Instant Replay: The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer

I was in seventh grade when I finally decided to play football. One reason was I was born to play the game; strong, relatively fast and pretty smart. The other was because I read Instant Replay. I found out that football players weren’t what I thought. My perceptions were that football players weren’t intelligent and that the game was brutish. I found out I was very wrong. Jerry Kramer’s book informed me that football players were like everyone, full of comedians, dedicated players, and thoughtful people like him. The book taught me I could be a bookworm and be a football player. Plus, I played offensive line, and I found the book to be an invaluable guide on how to be a lineman. Over 45 years later the book still speaks to me on the thrills and disasters of playing football. I’m sure many young boys were introduced to the game through his book, and I’m glad he has finally made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There is no doubt that if the HOF is for those players who have made an impact on the game, Jerry Kramer and Instant Replay deserve a place there.

As a Gen-Xer, I wasn't around during what was surely an exciting time for football fans. A new league had arisen to challenge the NFL for dominance! Soon it was decided that the Champion of the AFL would play the Champion of the NFL in a special game called the SUPER BOWL. I always wondered what it must have felt like to be in the atmosphere of those first few Super Bowl runs. Jerry Kramer was a Hall of Fame guard for the Packers, and he kept a diary of the '67 season, and their playoff run. Culminating in the Championship game against the Cowboys, the game came down to a final yard with just seconds to play. Reading Jerry's contemporaneous journal entries that he made immediately after the games was exhilarating, and transported me back in time. Jerry's entries also give an inside look at legendary coach Vince Lombardi, who's final game as coach of the Packers came just one week later as Green Bay faced off against the Raiders in just the second ever Super Bowl. If you love the game of football and are interested in its history, this book is required reading.

I’m old enough to remember the Packer teams of the Sixties and recall their game with Dallas in the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Kramer is straightforward in his narration about the 1967 season, but so guarded in his descriptions. Yes, Vince Lombardi was a tyrant and yes he was a good man, but being a raving screamer one minute and ruffling your hair the next doesn’t capture that. A good sports book needs the type of gritty, vulgar insanity pro teams generate. Kramer skims over issues of race, homosexuality, feminism ... in 1967? I did like reading about how these athletes scrambled to make money on the side. Their salaries are painfully small for the physical sacrifices they made. Instant Replay is ok, but unremarkable.

Many football players are stereotyped as "dumb jocks". Jerry Kramer emphatically dispels that myth with this fantastic work of literature which has stood the test of time. The future Hall of Fame right guard gives the reader unprecedented insider access to one of the great teams in National Football League history, led by its iconic coach and buttressed by several men who now have a bronze bust in Canton. With Kramer now in the Hall of Fame, every football fan should read (or re-read) Instant Replay. That goes without saying if you are a Cheesehead.

From the time of being a young girl who watched my big brothers play highschool football together. Johnny was a halback and Jerry was a quarterback in our small town, Greenville, Michigan. Coach Smith was their coach. Everyone loved him. He would flood the school playground every year across the street from our house. I begged him to let girls play football. My brothers taught me how to throw a spiral. Reading Instant Replay and the agony of Nutcracker drills, freezing weather, being cussed out by the coach, I know I couldn't have played football. Love, love, to be a spectator!! Great book!!!

Before there was Ball Four's behind the scenes look at baseball, Kramer's diary of the 1967 Packers is a fantastic book. It came out when I was 3. As the years past, the book was on the shelf. All my brothers read it. I don't know why I decided to read it in late 2020, but I am so glad I did. A really fascinating look at football in the '60's and the Packer dynasty. Really highlights the impact of Vince Lombardi. I absolutely recommend this, and 50+ years later, it hasn't lost any relevance.

Along with Jim Bouton's Ball Four, Instant Replay may well be one of the most important sports books ever written. While the book is as much about Vince Lombardi as the Green Bay Packers, and is virtually a paean to the Coach, Kramer also pulls the curtain aside from the inner workings of the locker room, and the experience of being a professional athlete, albeit in a different era. Very readable and entertaining, Kramer is not just a grunt, and in fact resents the stereotype of the "dumb jock." He is articulate, witty, and smart. He is also humble and likeable.

I have ever read. I have read if four tmmes and lost the book years ago and have been trying to find another copy since. I liked the way Mr. Kramer described the day to day activities of the Packers, one of the greatest teams ever in the NFL. I loved the relationship he had with Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Paul Hourning and all the other players he work with daily on the team. It is a book that a simple fan, like me, can read, enjoy and re-read several times. There was nothing I disliked about this book, it is just an excelent read. I can not compare it to any other publications because I have not read any. This was a book that I picked up with curosity in mind, started to read and could not put it down. I read it over and over. I really had no expectations of what should happen or why etc, but this powerful fun and readable book is just the diamond in the wild of books. Thank you for alowing me to submit this review. Stan

Great book about an amazing team and one of the two greatest coaches of our lifetime-Vince Lombardi. Not surprising when his players speak of Coach Lombardi (and UCLA’s Coach Wooden), they speak as much or more about the life lessons he taught as they do about his ability to drive their team to victory which in Coach Lombardi’s case was five world titles in eight years.

First read this when I played football in high school. Fifty years later I still loved reading every word on every page. A true treasure of a book.

I was in seventh grade when I finally decided to play football. One reason was I was born to play the game; strong, relatively fast and pretty smart. The other was because I read Instant Replay. I found out that football players weren’t what I thought. My perceptions were that football players weren’t intelligent and that the game was brutish. I found out I was very wrong. Jerry Kramer’s book informed me that football players were like everyone, full of comedians, dedicated players, and thoughtful people like him. The book taught me I could be a bookworm and be a football player. Plus, I played offensive line, and I found the book to be an invaluable guide on how to be a lineman. Over 45 years later the book still speaks to me on the thrills and disasters of playing football. I’m sure many young boys were introduced to the game through his book, and I’m glad he has finally made it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. There is no doubt that if the HOF is for those players who have made an impact on the game, Jerry Kramer and Instant Replay deserve a place there.

As a Gen-Xer, I wasn't around during what was surely an exciting time for football fans. A new league had arisen to challenge the NFL for dominance! Soon it was decided that the Champion of the AFL would play the Champion of the NFL in a special game called the SUPER BOWL. I always wondered what it must have felt like to be in the atmosphere of those first few Super Bowl runs. Jerry Kramer was a Hall of Fame guard for the Packers, and he kept a diary of the '67 season, and their playoff run. Culminating in the Championship game against the Cowboys, the game came down to a final yard with just seconds to play. Reading Jerry's contemporaneous journal entries that he made immediately after the games was exhilarating, and transported me back in time. Jerry's entries also give an inside look at legendary coach Vince Lombardi, who's final game as coach of the Packers came just one week later as Green Bay faced off against the Raiders in just the second ever Super Bowl. If you love the game of football and are interested in its history, this book is required reading.

I’m old enough to remember the Packer teams of the Sixties and recall their game with Dallas in the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Kramer is straightforward in his narration about the 1967 season, but so guarded in his descriptions. Yes, Vince Lombardi was a tyrant and yes he was a good man, but being a raving screamer one minute and ruffling your hair the next doesn’t capture that. A good sports book needs the type of gritty, vulgar insanity pro teams generate. Kramer skims over issues of race, homosexuality, feminism ... in 1967? I did like reading about how these athletes scrambled to make money on the side. Their salaries are painfully small for the physical sacrifices they made. Instant Replay is ok, but unremarkable.

Many football players are stereotyped as "dumb jocks". Jerry Kramer emphatically dispels that myth with this fantastic work of literature which has stood the test of time. The future Hall of Fame right guard gives the reader unprecedented insider access to one of the great teams in National Football League history, led by its iconic coach and buttressed by several men who now have a bronze bust in Canton. With Kramer now in the Hall of Fame, every football fan should read (or re-read) Instant Replay. That goes without saying if you are a Cheesehead.

From the time of being a young girl who watched my big brothers play highschool football together. Johnny was a halback and Jerry was a quarterback in our small town, Greenville, Michigan. Coach Smith was their coach. Everyone loved him. He would flood the school playground every year across the street from our house. I begged him to let girls play football. My brothers taught me how to throw a spiral. Reading Instant Replay and the agony of Nutcracker drills, freezing weather, being cussed out by the coach, I know I couldn't have played football. Love, love, to be a spectator!! Great book!!!

Before there was Ball Four's behind the scenes look at baseball, Kramer's diary of the 1967 Packers is a fantastic book. It came out when I was 3. As the years past, the book was on the shelf. All my brothers read it. I don't know why I decided to read it in late 2020, but I am so glad I did. A really fascinating look at football in the '60's and the Packer dynasty. Really highlights the impact of Vince Lombardi. I absolutely recommend this, and 50+ years later, it hasn't lost any relevance.

Along with Jim Bouton's Ball Four, Instant Replay may well be one of the most important sports books ever written. While the book is as much about Vince Lombardi as the Green Bay Packers, and is virtually a paean to the Coach, Kramer also pulls the curtain aside from the inner workings of the locker room, and the experience of being a professional athlete, albeit in a different era. Very readable and entertaining, Kramer is not just a grunt, and in fact resents the stereotype of the "dumb jock." He is articulate, witty, and smart. He is also humble and likeable.

I have ever read. I have read if four tmmes and lost the book years ago and have been trying to find another copy since. I liked the way Mr. Kramer described the day to day activities of the Packers, one of the greatest teams ever in the NFL. I loved the relationship he had with Vince Lombardi, Bart Starr, Paul Hourning and all the other players he work with daily on the team. It is a book that a simple fan, like me, can read, enjoy and re-read several times. There was nothing I disliked about this book, it is just an excelent read. I can not compare it to any other publications because I have not read any. This was a book that I picked up with curosity in mind, started to read and could not put it down. I read it over and over. I really had no expectations of what should happen or why etc, but this powerful fun and readable book is just the diamond in the wild of books. Thank you for alowing me to submit this review. Stan

Great book about an amazing team and one of the two greatest coaches of our lifetime-Vince Lombardi. Not surprising when his players speak of Coach Lombardi (and UCLA’s Coach Wooden), they speak as much or more about the life lessons he taught as they do about his ability to drive their team to victory which in Coach Lombardi’s case was five world titles in eight years.

First read this when I played football in high school. Fifty years later I still loved reading every word on every page. A true treasure of a book.

"Instant Replay" was something new when first published in 1968, a diary of a year on the Green Bay Packers professional football team, as written by one of the players. The diary is a very candid view of the 1967 Green Bay Packers, the last Packer team coached by the legendary, and legendarily tough, Vince Lombardi. Starting Right Guard Jerry Kramer was with the Packers for ten years, including all five of Lombardi's championship seasons. Kramer's respect, fear, and reverence for his coach is explored as Lombardi tried to coax one last good season out of a collection of aging veterans and a few rookies. The story starts with training camp and the ruthless weeding of rookies, wanna-be journeymen players, and the veterans, and continues through a long season made tougher by injuries and a string of opponents looking to upset the defending champions. Kramer's teammates included a number of future Hall-of-Famers; the author provides glimpses of them at work and play. "Instant Replay" is something of a time capsule as well, when an all-pro offensive lineman might be only 6'4" and 250 pounds, and players in general were smaller and expected to play more than one position. The Packers' run to daylight ground game was the key to victory, and team members unabashedly prayed together before and after games. Most players made salaries under $30,000 a year, but injuries might end a career at any time. Kramer had some editing assistance from sportswriter Dick Schaap, but the words and tone seem authentically those of Kramer himself. This reviewer first read this book in its original publication run, and is very pleased to see it back in print. Highly recommended.

This diary of an already veteran player in a dominating team is not only about American football and experiences of new kind of total coaching discipline being brought into the scene. The way things at different levels and the two ends of the spectrum: individual -organizational, physical - mental, business - leisure, rookie - veteran, employer - employee, effect each other and are interconnected, holds in general in life, also for everyday life. Maybe even more now than in the past. The constant questions deep in the mind are: am I up to this and is this still worth the effort. One can gain a lot and loose a lot. To be a champion three times in a row with a long career, blocking the opponent head first while being aware of the increasing neck pains, supporting the team, etc. calls for a special frame of mind - in case of Kramer a good sense of humour. Naturally it is funnier when almost 300 pound weighting guys find themselves in awkward situations that once half of that weight.

The reason I waited 43 years to read this book was because I had a less than positive perception of Vince Lombardi and I just did not want to read about him. One cannont read about the Packers without getting a full dose of Lombardi. After reading the book, I still feel that way about Lombardi. But first, let's talk about Jerry Kramer. He provides the reader with a down and dirty account of what practice and games are really like, who plays hard, who has ability, and what it feels like to have your ass whipped in front of a national audience by Alex Karras. He comes across as a likeable guy, with intellectual pursuits uncommon to professional athletes. He doesn't pull any punches in describing fellow players and coaches, which is unique and welcome, as all too often sports books provide no real insight. His writing style (with help from Dick Schaap) is direct, witty and insightful. Now, about Lombardi - for the life of me I do not understand how grown men can have such hate for someone and love him at the same time. The things Lombardi said to his players and those around him was simply awful. The way he treated his wife, in public, was shameful. The things he said to tight end Marv Fleming were cruel. Even Kramer admits this. There is no excuse for demeaning people the way he did. I think he used his religion as a shield, that is, he could do and say anything as long as he appeard to be a devout man. In the book, Kramer says that Lombardi was very reluctant to criticize Bart Starr. Well, in Starr's autobiography you learn why - Lombardi ripped Starr publicly one time, and Starr addressed Lombardi privately, and told him that he better not do that again, that he was a man grown and he expected to be treated like one. Lombardi never ripped him again. Something that I do not understand - while Jerry Kramer has long been credited with THE block that sprung Bart Starr into the end zone to defeat the Cowbosy in the championship game, Kramer acknowledges that center Ken Bowman was equally responsible for opening that hole, but yet he rarely, if ever mentions it. Despite the innumerable examples of Lombardi's nastiness, the book is well worth the read, even 43 years later.

I read this book twice: once when I was a kid shortly after it was initially released, and again several years ago. It was just as interesting a read the second time as it was the first. I recently bought a copy of this re-released version for a friend. I thumbed through it and noticed some additional photo's have been added since the release of the paperback edition that I own. Anyone who has an interest in football will want to read this book, despite the fact that it relates to events that took place 30 years ago. If you're my age, it will bring back memories of the glory days of the Packers (back when a water bucket was a tin pail with a ladle on the sidelines). If you aren't old enough to remember those days, the names in the book will most likely be familiar to you as great characters in football history.

Well worth a close read. Inspirational. If you love the Packets, if you like American football even a little, you will enjoy this book.

Bought the Kindle version to replace the hardcover version that had fallen apart due to the many times I have read this. It's a must for any die hard Packer fan and even casual fans will enjoy a first person account of the last year of the Lombardi dynasty, the locker room and football of the '60s.

Quick turnaround, no problems.

Great product and service

Great inside the ropes read

One of the seminal sports books to come out of the 60s, this diary of the 1967 Green Bay Packers is equal parts funny, exciting, moving, and sometimes sad. Mostly, it is the story of a team that should have been over the hill, and yet somehow achieved that one final championship. And isn't it about time that Jerry Kramer gets into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?

