Jerry Kramer

The most successful Black football star of his era, and, in 1967, the first Black inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Emlen Tunnell is, sadly, almost forgotten now. A WWII hero who served with distinction in the Coast Guard, Tunnell followed his service with a groundbreaking career in the NFL. He held league records for interceptions, interception return yards, punt returns, and punt return yardage. In 1948, he broke the color barrier to become the first Black player on the New York Giants. He was later a player, coach, and scout for Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers. David Lyons’s poignant biography, Emlen Tunnell, chronicles this amazing athlete, nicknamed “the Gremlin” for his returns and aerial attacks that wreaked havoc reminiscent of the damage caused by phantom gremlins of WWII. Tunnell was also a game changer, revolutionizing his defensive position as a safety, making it as exciting as a running back. While Tunnell encountered racism and discrimination on and off the gridiron, the gregarious athlete had a charm and charisma that was disarming. He often mentored teammates and introduced them to Black culture. After his stint in the NFL and until his death, Tunnell was an NFL scout and the first Black assistant coach for the Giants.Emlen Tunnell thoroughly recounts the extraordinary life and career of this great athlete and does justice to his remarkable legacy.

“You can if you will.” A phrase uttered to a young Jerry Kramer by his line coach at Sandpoint High School in tiny Sandpoint, Idaho, that would go on to push him to a celebrated NFL career with the Green Bay Packers and a sentiment that he would repeat to close his speech at his long awaited enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame almost seven decades later in 2018.In the spirit of Jerry Kramer’s unforgettable and bestselling collaborations with the great Dick Schaap, his first book about his life and career in over two decades, Run to Win will serve as Kramer’s definitive statement about a remarkable life and career of perseverance, teamwork, and gridiron greatness. Spanning the beginning of the legendary Vince Lombardi era through Kramer’s confoundingly long wait to receive his bust in Canton, Kramer tells his amazing story as one of the most memorable and toughest Packers in franchise history.Including insightful commentary about the eminently intriguing Lombardi, as well as fellow Hall of Fame teammates Jim Taylor, Forrest Gregg, Willie Davis, Bart Starr, Emlen Tunnell, and many more, Run to Win is a must read for all true Packers fans from one of the legends who helped lay the foundation for one of the most identifiable and successful franchises in the history of professional sports.