Jerry Kramer

Happy 4-15 Day for those who celebrate. Love to sell you a print!

Sad to hear this news. Please feel free to share your remembrances of Bob. He was a great steward of the Green Bay Packers and an even better person. Our condolences to his family and friends. Rest in peace.

I was so sorry to hear that former Packers President Bob Harlan passed away yesterday at age 89 at St. Mary's Hospital in Green Bay.
I was lucky to be able to photograph Bob interacting with Terry Bradshaw on the podium after Green Bay beat Carolina in the NFC Championship game.
In my book, Return to Glory, I asked Bob about this moment:

"Oh, I remember this photo very well. That day was my most memorable day ever at Lambeau Field and I’ll tell you why: late in the ballgame, Ron Wolf and I were taken to the field to receive the George Halas trophy. As we were waiting, the public address announcer said: “The Green Bay Packers are going to the Super Bowl!!” And the stadium just lit up, the stands, the private boxes. I’ve never seen so much excitement in my life. People were hugging and screaming and kissing and jumping up and down. And nobody deserved it more than those fans right there. I turned to Ron and said ‘I could cry’ and he said ‘so could I’. It was the best day I ever had at Lambeau Field without a doubt. I’d never seen such total happiness in one place. How much did those people deserve that Championship, after 29 years of mediocrity through the ‘70s and ‘80s?

"When Lombardi came in 1959, he resurrected the team and took it to five World Championships and made them an elite team in the NFL. And when Ron Wolf came to town in 1992, we had just gone through a 24-year period of mediocrity; they only had four winning seasons and two playoff appearances. Our fans had given up on any thought we’d ever win again. 'The Lombardi era was the last great era, we’ll never win again,' they thought.

"Then Ron Wolf hired Mike Holmgren as head coach, made a trade for Brett Favre, signed Reggie White as a free agent and character and dignity were returned to this franchise in a heartbeat. We started winning immediately and five years later we won Super Bowl 31 and brought the Vince Lombardi Trophy back to Green Bay for the first time in 29 years. Even though they didn’t win as many championships as Mr. Lombardi did I think the resurrection job they did in the ‘90s was every bit as outstanding as what Coach Lombardi did in the 1960s."

Bob Harlan