This book is the reason my sweat-soaked high-school jersey of 1971 had a number "64" emblazoned on it. It was great to read it again; the worn paperback I bought when it first came out has long since disappeared from my parents' house. Jerry Kramer's diary portrays a different era in football, when love of the game and love of the team meant more than - or as much as (pretty darn good at the time) money, and chest pounding "Me! Me! Me!" after every decent play was decades in the future... The writing is simple, but colorful; Kramer has no illusions of being a great writer, and Dick Schapp doesn't go for literary embellishment for its own sake; I believe neither of them expected to produce a sportswriting classic at the time. That's probably why it has become one... I haven't read the sequels, and probably won't; judging from reviews (I know, not a good method), I believe I'd like to preserve my memories and illusions without hearing about Kramer's future financial and physical woes...

I book it for my Dad for Fathers day. He read it in two days. Then gave it to a friend of his who is a big old time Packers fan.

Even though this was written nearly fifty years ago, and this is the second time I read it (45 years apart), this is still a very good read into the mind of a professional athlete, and the almost love-hate relationship that engenders. I am immensely puzzled that almost 50 years after retirement, being all pro 5 times, Jerry Kramer is not in the hall of fame.

I grew up a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers. I have had the paperback edition of INSTANT REPLAY since my military days over three decades ago. I read the book each fall during football season and continue to pick up on little things from Lombardi and the team that I either missed on previous readings or had forgotten.

Dick Schapp was an outstanding sports columnist. the book is a great first person testament to the start of the Lombardi legacy in Green Bay.

Solid, fresh, original. The most revealing football autobiography of any kind that I've ever read.

Great view of a particular point in time in Packers history. Kramer has an entertaining delivery. Thoroughly enjoyable.

If you're a football fan in general or a Packer fan in particular, this is an absolute must read. When Mr. Kramer started he had no idea he was embarking on such a historic season. I couldn't put this book down. It's dramatic, funny, emotional & overall very well documented. I loved it!

Gift.

I read this book back in 1969 and thoroughly enjoyed it as I was a big Green Bay Packer fan. Decided to reread it and still enjoyed the way it was back in the days.

I first read this book in the early 70s... Snatched it from my older brother's shelf. It was fantastic to the 7 year old young reader back then, and to the 50something reviewing it now. I love pro football.... and the 1967 Packers may well be my favorite team. 49 years later, we still have no threepeat.

Great tead

I ready this book in 1968. It is still a classic. As a fellow right guard, he captures the essence of the one on one struggles along the line of scrimmage. We are not “linemen”, but five individuals, working together, against opponents with their own strengths and weaknesses. He thinks about each opponent, and which of his techniques will be effective. And yes, someone looks at the film of every single block on every play and grades your effectiveness. Next time you watch an NFL game watch the right guard and see what he is doing. You will lean more about the play and what is happening that way. A few seconds later, pick up the backs and the quarterback and the receivers. You might see some awesome blocking and defending, that lead to that touchdown run.

cant stop reading it

The sports diary that created the genre. For anyone interested in what it took to be the best and play for the best (Vince Lombardi), Jerry Kramer's diary of the 1968 championship season is like being there. Kramer has been my hero since I first read Instant Replay in 1970.

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A great read even if you're not a Green Bay Packers fan.

I read this book years ago in high school. It's as fresh as I remember. Well written; a true classic.

A time when $25,000 was the player bonus for winning the Super Bowl. I bought this book for my wife and have been reading it to her while she’s convalescing. It’s full of humor and pathos. It’s real. Second time I bought it… last time was in the late sixties. Great primer for any football fan. You learn who the real Vince Lombardi is. Tough when he had to be and once in a while kind at the right time. A great insightful inside story of the game of football. You feel like you’re in the locker room with Jerry Kramer. Professional football players earn every penny they make and in those days it seemed like pennies. $70 a week while in training camp before regular season starts. Kramer reveals it all, doesn't hold back.

arrived in excellent condition.

Excellent book!

