=Associated Press , title=Ex-Packer Gale Gillingham dies at 67 , date=October 21, 2011 , access-date=January 11, 2016{{cite news, url=http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/23/gale-gillingham-a-packers-hall-of-famer/?_r=0 , newspaper=New York Times , agency=(NFL blog) , title=Gale Gillingham, a Packers Hall of Famer , last=Barall , first=Andy , date=October 23, 2011 , access-date=January 11, 2016 Born in

, Gillingham grew up on a

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

in nearby Stoughton.Vandermause, Mike. "Green Bay Packers G Gale Gillingham deserves Pro Football Hall of Fame consideration," ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'', Saturday, October 22, 2011.
/ref> His family moved to Little Falls, Minnesota, when he was in high school and he played college football for the

Minnesota Golden Gophers The Minnesota Golden Gophers (commonly shortened to Gophers) are the college sports teams of the University of Minnesota. The university fields a total of 25 (12 men's, 13 women's) teams in both men's and women's sports and competes in the Big Te ...

, where he was a teammate of future

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

defensive end Aaron Brown, whom he faced in

Super Bowl I The first AFL–NFL World Championship Game (known retroactively as Super BowlI and referred to in contemporaneous reports, including the game's radio broadcast, as the Super Bowl) was an American football game played on January 15, 1967, at the ...

. Gillingham was the 13th overall selection of the

1966 NFL Draft The 1966 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 27, 1965. The expansion Atlanta Falcons were awarded the first pick in each round as well as the final pick in each of the first five rou ...

, and in his rookie season, he alternated as the starter at left guard with veteran

Fuzzy Thurston Frederick Charles "Fuzzy" Thurston (December 29, 1933 – December 14, 2014) was an American football player who played offensive guard for the Baltimore Colts and the Green Bay Packers. Early years Born and raised in the small western Wisconsi ...

. During the

season, he took Thurston's spot full-time, opposite perennial All-Pro Jerry Kramer. He started the Ice Bowl and Super Bowl II, coach

Vince Lombardi Vincent Thomas Lombardi (June 11, 1913 – September 3, 1970) was an American football coach and executive in the National Football League (NFL). Lombardi is considered by many to be the greatest coach in football history, and he is recognized a ...

's final games after nine seasons with the team. Gillingham was the last member of the Lombardi-era Packers to be active with the franchise. By time he retired,

Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett Starr (January 9, 1934 – May 26, 2019) was an American professional football quarterback and head coach for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at the University of ...

, whom he blocked for in the first two Super Bowl wins, was the team's head coach.{{cite news , url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=3PlLAAAAIBAJ&sjid=7fgDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6126%2C110375 , work=Spokane Daily Chronicle , location=(Washington) , agency=Associated Press , title=Gillingham to retire , date=March 1, 1977 , page=22 Gillingham was a five-time Pro Bowler (1969, '70, '71, '73 and '74), six-time All Pro (1968, '69, '70, '71, '73, '74, and a two-time AP NFL First-team All Pro (1969 and '70). Gillingham was selected as the inaugural winner of the

Forrest Gregg Alvis Forrest Gregg (October 18, 1933 – April 12, 2019) was an American professional football player and coach. A Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive tackle for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), he was a part of six NFL champ ...

Award for the NFL Offensive Lineman of the Year following the 1970 season. He was the NFC choice as the NFLPA/

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...

Offensive Lineman of the Year for 1971. He retired a few months after the 1976 season, was inducted into the

in 1982. The only season he was not on offense was

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

when

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Dan Devine Daniel John Devine (December 23, 1924 – May 9, 2002) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Arizona State University from 1955 to 1957, the University of Missouri from 1958 to 1970, and the Universi ...

inexplicably shifted him to the

defensive line In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

after the pre-season, even though Gillingham was the team's best offensive lineman. During that campaign, the success of the Packers' offense heavily depended on a strong running attack led by

MacArthur Lane MacArthur Lane (March 16, 1942 – May 4, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons, from 1968 to 1978 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and K ...

and

John Brockington John Stanley Brockington (born September 7, 1948) is a former American football player, a running back in the National Football League (NFL) with the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs. He was a first round draft choice out of Ohio State ...

. Devine's move failed when Gillingham sustained a season-ending knee injury two games into the regular season, and he was criticized for eventually being a factor in diminishing the team's playoff run. In 1982, he was inducted into the

. After his playing days, Gillingham was in the real estate business in Minnesota and retired in 2010. Noted for his brute strength, he was one of the first players in the NFL to use

weight training Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Trai ...

to stay in playing shape during the offseason. His oldest son,

Karl Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austria ...

, is a Professional Strongman and has competed in two Worlds Strongest Man competitions. Middle son,

Brad Brad may refer to: * Brad (given name), a masculine given name Places * Brad, Hunedoara, a city in Hunedoara County, Romania * Brad, a village in Berești-Bistrița Commune, Bacău County, Romania * Brad, a village in Filipeni, Bacău, Romania * ...

, is a 6 time World Champion powerlifter with several National and World Records. Youngest son, Wade, is a former Professional Strongman and is widely regarded as having one of the best grips in the world. Gillingham died at age 67 in 2011 in Little Falls. In 2016, the Professional Football Researchers Association named Gillingham to the PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016.{{cite web , url=http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2016.htm , title=PFRA Hall of Very Good Class of 2016 , access-date=December 9, 2016 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190413094415/http://www.profootballresearchers.com/hall-of-very-good-2016.htm , archive-date=April 13, 2019 , url-status=dead

References

{{reflist

External links

* {{Football stats , nfl=2514894, cfl= , afl= , espn= , cbs= , yahoo= , fox= , si= , pfr=GillGa00 , dbf=GILLIGAL01 , rotoworld= * {{IMDb name, 2884644 {{1966 NFL Draft {{PackersFirstPick {{Packers1966DraftPicks {{Super Bowl I {{Super Bowl II {{Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillingham, Gale 1944 births 2011 deaths American football offensive guards Minnesota Golden Gophers football players Green Bay Packers players Western Conference Pro Bowl players National Conference Pro Bowl players People from Little Falls, Minnesota Players of American football from Wisconsin Players of American football from Minnesota Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame