Jerry Kramer chooses daughter to present at NFL Hall of Fame

GREEN BAY – To no one’s surprise, Jerry Kramer has selected his daughter, Alicia, to be his presenter at his Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement this summer.

The former Packers great and the Hall of Fame made the announcement on Wednesday via the Hall’s social media accounts.

In a short video describing the rationale behind his choice, Kramer explained how Alicia came to him about five years ago to spearhead a campaign to resurrect his candidacy.

Kramer’s first reaction?

“Please don’t,” he says. “I don’t think that’s something I want to see. I’m not sure I want my daughter prospecting for me for all that. She said, ‘Well, I’m going to do it.’ She’s like her mother. ‘I’m going to do it.’”

A key component of the campaign was collecting letters from former Packers teammates and opponents already in the Hall of Fame in support of Kramer’s induction.

Kramer rattled off several of the players who wrote to Alicia – Merlin Olsen, Alex Karras, Alan Page, Bob Lilly, Roger Staubach, plus Paul Hornung and Bart Starr among his Green Bay teammates.

“She just wouldn’t quit,” Kramer said. “She kept pushing and pushing and pushing.

“I think she had an impact. I think she woke some people up. ‘Hey, hey, hey, this thing is overdue and maybe it’s time to do something about it.’”

Kramer had suggested upon being chosen for induction this year that Alicia might be his presenter, and now it’s official.

Kramer was chosen for the Hall’s class of 2018 last month as a senior committee nominee, his 11th time as a finalist overall and first time since being a senior finalist in 1997. His enshrinement will come 50 years after his 1968 retirement, and he’ll be the Packers’ 25th individual inducted in Canton and the 13th of the Vince Lombardi-era Packers, including the legendary coach himself.

As his presenter, Alicia will place the Hall of Fame gold jacket on her father at the gold jacket dinner on Friday, Aug. 3, and then introduce him the following night at the induction ceremony in Canton, Ohio.

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