As soon as I found my friend had not read this I gifted it him immediately. Smash Hit!!!

Great story, can’t put it down!!

This book made me a Packer fan 43 years ago when I first read it and it's still just as good today. When you read about how tight this team was, how incredibly hard they worked, how much they loved and respected Coach Lombardi, it's no wonder they dominated the league in the 60's. How confident were they? According to Kramer, they never lost games, they just ran out of time to win them! A great look back at a simpler time in sports.

I first read this book many years ago. In reading it this time, I remembered most of Kramer's wry and entertaining comments, and they were heart-warming. It doesn't get any better than this.

If you are a football fan and a Packer fan you should enjoy this book. I enjoyed this book very much.

One of the best football books ever written. I would recommend this book to all football fans. I loved it.

If you are a die hard packers fan and love the deep history of the green bay packers, this book is for you. My dad has loved the packers forever and I got him this book. He absolutely loves it!

One of the best insider sports books you can find. I read this decades ago and enjoyed it. Read it again this spring. It was even better than I remembered.

Book was in excellent condition and was even autographed by the author!

This book is a must read for Packer fans especially for those of us who grew up with the team of the sixties. Jerry Kramer let's the reader in on the day to day life of professional football.It gives good insight into the players and coaches of the team of the decade.As a lifelong Packer fan this was a great read for me.

I read this when it was first published and loved it. Now after many years I still find as entertaining as ever, maybe even more so.

An excellent book

Came in time and was a great gift for my mom for her birthday as she is a huge Lombardi and old school Packers fan.

Excellent account of being on the "inside" with the legendary Green Bay Packers of the 60's. If you are a football fan and even if you are not, this is an incredible look into the world of professional football and what drives and motivates the men who play it. I first read this book when I was around 10 or 11 years old and have since re-read it as and adult and could not put it down in both instances.

I read the book as a child and needed to read it again for research purposes. Love the insight into the Green Bay Packers Team and coach Lombardi.

great item and delivery time

This read leaves you with acknowledgement of what is needed in life if you are to succeed in things greater than monetary reward. Sure, the book does talk about that as being a significant motivation, but I chose to look beyond that. Within the pages I saw many other more significant sources of inspiration.

the good old days of pro football. these guys were tough

ThatFabulous writing and realistic context. One of the great sports books of all time. Cannot forget that season and th

Wonderful account of what it must have been like to play for Vince Lombardi and some of the best teammates ever.. Jerry Kramer takes the reader through the season from training camp to the Superbowl. Read it several times while I was playing college football and just had to read it again. Thank you to the best Guard ever! Jim Van Hoesen

Anyone who has a love for the story and tradition of the Green Bay Packers will like this inside story of the life of an offensive lineman during the Lombardi years. Jerry Kramer proved that players in the NFL are more than their stereotypes. Kramer's day-by-day narrative of the 1967 season takes the reader into the locker room and onto the playing field.

Had book when was younger enjoyed just as much this time as the first

Great book all around. No genuine dislikes.

My dad bought me this book when I was a little boy and I fell in love with football, the Packers, and Jerry Kramer. I remain in love to this day! This book is like meeting an old friend after being separated for years; you simply pick up right where you left off. Thanks for the great memories...

It was every bit as interesting as I had hoped it would be!

The title could also be called "Commitment". It covers not only the commitment it takes to be successful as a professional football team, but how that same type of team commitment and dedication will take you to success in life. You quickly discover that all successful coaches want more than anything is to have their players be successful first.

Book brings back memories of the 60's Packers

Outside of perhaps Ball Four this is one of the best sports books ever written. Seriously loved it.

I was actually at the Ice Bowl game. Jerry Kramer's book didn't just bring back chilling history for me, he far surpassed anything I could have dreamed of. His player's insights for the entire year leading up to the big game, and then detailing the game itself, was and is a true blessing for me. Thanks Jerry for a great book. I was happy to find and purchase this book on Amazon.com

Loved this book, 1st read it years ago and lost the book. Going to make sure the grand son gets to read this. I doesn't get old

love this classic book about Lombardi

This book ignited my interest in football over forty years ago. Still resonates with me. Glad it's out on Kindle!

