Ronald John Kramer (June 24, 1935 – September 11, 2010) was a multi-sport college athlete and professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. Kramer attended the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

from 1953 to 1957, winning a total of nine

varsity letter A varsity letter (or monogram) is an award earned in the United States for excellence in school activities. A varsity letter signifies that its recipient was a qualified varsity team member, awarded after a certain standard was met. Description ...

s in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, and

track Track or Tracks may refer to: Routes or imprints * Ancient trackway, any track or trail whose origin is lost in antiquity * Animal track, imprints left on surfaces that an animal walks across * Desire path, a line worn by people taking the shorte ...

. Playing at left end for the

Michigan Wolverines football The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its ...

team from 1954 to 1956, he was selected as a consensus first-team All-American in

1955 Events January * January 3 – José Ramón Guizado becomes president of Panama. * January 17 – , the first nuclear-powered submarine, puts to sea for the first time, from Groton, Connecticut. * January 18– 20 – Battle of Yijian ...

and a unanimous first-team All-American in

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

. His jersey (#87) was retired after Kramer's senior year, and he was inducted into both the

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

and the

University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor The University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor, founded in 1978, recognizes University of Michigan athletes, coaches, and administrators who have made significant contributions to the university's athletic programs.

in 1978. Kramer was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

as the fourth pick in the

1957 NFL Draft The 1957 National Football League draft had its first four rounds held on November 26, 1956, at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia and its final twenty-six rounds on January 31, 1957 at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel also in Philadelphia. This was ...

and played for the Packers for seven seasons (1957, 1959–1964). He was a key player on 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 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 The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

from 1965 to 1967.

Early life

Born in

Girard, Kansas Girard is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 2,496. History Girard was founded in the spring of 1868, in opposition to Crawfordsville, and named af ...

, Kramer moved to

East Detroit, Michigan Eastpointe (formerly East Detroit) is a city on the southern edge of Macomb County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,442. Eastpointe forms a part of the Metro Detroit area. It borders 8 Mile Road on th ...

(now

Eastpointe Eastpointe (formerly East Detroit) is a city on the southern edge of Macomb County, Michigan, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 32,442. Eastpointe forms a part of the Metro Detroit area. It borders 8 Mile Road on th ...

) at age five. He attended East Detroit High School where he was an all-state player in football,

and track in high school. He competed in the

shot put The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. The shot put competition for men has been a part of the modern Olympics since their revival in 1896, and women's ...

and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

in track. In December 1952, Kramer was named as an end on the United Press All-Michigan football team.

University of Michigan

Kramer enrolled at the

in 1953. He was a three-sport athlete (football,

, and

) and led both the football and

teams in scoring for two years. Altogether, Kramer won a total of nine varsity letters in his three sports — the maximum number possible, as freshmen did not have athletic eligibility at the time.

Football

Kramer played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

end End, END, Ending, or variation, may refer to: End *In mathematics: ** End (category theory) ** End (topology) **End (graph theory) ** End (group theory) (a subcase of the previous) **End (endomorphism) *In sports and games **End (gridiron footbal ...

position (both

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

and offensive) for the Michigan Woverines from

1954 Events January * January 1 – The Soviet Union ceases to demand war reparations from West Germany. * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown-IBM experiment: The fir ...

through

. As a 19-year-old sophomore, Kramer started all nine games at left end for the 1954 team that finished the season ranked #15 in the final

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

. He was the leading receiver for the Wolverines with 23 catches for 303 yards and two touchdowns.(to retrieve information for a particular season, go to "Games & Totals by Season" and select the year for which statistics are to be retrieved) At the end of the 1954 season, he was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player. As a junior in

, Kramer started six games at left end and Michigan finished 12th in the final

. Kramer set a Michigan record with three touchdown passes in a game against Missouri in 1955. For the season as a whole, he caught 12 passes for 224 yards and four touchdowns, and he was selected as a consensus first-team end on the 1955 College Football All-America Team. Kramer had his best collegiate season as a senior, starting all nine games in 1956 and the Wolverines ended at seventh in the final

. Kramer caught 18 passes for 353 yards and two touchdowns in 1956. At the end of the season, Kramer was an consensus first-team All-American. Following Kramer's senior year, Michigan retired his jersey number 87 -- one of only five numbers in school history to be retired. In three years at Michigan, Kramer caught 53 passes for 880 yards and eight touchdowns. He was also known as an outstanding tackler and blocker.

