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Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer
Book by Kramer, Jerry, Schaap, Dick
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
August 31, 2007
In its day, this was a very popular book. This was due in large part to a masterstroke in marketing -- it was packaged with a razor and sold in every drugstore in America. And of course as a sports-crazed kid, I had to see what it was all about.
It was an interesting inside account. (In fact, when you're going for kind of thing, it doesn't get much more inside than an interior lineman's perspective.) Anyway, there were some great stories about Vince Lombardi and some of the Packers' star players. It all led well to the denouement: Kramer's key block that allowed Bart Starr to fall forward through the hole in the vaunted Cowboy defense in the last seconds of the championship game for the winning score.
It was an interesting inside account. (In fact, when you're going for kind of thing, it doesn't get much more inside than an interior lineman's perspective.) Anyway, there were some great stories about Vince Lombardi and some of the Packers' star players. It all led well to the denouement: Kramer's key block that allowed Bart Starr to fall forward through the hole in the vaunted Cowboy defense in the last seconds of the championship game for the winning score.
June 29, 2021
Instant Replay appears on nearly every list of must-read books on the NFL. Written right before Jim Bouton’s classic Ball Four, Kramer doesn’t dish on teammates or tell you much about the underbelly of the NFL. What he does tell you is how physically hard the game is and why his Green Bay coach, Vince Lombardi, gives players the inspiration and fire to go out and ruin their bodies every Sunday.
Kramer has been a Packer since 1958, the year before Lombardi became coach at Green Bay. He is 31 years-old at the start of the season and he questions why he’s still playing the game. The twice-a-day workouts are horrendous. The coach treats the veterans and rookies the same shabby way. Nothing is ever good enough for Lombardi. They are all bums in Lombardi’s eyes. Kramer is getting $28,000 for the season and he makes more money from his outside business interests. He doesn’t need football to make a living anymore. He doesn’t need the physical or verbal abuse. Probably because he knows he can quit anytime, he doesn’t fret. He just keeps pushing himself to get through one more season.
Kramer plays right guard, a physically demanding position in which you are only noticed when you fail. The left guard is Forrest Gregg who would become an NFL head coach. Paul Zimmerman taught me that Offensive Lineman are smartest players on the field. It makes sense that the articulate Kramer and future coach Gregg would be teammates on the great Lombardi teams.
It was fortuitous that Kramer’s Packers would make it to the Super Bowl, but then again Lombardi had his teams in contention for the championship every year. The thing that surprised is that Kramer and the players treat the super bowl against the Raiders as a secondary game to the NFL championship they won against the Dallas Cowboys. They just considered the AFL an inferior league. Tom Landry’s Cowboys were a real challenge.
Kramer does some reminiscing about other seasons with the Packers and goes into some details about injuries that cost him playing time through the years, but the book is really about this season and how he sees Lombardi as a guy he hates in the moment and then loves in reflection. Lombardi made them winners, but he didn’t make it easy.
Oh and Lombardi retires after this season and the Packers wait nearly 30 years before they play in another championship game.
Kramer has been a Packer since 1958, the year before Lombardi became coach at Green Bay. He is 31 years-old at the start of the season and he questions why he’s still playing the game. The twice-a-day workouts are horrendous. The coach treats the veterans and rookies the same shabby way. Nothing is ever good enough for Lombardi. They are all bums in Lombardi’s eyes. Kramer is getting $28,000 for the season and he makes more money from his outside business interests. He doesn’t need football to make a living anymore. He doesn’t need the physical or verbal abuse. Probably because he knows he can quit anytime, he doesn’t fret. He just keeps pushing himself to get through one more season.
Kramer plays right guard, a physically demanding position in which you are only noticed when you fail. The left guard is Forrest Gregg who would become an NFL head coach. Paul Zimmerman taught me that Offensive Lineman are smartest players on the field. It makes sense that the articulate Kramer and future coach Gregg would be teammates on the great Lombardi teams.
It was fortuitous that Kramer’s Packers would make it to the Super Bowl, but then again Lombardi had his teams in contention for the championship every year. The thing that surprised is that Kramer and the players treat the super bowl against the Raiders as a secondary game to the NFL championship they won against the Dallas Cowboys. They just considered the AFL an inferior league. Tom Landry’s Cowboys were a real challenge.
Kramer does some reminiscing about other seasons with the Packers and goes into some details about injuries that cost him playing time through the years, but the book is really about this season and how he sees Lombardi as a guy he hates in the moment and then loves in reflection. Lombardi made them winners, but he didn’t make it easy.
Oh and Lombardi retires after this season and the Packers wait nearly 30 years before they play in another championship game.
October 8, 2024
Ставлю 3.5 або навіть 3.7. Маст рід для тих, хто цікавиться американським футболом. Дуже багато різної інформації про футбол 60х, ери яка вже ніколи не повернеться і яку ми звісно ж не застали. Багато класних інсайдів про життя гравців у ті часи й взагалі про Америку 60х через призму погляду спортсмена; і звісно ж Вінс Ломбарді та його методи.
October 25, 2021
“When the game is over, it is really just beginning”, this quote really stuck out to me because it’s true, once the game is over we begin the next one, that’s how football is. I really liked this book because it’s very inspiring to me, there truly are difficulties in being a football player, but this book shows me to never give up on my dream and to keep pushing myself to do better. Also, this book really inspired me to keep working hard because one day i will make it and i will live my dream. Although I really loved this book but one dumb reason I didn’t like this book was because I never liked the green bay packers.
November 13, 2008
This was an amazing book. I remembered it inadvertently while walking into an elevator the other day and just had to add it. I really loved this book when I read it as a football-obsessed kid (maybe 12 or so) and I was startled by remembering how much I remembered of it and how articulate and thoughtful he really was.
I remember how he describes training camp and how Lombardi made all the tryouts get up and sing in front of everybody- to test their meddle or something, I'm not sure. But it's a brilliant move from a legendary coach, who gets his due from the inside here.
How he worked out all day running sprints in Florida for training camp and when they went to a bowling alley to unwind afterwards they drank pepsi and it was so cold and so delicious after a day spent draining themselves it was the most delicious thing in the world. I know what he means!
and how he didn't want to take his helmet off, even though he's probably always hated it, after winning the Super Bowl (I think) and how it was like a badge of honor after so much time....
Seriously great book!!!
March 19, 2017
I'm a Packer fan (shh, don't tell my dad) and I had to read this for school. My English teacher had fangirled over Jerry Kramer, sent him letters, and even got to speak with him on the phone, and she was all too proud to tell us about it. This book was an interesting recollection into the Lambeau locker room, into the Ice Bowl, and offered a very good snapshot of Lombardi himself. I really enjoyed it and I think I got rebuked for reading it too quickly because unlike the other students who read to the prescribed point, I read the whole thing in a weekend and then had to censor myself for a month to resist giving spoilers.
September 17, 2009
For as much as I love the Packers, I've avoided this book for whatever reason -- probably because books written by athletes invariably suck. I'm not sure how much of this was actually Kramer and how much was ghostwritten by Dick Schaap, but this is as good of Packers/Lombardi book as I've read. Particularly fascinating was the amount of racism present -- both implied and overt. Makes sense considering this was the late '60s, but it's something that rarely comes up when you hear about the gilded dynasty years.
July 18, 2007
This has always been one of my favorite books. It's the diary written by Jerry Kramer, an offensive lineman during the Lombardi years in Green Bay, during Lombardi's final season as coach. I still have the promotional paperback copy that was distributed with Personna razor blades and that I read as an 8-year-old in third grade. You may have to look around in a second-hand bookshop to find a copy these days but if you do find one, snap it up! It's one of the best sports books you'll ever read.
January 23, 2009
"When I look back upon the 1967 season,...
...I remember a very special spirit, a rare camaraderie, something I can't quite define, but something I've tried to capture in this diary." Jerry Kramer
Spirit - camaraderie - achievement - teamwork, this book has it all with nothing held back - a great book about the NFL for any sports fan!
p.s., will someone please look at the accomplishments of Jerry Kramer and get this guy into the NFL Hall of Fame.
...I remember a very special spirit, a rare camaraderie, something I can't quite define, but something I've tried to capture in this diary." Jerry Kramer
Spirit - camaraderie - achievement - teamwork, this book has it all with nothing held back - a great book about the NFL for any sports fan!
p.s., will someone please look at the accomplishments of Jerry Kramer and get this guy into the NFL Hall of Fame.
February 21, 2019
Even though I am a Vikings fan and only root for the Packers if they play Dallas, I enjoyed reading this timeless classic by Kramer. He chronicles the 1967 season which, to the book's benefit, includes the Ice Bowl game vs. Dallas and Kramer's block of Jethro Pugh that allowed Bart Starr to plunge into the end zone and win, sending the Pack to their second Super Bowl.
Kramer, who was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2018, showed his nervousness, dreaming and prepping for defensive stars such as Alex Karras and Alan Page. It was interesting to look back on his story of more than 50 years ago; he mentions the "new" college defensive end Bubba Smith, who went on to star for Baltimore, Oakland and Houston. He offers insights into players such as Bart Starr, Elijah Pitts, Ray Nitschke and Forrest Gregg.
And of course, Vince Lombardi and his varying demeanor during the "movies" of the previous weeks' games are featured in the book.
It is a good sports diary for its time. Two years later, though, the greatest sports diary and book of all time came out. "Ball Four," by Jim Bouton was published and set the standard for any season chronicle.
Kramer, who was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 2018, showed his nervousness, dreaming and prepping for defensive stars such as Alex Karras and Alan Page. It was interesting to look back on his story of more than 50 years ago; he mentions the "new" college defensive end Bubba Smith, who went on to star for Baltimore, Oakland and Houston. He offers insights into players such as Bart Starr, Elijah Pitts, Ray Nitschke and Forrest Gregg.
And of course, Vince Lombardi and his varying demeanor during the "movies" of the previous weeks' games are featured in the book.
It is a good sports diary for its time. Two years later, though, the greatest sports diary and book of all time came out. "Ball Four," by Jim Bouton was published and set the standard for any season chronicle.
May 2, 2026
The main reason I landed on 3 stars for Instant Replay is that the diary-style format just didn’t fully click for me. I also think it would’ve added something special if Jerry Kramer had narrated it himself—especially since I had the chance to hear him speak when he visited my college about eight years ago.
During that visit, he shared some incredible stories about the Ice Bowl, and I found myself wishing the book had gone deeper into that game, as well as his friendship with Bart Starr.
That said, it was a fast-paced read, and I did enjoy some of the personal details—like how he earned the nickname “The Zipper” because he was constantly getting stitched up from injuries.
During that visit, he shared some incredible stories about the Ice Bowl, and I found myself wishing the book had gone deeper into that game, as well as his friendship with Bart Starr.
That said, it was a fast-paced read, and I did enjoy some of the personal details—like how he earned the nickname “The Zipper” because he was constantly getting stitched up from injuries.
April 2, 2025
What an incredible book. I never knew much about the early history of the Packers, specifically during the sixties under Vince Lombardi. Jerry Kramer and Dick Schaap do an incredible job illustrating the life of a professional football player, specifically along the offensive line. The diary does such an amazing job with how much Kramer pushes himself, how his team works, and what being a Packer means. The culture in Green Bay during this time was truly special, I wish I had been alive to witness it. There are so many moments where you come to understand the greatness of Lombardi. There’s a reason the trophy is named after him.
June 9, 2023
Classic!
June 10, 2026
Funny, insightful and sincere. Just what you’d expect from a right guard. But Vince sounds like a psycho, exactly what Ronnie Stanley and Rosengarten could use.
Clippings
Vince was right. The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
I don't think there's any danger of Henry getting cut, now that he's made up his mind to play, but there could be if this kid came on strong, looked great. Then Henry'd never forgive me. The whole relationship between veteran and rookie is strange. You can help to a certain extent, but you can't go overboard.
We flew to Chicago today for the All-Star game tomorrow, minus Jim Grabowski, our regular fullback. Jim's on riot duty with the National Guard in Milwaukee, and I don't think they'll let him go just for a football game.
I asked him at 7 o'clock and at 7:14 and at 7:18 and at 7:21 and at 7:23 and he gave me the right answer every time. He knows what it's like waiting for a game to start.
On the sidelines, right before the kickoff, I looked up Ray Nitschke and went through my regular ritual with him. He pounded me three times with his fists on my shoulder pads, then smacked me once on the side of the helmet. They weren't just love pats; Ray usually gives me about as vicious a blow as I'll get the whole game. He loosens me up, knocks out some of my butterflies. The rest of the butterflies disappear with the first real contact.
on one play Voss got through to Bart late, just after Bart had released a pass, and slammed an open hand into Bart's face, hitting him in the mouth, not vicious, but hard. When we got back to the huddle, Bart looked at Steve very sternly and said, “Steve Wright, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, letting Lloyd Voss in here. I'll tell you one thing. If I see that guy in here once more tonight, I'm not going to kick him in the can. I'm going to kick you in the can, right in front of 52,000 people.”
Bart calls all the plays himself and he just doesn't have any time for discussion. Once in a while, when we need long yardage on third down, he'll listen to a suggestion from a veteran receiver. The rest of us, if we've got something to tell Bart, we generally wait and tell him on the sidelines, when the other team's got the ball.
when you've got a long count, say a three or a four—the tackle'll lean on two, on the second “hut,” showing you which way he's going to go. But, still, even if you know which way he's going, the big job is to stop the man.
I hate to say anything unkind about an oponent - because I don't want to give him any extra incentive against me. We always say so-and-so is very tough. We always say so-and-so is a real competitor. We always sweet-talk our opponents
Bart'll call, “Red right, 49 on two.” The color indicates the position of our running backs; we have red, brown, and blue formations, and in the red formation the running backs are split, one behind each tackle. “Right” indicates the strong side, the side on which our tight end will line up. “Forty-nine” means that the “four” back, the running back on the left, will take the ball into the “nine” hole, the area outside the right end. “On two” means that the ball will be snapped the second time Bart says “hut.” On this play, I pull out to my right and go after the left cornerback. If Bart comes up to the line of scrimmage and sees the defense set up to stop a 49, he'll call an “automatic” / “audible” Before he says “hut,” he always calls out two numbers, first a single-digit number, then a double-digit number. If the single-digit number is the same as the snap signaI that means he's calling an automatic; the double-digit number that follows is the new play. In this case, if “Two-46-hut-hut,” I know that the 49 is off, that the new play is a 46, the four back into the six hole, between the left tackle, and the left end, and that, instead of pulling to my right, I have to pull to my left. Then I can either work a double-team with the fullback on the right linebacker or, if I see that the fullback is going to force the linebacker outside, I can cut up through the six hole and block the middle linebacker.
you don't have any predetermined place to take the man you're blocking. You just take him where he wants to go. If he wants to go inside, I'll drive him inside, and the back runs outside. If he wants to go outside, I'll drive him outside, and the back runs inside. If he doesn't want to go either direction, I'll just stand there and meet him, put my head in his chest and keep my feet moving, and when he reaches for the ballcarrier, as he inevitably must do, I push him backwards as hard as I can. It's a simple game, really.
First I think about my spacing, how far I should be from the center. I'll vary the distance. If the center has to cut my man off, I'll line up closer to him to make his job easier. But if I'm going to pull to my left, I'll make certain that I don't edge closer to the center because I don't want to tip the direction I'm going. Then I think about my stance. I don't want to vary my stance at all; I don't want to give the tackle any hint of the direction or nature of the play On rushing plays, my blocking is aggressive. Pass blocking is a stiffer test. You seldom lash out on a pass block; you receive the blow. It's mainly a negative block; it's a countermove. The tackle moves, you move. time. Occasionally—almost never against a Karras or an Olsen—on a pass block, I'll come off the ball real quick and pop the guy and take the initiative away from him. Or, if I want to be real cute and risky, I'll take sort of a half step to the outside, fake the man that way, then stand up and try to shield him.
When I came out from the locker room, my insides all torn up, and climbed into my car, my son Tony looked at me and said, “Daddy, do you like Alex Karras? I don't mean as a football player. I mean as a person.” “Shut up,” I said.
I went over to the barber, and that stupid sonuvabitch didn't have anything to do but talk in my ear about Karras for an hour and a half while he cut my hair.
I'm tempted to say some things about Karras, but we're always the nice guys. I'm tired of that nice-guy stuff, but I guess I really shouldn't say anything about that nearsighted hippopotamus.
Lombardi came up to me and stood toe-to-toe, my 6′3‘' and his 5‘2‘' or 5‘3‘' or whatever he is, and looked me in the eye. “Kramer!” he said. “The concentration period of a college student is thirty minutes, maybe less. Of a high school student, fifteen minutes, maybe less. In junior high, it's about five minutes, and in kindergarten, it's about one minute. You can't remember anything for even one minute! Where in the hell does that put you?”
Don had a friend visiting from Tulsa named Never Fail. He's not an Indian or anything; he's just named Never Fail. He told us that he's got an uncle named Will Fail.
An open-field block is no harder, probably easier, than a good block at the line of scrimmage, but for an offensive lineman to cut down two men is just like scoring a touchdown. It's a beautiful feeling.
Jim Ringo, our captain and an All-Pro center, a few years ago, showed up in Lombardi's office with another man. “Coach,” Ringo said, “I'm not very good at negotiating for myself. This is my agent. He'll discuss my contract with you.” Lombardi asked to be excused for a moment. He left his office, walked down the hall and came back in a few minutes. “I'm afraid you're negotiating with the wrong man,” he told Ringo's agent. “Jim Ringo has just been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.”
Clippings
Vince was right. The harder you work, the harder it is to surrender.
I don't think there's any danger of Henry getting cut, now that he's made up his mind to play, but there could be if this kid came on strong, looked great. Then Henry'd never forgive me. The whole relationship between veteran and rookie is strange. You can help to a certain extent, but you can't go overboard.
We flew to Chicago today for the All-Star game tomorrow, minus Jim Grabowski, our regular fullback. Jim's on riot duty with the National Guard in Milwaukee, and I don't think they'll let him go just for a football game.
I asked him at 7 o'clock and at 7:14 and at 7:18 and at 7:21 and at 7:23 and he gave me the right answer every time. He knows what it's like waiting for a game to start.
On the sidelines, right before the kickoff, I looked up Ray Nitschke and went through my regular ritual with him. He pounded me three times with his fists on my shoulder pads, then smacked me once on the side of the helmet. They weren't just love pats; Ray usually gives me about as vicious a blow as I'll get the whole game. He loosens me up, knocks out some of my butterflies. The rest of the butterflies disappear with the first real contact.
on one play Voss got through to Bart late, just after Bart had released a pass, and slammed an open hand into Bart's face, hitting him in the mouth, not vicious, but hard. When we got back to the huddle, Bart looked at Steve very sternly and said, “Steve Wright, you ought to be ashamed of yourself, letting Lloyd Voss in here. I'll tell you one thing. If I see that guy in here once more tonight, I'm not going to kick him in the can. I'm going to kick you in the can, right in front of 52,000 people.”