Has always been one of my favorite books!

This is the best football book I have ever read. It gives deep insight into not only the game, but also to what the players experience physically and emotionally. Gerry Kramer sweeps away all the hype and shows the reader what the NFL was really like back in the '60s.

Brought back many memories of my first football heroes! I've got to say it proves that leadership and teamwork are 90% HEART and 10% skill.

Great firsthand look inside NFL life through lens of one important individual's personal diary. Rare treat, indeed. Thanks Gerry.

My husband is a former NFL lineman and we both enjoyed this book immensely. A very honest look at life in the trenches. It was fun to get a glimpse into the Lombardi era and the pre-ESPN days of the NFL. Highly recommended.

Read this back in the day and reading today it's just as great. This is what it was like before Monday nite football and all the gazillion dollar contracts and prima donnas.

Great insight into life as an NFL lineman for great Packers team! A must read for football fans. True to the legend!

Great as from players perspective as it occurred

The best book on professional football I have ever read!

I went to school in Chicago when Green Bay had Jerry Kramer, and Bart Starr and all the other guys, I felt like I was there. The way Kramer tells the story of playing on and off the field keeps you interested in his story.

I read this book when I was a kid and it is an outstanding book to look inside the Packer dynasty of the 60s.

Timeless reflections even if fines are very outdated

I had this book when I was growing up.One of the best sports books ever. And I'm a BEARS fan. Jerry Kramer deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.

Great memoir about playing professional football during the golden age of the NFL.

This is a great book if you like the old packers and Vince Lombardi !! Classic and motivational .... All about what it takes to be a winner!!

This is an intellectual heady insight into the barbaric world of professional football. What really goes on “in the trenches“.

Excellent first-person account of an excellent football player in the 1960s. I highly suggest this legacy book by Jerry Kramer.

Good

Amazing look inside a year in the life of an NFL player and his team. Wonderful emotion and insight into an era that is long gone.

Exactly what I wanted and received a couple of weeks before I expected it.

Well actually, is a great story in greatness. Leadership with many leaders as well being a team. Many companies should read this.

I really loved the book. Great insight for football fans! Although it was published in 1968 the book stands the test of time!

Great to read it for a second time. I Read it when it first came out. Enjoyed it very much.

Wonderfully written account of the most famous of locker rooms and life on the road with the Packers during the Lomberdi reign.

Great , loved it. Jerry Kramer does an excellent job of describing the life of a pro football player in the 1960's.

Had two labels on cover of the book, very difficult to remove. This did not affect the readability of the book.

First person account from inside one of the greatest NFL teams, taking you from training camp to Super Bowl. If you like the game, this book should be on your shelf...right after you finish reading it.

Anyone wanting to get inside the mentality and life of a pro football player, this account by Jerry Krammer does it really well.

Not as good as I expected but it was a good follow up to When pride still mattered. Great reading the players perspective on the great coach. fast read.

An incredibly interesting and enjoyable book. I love the NFL but am not a Green Bay Packer fan, but this was an extremely interesting and fun book to read. Having been written 51 years ago it takes you back to a different era, a different mind set a different world. Kramer's behind the scenes insights are very interesting. The read gets a real feel for how much of a driving force Vince Lombardi was. This behind the curtain look is very insightful and tells a great story. The Packers are a legendary team and this book pulls the curtain back ever so slightly so that we get a small glimpse of what took place. If your an NFL fan over the age of 40 you'll love this book. If you can remember back to the 60's & 70's you'll enjoy it even more. If your a Packer fan this is a MUST read to learn about the most Iconic coach in the history of your team.