Bennie Oosterbaan Benjamin Oosterbaan ( ; February 24, 1906 – October 25, 1990) was a three-time first team All-American football end for the Michigan Wolverines football team, two-time All-American basketball player for the basketball team, and an All-Big Ten C ...

, Kramer's football coach at Michigan, described his blocking and tackling ability as his most valuable asset. Oosterbaan said this of his star player:

"To top off his marvelous physical gifts of size and speed and strength, plus an uncanny coordination, Kramer was one of the fiercest competitors I've ever seen. Nothing was impossible for him — the impossible was only a challenge."

Kramer also handled kicking and punting duties for Michigan. He handled 31 punts for a 40.6 yard average, kicked two field goals, and successfully converted 43 of 51 extra point attempts.

Basketball

Kramer also excelled in basketball. He played at the center position and was selected as the

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

's most valuable player as a junior. As basketball team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, he was third-team All-Big Ten in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th y ...

after being second-team All-Big Ten in both

and

. During his junior year, he averaged 20.4 points per game over a 22-game season and is a member of the career 1,000-point club. He held the Michigan career

scoring Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

record of 1,119 points from 1957 until it was broken by John Tidwell in 1961. He was a fifth round pick in the 1957 NBA draft (34th overall), selected by the

Detroit Pistons The Detroit Pistons are an American professional basketball team based in Detroit. The Pistons compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division and play their home games at Li ...

. Kramer was a two-sport professional athlete. He played in the

Midwest Professional Basketball League The Midwest Professional Basketball League was a professional American basketball league. The six–team league existed for three seasons, playing from 1961–1962 through 1963– 1964 until the league folded after the 1964 season. History ...

for two seasons. Kramer played for the Battle Creek Warriors in 1961-1962, alongside former Michigan teammates M.C. Burton and John Tidwell. He and Burton then played for the Toledo Tartans in 1962-1963.

NFL career

Green Bay Packers

Kramer was the fourth overall selection in the

, picked by the

. Kramer also received an offer in February 1957 to play with the all-star basketball team that toured with the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...

; he rejected the offer to play professional basketball. As a rookie for the Packers in 1957, Kramer appeared in 11 games and caught 28 passes for 337 yards. He missed the entire

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

season due to service in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

, and the Packers had the worst record in the league at 1–10–1. Kramer returned to the Packers in

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

, but caught no passes that year and only four passes during the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Ja ...

season. Teammate

Paul Hornung Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football player who was a Hall of Fame running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 195 ...

later described Kramer's evolution after

arrived in 1959:

" e real special case was Ron Kramer. He came to us, Ron did, with an I-don't-give-a-damn attitude. He had great ability and great confidence in it but he just didn't use it. For a long time, he wasn't able to do the job. Vince got on (him) something terrible. He never let up and then one day, after nearly two years of that I guess, things just went click, click, click and Ron Kramer became a magnificent football player."

Kramer reached his stride after moving to the

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

position during the

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba ( Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 ...

season; that year, Kramer had 35 catches for 559 yards and four touchdowns. In

1962 Events January * January 1 – Western Samoa becomes independent from New Zealand. * January 3 – Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro for preaching communism. * January 8 – Harmelen train disaster: 93 die in the wors ...

, Kramer caught 37 passes for 555 yards and seven touchdowns and was selected to play in the

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 ...

and as a first-team All-Pro player. From 1961 to

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

, Kramer had at least 500 receiving yards every season, averaging 16 yards per reception. He became an integral part of

's 1961 and 1962 teams that won the Packers' first NFL championships since

1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...

. In the

1961 NFL Championship Game The 1961 NFL Championship Game was the 29th title game. It was played on December 31 at "New" City Stadium, later known as Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, with an attendance of 39,029. The game was a match-up of the Eastern Conferen ...