Bart calls all the plays himself and he just doesn't have any time for discussion. Once in a while, when we need long yardage on third down, he'll listen to a suggestion from a veteran receiver. The rest of us, if we've got something to tell Bart, we generally wait and tell him on the sidelines, when the other team's got the ball.
when you've got a long count, say a three or a four—the tackle'll lean on two, on the second “hut,” showing you which way he's going to go. But, still, even if you know which way he's going, the big job is to stop the man.
I hate to say anything unkind about an oponent - because I don't want to give him any extra incentive against me. We always say so-and-so is very tough. We always say so-and-so is a real competitor. We always sweet-talk our opponents
Bart'll call, “Red right, 49 on two.” The color indicates the position of our running backs; we have red, brown, and blue formations, and in the red formation the running backs are split, one behind each tackle. “Right” indicates the strong side, the side on which our tight end will line up. “Forty-nine” means that the “four” back, the running back on the left, will take the ball into the “nine” hole, the area outside the right end. “On two” means that the ball will be snapped the second time Bart says “hut.” On this play, I pull out to my right and go after the left cornerback. If Bart comes up to the line of scrimmage and sees the defense set up to stop a 49, he'll call an “automatic” / “audible” Before he says “hut,” he always calls out two numbers, first a single-digit number, then a double-digit number. If the single-digit number is the same as the snap signaI that means he's calling an automatic; the double-digit number that follows is the new play. In this case, if “Two-46-hut-hut,” I know that the 49 is off, that the new play is a 46, the four back into the six hole, between the left tackle, and the left end, and that, instead of pulling to my right, I have to pull to my left. Then I can either work a double-team with the fullback on the right linebacker or, if I see that the fullback is going to force the linebacker outside, I can cut up through the six hole and block the middle linebacker.
you don't have any predetermined place to take the man you're blocking. You just take him where he wants to go. If he wants to go inside, I'll drive him inside, and the back runs outside. If he wants to go outside, I'll drive him outside, and the back runs inside. If he doesn't want to go either direction, I'll just stand there and meet him, put my head in his chest and keep my feet moving, and when he reaches for the ballcarrier, as he inevitably must do, I push him backwards as hard as I can. It's a simple game, really.
First I think about my spacing, how far I should be from the center. I'll vary the distance. If the center has to cut my man off, I'll line up closer to him to make his job easier. But if I'm going to pull to my left, I'll make certain that I don't edge closer to the center because I don't want to tip the direction I'm going. Then I think about my stance. I don't want to vary my stance at all; I don't want to give the tackle any hint of the direction or nature of the play On rushing plays, my blocking is aggressive. Pass blocking is a stiffer test. You seldom lash out on a pass block; you receive the blow. It's mainly a negative block; it's a countermove. The tackle moves, you move. time. Occasionally—almost never against a Karras or an Olsen—on a pass block, I'll come off the ball real quick and pop the guy and take the initiative away from him. Or, if I want to be real cute and risky, I'll take sort of a half step to the outside, fake the man that way, then stand up and try to shield him.
When I came out from the locker room, my insides all torn up, and climbed into my car, my son Tony looked at me and said, “Daddy, do you like Alex Karras? I don't mean as a football player. I mean as a person.” “Shut up,” I said.
I went over to the barber, and that stupid sonuvabitch didn't have anything to do but talk in my ear about Karras for an hour and a half while he cut my hair.
I'm tempted to say some things about Karras, but we're always the nice guys. I'm tired of that nice-guy stuff, but I guess I really shouldn't say anything about that nearsighted hippopotamus.
Lombardi came up to me and stood toe-to-toe, my 6′3‘' and his 5‘2‘' or 5‘3‘' or whatever he is, and looked me in the eye. “Kramer!” he said. “The concentration period of a college student is thirty minutes, maybe less. Of a high school student, fifteen minutes, maybe less. In junior high, it's about five minutes, and in kindergarten, it's about one minute. You can't remember anything for even one minute! Where in the hell does that put you?”
Don had a friend visiting from Tulsa named Never Fail. He's not an Indian or anything; he's just named Never Fail. He told us that he's got an uncle named Will Fail.
An open-field block is no harder, probably easier, than a good block at the line of scrimmage, but for an offensive lineman to cut down two men is just like scoring a touchdown. It's a beautiful feeling.
Jim Ringo, our captain and an All-Pro center, a few years ago, showed up in Lombardi's office with another man. “Coach,” Ringo said, “I'm not very good at negotiating for myself. This is my agent. He'll discuss my contract with you.” Lombardi asked to be excused for a moment. He left his office, walked down the hall and came back in a few minutes. “I'm afraid you're negotiating with the wrong man,” he told Ringo's agent. “Jim Ringo has just been traded to the Philadelphia Eagles.”
July 19, 2021
Read this one as a young boy when I was playing Pop Warner football. It was the first behind the scenes memoir of a sports figure I ever read. Pretty tame compared to a few years later when I read Jim Bouton’s Ball Four.
October 12, 2007
"Instant Replay" is a fascinating look, in journal form, at an NFL season, through the eyes of veteran Green Bay Packer guard Jerry Kramer. Kramer had been an integral part of the great Packer championship teams of the 1960s, and as he relates the story of a disappointing season without legendary Coach Vince Lombardi (who had stepped down after the previous Super Bowl to move into the front office), it's hard not to get a bit misty- eyed at times. "Instant Replay" is a great book for a limited audience; there will be some difficulty understanding the story without at least some knowledge of the people involved. Jerry Kramer, btw, was one of the greatest offensive linemen in NFL history. It's a travesty that he isn't in the Hall of Fame.
May 10, 2020
Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer by Jerry Kramer (Doubleday 1968)(Biography). This is the original memoir by former NFL All-Pro offensive guard Jerry Kramer of the 1960's era Green Bay Packers. He played for legendary Coach Vince Lombardi, whose Packer teams won the first two Super Bowl games. This is the first and likely still the best football memoir by an offensive lineman. I loved this book growing up and considered the author to be one of my role models. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 1971.
December 6, 2019
One of the great sports books in that it shows not all sports books have to be shallow fluff to take advantage of a momentary market. An inside look at one of the greatest football teams ever and a time when players played hurt, fo better of worse. (I still remember the image of Jerry Kramer sitting in the locker room with a colostomy bag and telling a rookie, "It's a tough game, kid.") Kramer will be remember for more than a great, game-winning block in the "Ice Bowl."
December 30, 2010
When I played high school football, my favorite team was the Green Bay Packers. I [layed right guard and Jerry Kramer was my hero. Not some wimpy quarterback. So of course I loved this book. But, as it turns out, the book was pretty well written, and given that the Pack won the SuperBowl that year, makes for a good story.
February 4, 2014
A best-seller in the 60's, this book chronicles the day-by-day of what was Jerry Kramer's last season with the Packers, and, as it turns out, the last season coach Vince Lombardi was with the team. A fascinating inside account of a football season decades before the internet, sports radio, etc.
February 14, 2020
Tedious to a degree. Also fascinating to hear about life in the 1960s, when football players were simultaneously more childlike (curfews, etc) and less childlike (reserved, restrained) than they are today.
April 7, 2009
Loved this book. Right up there with the Jim Brown and Lombardi bios that I read around the same time.
May 5, 2009
The reason I still wear a Packers cap; also the reason I've never watched a complete NFL game since 1967 and the Ice Bowl. How do you climb higher than the top?
October 30, 2009
If you like the Packers or football you'll love this book. Tons of great stories about the Lombardi era Packers.
February 8, 2016
I'm biased. I'm a Green Bay Packers fan but I'm a football fan even more. A great book about the "world" of football. Really enjoyable. I highly recommend it if you are a football fan.
January 19, 2026
The following contract negotiation would be unthinkable for today’s professional athletes:
“…the personnel director of the Packers, phoned today and asked me if I wanted to discuss my contract. I told him I wanted $27,500, up from $23,000 last year, and I said it isn’t as much as I deserve, of course, but I’ll be happy with it and I won’t cause any problems, any struggle. I mean it. I know I’m worth more than $27,5000, but I don’t want a contract fight over a few thousand dollars.”
Though $27k in 1967 approaches $250k today, the salaries still register as strikingly low, even with inflation factored in; today’s NFL’s rookie minimum exceeds $800k. Notice there is also no agent mediating with a salary cap minded general manager; just a player tossing salary figures back and forth with the front office between practices. Such is the NFL in 1967 when Green Bay Packers All-Pro offensive lineman Jerry Kramer set out to write his daily account of the Packer’s march to Super Bowl II.
Kramer details the rigorous physical demands of training camp, the weekly practice leadup to Sunday’s games, and the nights out on the town with teammates during trips for road games. We catch glimpses of Coach Vince Lombardi’s gusto during the team’s many hours spent “watching movies”—their term for reviewing game tape together. The game-to-game rhythm of an NFL season is written with enough variation to avoid cycling into repetition.
The collaborative methods between Kramer and sportswriter Dick Schaap should be noted: Several nights a week, Kramer “spoke into a tape recorder, preserving his daily actions and reactions.” Each week he mailed his recordings to Schaap for composing and editing. Written as the season unfolds, Kramer’s account carries a refreshing immediacy, underscored by the absence of reflective distance to recognize the later significance of certain details:
“We went into the dressing room and, as usual, I grabbed a few cups of Gatorade, which has got to be one of the greatest things ever invented for athletes. It’s a drink developed in Florida. It’s got everything you need in it – a solution of water, salt, and glucose – and it tastes good. We serve it between the halves and on the sidelines during a game.”
Another timestamped passage:
“I had a busy, profitable morning. I got up around a quarter to ten after a good night’s sleep, ate breakfast, then visited the local RCA-Victor distributor, who gave me a color-TV set because I’d made a commercial for him.”
“…the personnel director of the Packers, phoned today and asked me if I wanted to discuss my contract. I told him I wanted $27,500, up from $23,000 last year, and I said it isn’t as much as I deserve, of course, but I’ll be happy with it and I won’t cause any problems, any struggle. I mean it. I know I’m worth more than $27,5000, but I don’t want a contract fight over a few thousand dollars.”
Though $27k in 1967 approaches $250k today, the salaries still register as strikingly low, even with inflation factored in; today’s NFL’s rookie minimum exceeds $800k. Notice there is also no agent mediating with a salary cap minded general manager; just a player tossing salary figures back and forth with the front office between practices. Such is the NFL in 1967 when Green Bay Packers All-Pro offensive lineman Jerry Kramer set out to write his daily account of the Packer’s march to Super Bowl II.
Kramer details the rigorous physical demands of training camp, the weekly practice leadup to Sunday’s games, and the nights out on the town with teammates during trips for road games. We catch glimpses of Coach Vince Lombardi’s gusto during the team’s many hours spent “watching movies”—their term for reviewing game tape together. The game-to-game rhythm of an NFL season is written with enough variation to avoid cycling into repetition.
The collaborative methods between Kramer and sportswriter Dick Schaap should be noted: Several nights a week, Kramer “spoke into a tape recorder, preserving his daily actions and reactions.” Each week he mailed his recordings to Schaap for composing and editing. Written as the season unfolds, Kramer’s account carries a refreshing immediacy, underscored by the absence of reflective distance to recognize the later significance of certain details:
“We went into the dressing room and, as usual, I grabbed a few cups of Gatorade, which has got to be one of the greatest things ever invented for athletes. It’s a drink developed in Florida. It’s got everything you need in it – a solution of water, salt, and glucose – and it tastes good. We serve it between the halves and on the sidelines during a game.”
Another timestamped passage:
“I had a busy, profitable morning. I got up around a quarter to ten after a good night’s sleep, ate breakfast, then visited the local RCA-Victor distributor, who gave me a color-TV set because I’d made a commercial for him.”
February 11, 2024
When this book was published in 1968, it read like a peek inside a mysterious world that ordinary people had never seen before. Jerry Kramer offered readers an inside view of playing in the National Football League. Specifically, he wrote about the 1967 season of his team, the Green Bay Packers. Often called the team of the '60s, the Packers were coached by Vince Lombardi, considered one of the all-time greats in NFL history. Lombardi built great teams full of skilled players who won multiple championships. In 1967, though, it all looked ready to end: Lombardi was rumored to be considering retirement, the Packers had lost some of their stalwarts to expansion teams such as the New Orleans Saints and other players were also considering hanging up their cleats. Kramer was one of them; he had had so many surgeries over his career that his nickname was "Zipper." In this book he takes readers behind the scenes as the Packers try for one more championship.
Any student of football history knows how that season went for the Packers. In spite of that, Kramer gives us a great deal of drama and suspense. The book uses his diaries from training camp to Super Bowl, showing his views of the season, his teammates and the challenges of a long season. I enjoyed his open admiration of certain opponents such as Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions and Merlin Olsen of the Los Angeles Rams. Above all is his portrait of Vince Lombardi, great coach and master manipulator, willing his team to victory by all means.
Kramer does an excellent job of showing the ordinary lives of football players. Despite that, there were certain missing elements that kept me from giving it four stars. He glosses over widespread use of pharmaceuticals that allowed players to stay on the field and even turn in superhuman performances. Also, he never mentions the gambling scandal that earned Karras and former Packer Paul Hornung one-year suspensions in 1963. No one seems to be much of a carouser or a womanizer either, which I find difficult to believe. Obviously that was not Kramer's life and he did not want to spill locker room secrets. That viewpoint is appreciated even if it feels something is missing. Three and a half stars.
Any student of football history knows how that season went for the Packers. In spite of that, Kramer gives us a great deal of drama and suspense. The book uses his diaries from training camp to Super Bowl, showing his views of the season, his teammates and the challenges of a long season. I enjoyed his open admiration of certain opponents such as Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions and Merlin Olsen of the Los Angeles Rams. Above all is his portrait of Vince Lombardi, great coach and master manipulator, willing his team to victory by all means.
Kramer does an excellent job of showing the ordinary lives of football players. Despite that, there were certain missing elements that kept me from giving it four stars. He glosses over widespread use of pharmaceuticals that allowed players to stay on the field and even turn in superhuman performances. Also, he never mentions the gambling scandal that earned Karras and former Packer Paul Hornung one-year suspensions in 1963. No one seems to be much of a carouser or a womanizer either, which I find difficult to believe. Obviously that was not Kramer's life and he did not want to spill locker room secrets. That viewpoint is appreciated even if it feels something is missing. Three and a half stars.
April 13, 2021
I read about this book in the brilliant Lombardi bio "When Pride Still Mattered" and being intrigued by it (I'm a sucker for any ghostwritten athlete "diary of a season" style books, as evidenced by my reading "Ball Four," "Pennant Season," and others). When I found a copy of it at the local Salvation Army for 49 cents (not fifty, but 49), I figured it was a heck of a deal. This is Jerry Kramer's inside account of the Green Bay Packers' championship season in 1967, when they did a three-peat of NFL championships and won their second straight Super Bowl (the NFL and AFL would merge later). It's a fun, rollicking time as Kramer describes not just the dynamics on the team but also his outside interests that, in the eyes of Lombardi, might distract Kramer and his other teammates from the ultimate purpose of football: winning. But the team manages to capture its second Super Bowl title and Lombardi would retire at the end of this season, working as general manager and then going to the Washington Football Team (known then by their very racist old name, which I will not repeat here) before his untimely death in 1970. Kramer proves to be a winning guide through the locker room and on the field, and I enjoyed this book a lot. It's not as salacious as later sports memoirs would be (and indeed, "Ball Four" reads as pretty tame today compared to its reputation upon publication as well), but it's a lot of fun and captures the moment of Green Bay's last hurrah under Lombardi, the man who would define what the Packers were for generations of even casual football fans (it doesn't hurt that it's his name on the championship trophy given out at the end of the Super Bowl). If you can find a copy of this, and you're really into football or just a casual fan, you'll like this book a lot.
July 24, 2018
A total treasure!
Given that Jerry Kramer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, it just felt right to read his amazing diary that wrote during the 1967 championship season. Honestly,after reading this, I have no idea what took so long to put this player into the Hall of Fame.
The first thing you will note in this book is how football has not changed as much as we think. The camaraderie, teamwork, sacrifice, and mentality have always been part of this beautiful game. As Kramer notes it:
"Nothing irritates me more than the implication that we're some sort of subhuman beasts, trained animals clawing each other for the amusement of modern Romans"
It gives a unique insight of how players from an NFL team live their seasons. The struggle and pain are always present and even second thoughts are part of their daily routines:
"We started two-a-day workouts today, and the agony is beyond belief. Grass drills, agility drills, wind sprints, everything. You wonder why you're there, how long you're going to last. The grass drills are exquisite torture:"
Maybe the best thing hidden in this piece of history, is the way it portraits Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches in history.
Kramer says about him: "He is a beautiful man, and the proof is that no one who ever played for him ever speaks of him afterward with anything but respect, admiration, and affection."
A must read and one of the best football books I've ever read.
Given that Jerry Kramer will be inducted into the Hall of Fame this year, it just felt right to read his amazing diary that wrote during the 1967 championship season. Honestly,after reading this, I have no idea what took so long to put this player into the Hall of Fame.
The first thing you will note in this book is how football has not changed as much as we think. The camaraderie, teamwork, sacrifice, and mentality have always been part of this beautiful game. As Kramer notes it:
"Nothing irritates me more than the implication that we're some sort of subhuman beasts, trained animals clawing each other for the amusement of modern Romans"
It gives a unique insight of how players from an NFL team live their seasons. The struggle and pain are always present and even second thoughts are part of their daily routines:
"We started two-a-day workouts today, and the agony is beyond belief. Grass drills, agility drills, wind sprints, everything. You wonder why you're there, how long you're going to last. The grass drills are exquisite torture:"
Maybe the best thing hidden in this piece of history, is the way it portraits Vince Lombardi, one of the greatest coaches in history.
Kramer says about him: "He is a beautiful man, and the proof is that no one who ever played for him ever speaks of him afterward with anything but respect, admiration, and affection."
A must read and one of the best football books I've ever read.
December 7, 2019
Instant Replay - in 2019, this is better than when I first read this book, probably in the early 1970’s in my preteen years. This book was for sale in a used book store, sadly going out of business, and I had a strong desire to read it again. I grew up watching a different pro football game than is played today. The Green Bay Packers, under Vince Lombardi, the greatest coach ever, set a standard for greatness. They worked hard, played the game with toughness and passion, and they were winners (not whiners). Jerry Kramer, the right guard, kept a diary during the 1967 season. I played right guard in high school, so I prefer a book written by a guard more than any other position. He is in the trenches. This story he tells is fascinating and so different than today’s game. They have unbelievably tough pre season practices. They played six pre season games, and the starters played hard in each game. Their salaries were small, especially compared with today, as Kramer made less than $30,000 a season. The quarterback, Bart Starr, called the plays. Not the coaches. They ran the ball, and the plays were simple, and still unstoppable. A full back, a half back, no man in motion, and simplicity and practice were key. I think any football fan will enjoy this book, even if they are too young to have watched the game 50 years ago.
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