, a 37-0 win for the Packer over the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

, Kramer was the leading receiver, catching four passes for 80 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to his talent as a receiver, Kramer's talent as a blocker was an integral part of the famed "

Packers sweep The Packers sweep, also known as the Lombardi sweep, is an American football play popularized by Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi. The Packers sweep is based on the sweep, a football play that involves a back taking a handoff and running ...

Detroit Lions

Kramer played out his contract option with the Packers and, as a free agent, signed a one-year contract with the

in August 1965. The Lions were required to compensate the Packers with a first-round draft choice in 1966. Kramer had asked to be traded to the Lions so he could be closer to his wife and children. Teammate

Jerry Kramer Gerald Louis Kramer (born January 23, 1936) is a former professional American football player, author and sports commentator, best remembered for his 11-year National Football League (NFL) career with the Green Bay Packers as an offensive linema ...

recalled, "He asked Coach Lombardi to trade him because he was trying to save his marriage." Kramer played three seasons for the Lions at the

position from 1965 to

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 ...

. He appeared in 39 games for the Lions, 13 as a starter. In his first two seasons with the Lions, Kramer caught 55 passes for 638 yards and a touchdown. During the 1967 season, Kramer was slowed by injuries and caught only four passes for 40 yards in 11 games. In July 1968, the Lions gave Kramer his unconditional release. Three weeks later, Kramer announced that, despite receiving offers to play for several other teams, he was resigning from football to assume a position as vice president of Paragon Steel Corp. in Detroit. Kramer later described his years with the Lions as "awful" and called head coach

Harry Gilmer Harry Vincent Gilmer Jr. (April 14, 1926 – August 20, 2016) was an American football halfback and quarterback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of F ...

"the dumbest guy I ever met."

Career statistics

In 10 NFL seasons, Kramer appeared in 128 games and totaled 229 receptions for 3,272 yards and 16 touchdowns. Out of his 16 career touchdown catches, 15 came in a three-year stretch from 1961 to 1963.

Honors and later years

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. He spent 22 years at Paragon before establishing Ron Kramer Industries in 1981, a company which is still in business today. He had two children, Kurtis Kramer and Cassandra Koehler. Kramer received numerous honors and awards, including the following: * In 1971, Kramer was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. * In 1975, Kramer was inducted into the

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 combina ...

. * In 1978, Kramer was inducted into the

. * Also in 1978, Kramer became one of the first seven individuals inducted into the

. * In 1981, Kramer was named as a recipient of the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

's Silver Anniversary Award in recognition of significant professional and civic contributions spanning 25 years after completion of his college eligibility. * In 1999, ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...

'' published a list of "The 50 Greatest Sports Figures From Michigan" (in all sports), and ranked Kramer seventh on the list behind such noted athletes as

Joe Louis Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He rei ...

Magic Johnson Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. (born August 14, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player. He is often regarded as the greatest point guard of all-time and has been compared with Stephen Curry. Johnson played 13 seasons in the ...

Charlie Gehringer Charles Leonard Gehringer (May 11, 1903 – January 21, 1993), nicknamed "the Mechanical Man", was an American professional baseball second baseman, coach, general manager, and team vice president, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for t ...

and

. Kramer died in September 2010 at age 75. 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. In 2019, despite not being in the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

, he was chosen as a finalist for the NFL's 100th Anniversary Team.Tight end finalists announced for NFL All-Time Team
/ref>

References

External links

*
Bentley Library biography and photograph of Kramer
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kramer, Ron 1935 births 2010 deaths American men's basketball players American football ends American football tight ends Detroit Pistons draft picks Detroit Lions players Green Bay Packers players Michigan Wolverines football players Michigan Wolverines men's basketball players Michigan Wolverines men's track and field athletes All-American college football players All-American college men's basketball players College Football Hall of Fame inductees Western Conference Pro Bowl players People from Girard, Kansas People from Eastpointe, Michigan Sportspeople from Metro Detroit Players of American football from Michigan Basketball players from Michigan