I grew up in a ZERO sports household. Not even the Olympics. My ex-husband introduced me to football back in 1984 and I was HOOKED. Have been ever since. My husband now is a lifelong fan of the sport and recently recommended this book, which he read in the mid-70s. I LOVED it! It was funny, interesting and succinct. An easy read and I would give ANYTHING to meet Jerry Kramer himself now. He's definitely a guy I'd like to have a beer with!

It is somewhat amazing to contemplate that while Jerry Kramer was compiling his Green Bay Diary over the course of the 1967 NFL season, which is the basis for Instant Replay, the Summer of Love was raging in San Francisco, student rebellions were breaking out on campuses and race riots in cities nationwide and Norman Mailer and Allan Ginsburg were leading the March on the Pentagon, among other things having nothing to do with football. American society was undergoing upheaval but it seems that almost none of it touched Kramer, the Packers or the NFL, at least judging by this chronicle. The only topical cultural reference I can find in these pages is Kramer’s mentioning at one point of going to see Cool Hand Luke, the antiauthoritarian Paul Newman movie about a suicidally free-spirited convict. Also, some players have to put in appearances for National Guard and military commitments, but no one around the team was being sent off to Vietnam. So, out of sight, out of mind? Now, of course, Kramer’s job is football, and Instant Replay is first and foremost about football, and in that sense it is one of the most serendipitous literary projects ever undertaken as Kramer happened to pick the season for keeping a diary that not only marked the end of the legendary Packer dynasty under equally legendary head coach Vince Lombardi, but one that culminated with one of the most dramatic moments in NFL history: Bart Starr’s last second quarterback sneak that won the “Ice Bowl” championship game in sub-zero Lambeau Field on December 31, 1967—behind the block of none other than Jerry Kramer! It was Green Bay’s third consecutive NFL title, an unprecedented feat in the modern era, and the team would then go on to win Super Bowl II, which at the time was still a glorified inter-league exhibition game notable mostly for bragging rights and “huge” paychecks ($15,000 per player for the winners, $7,500 for the losers) that, to modern sensibilities, sound laughably anachronistic (one can almost hear a Dr. Evil clone chortling, “And the winners each get 15 THOUSAND dollars!”). Reading Instant Replay today, one is struck by both the innocence and the cluelessness: players worked jobs in the off-season, bunked in spartan conditions and could still be intimidated by threatened fines of $50 or $100, but also were browbeaten to play through significant injuries and shake off concussions, which were treated more or less as a joke. By Kramer's account, race relations didn’t seem to be much of a problem for the team, though I wonder if that would have held true had a diary been kept by one of the Packers’ black players, especially as Green Bay was undoubtedly the least diverse of the NFL’s franchise cities at the time. Nevertheless, if you are interested in football history and an insider’s view of the game circa the 1960s, Instant Replay, and, to a lesser extent George Plimpton’s Paper Lion, published a few years earlier, are indispensable reads. Kramer comes off as an honest and thoughtful chronicler of all the ups and downs of life in professional football.

As a pre-teen I read George Plimpton's

As a pre-teen I read George Plimpton's

Instant Replay is basically a hour by hour, minute by minute account of what goes on in the minds and actions of the Green Bay Packers of 1967, through the eyes of Jerry Kramer. It tells of how terribly tough Vince Lombardi was to his players, not just trying to make them into a great football team, but also teaching them about life. Being an offensive guard as Kramer was, he took a lot of yelling, cussing, screaming and demeaning ranting from Coach Lombardi. Then within hours, Lombardi would come back to Kramer, with tears in his eyes and apologize for being so hard on him. The Packers of '67 were an amazing group of men, lead by a tyrant who demanded the very best out of each player. And if Coach Lombardi didn't get what he wanted, out the door you went. Kramer and his beloved teammates were together in the trenches and came out on top, for the second time, (winning Super Bowl II) after going through hell and back with a coach who they all hated and loved at the same time....and winning the coldest game ever played in the NFL, the famous ICE BOWL. Great book for those who don't really care about sports or those who love the game of football and Coach Vince Lombardi. But be careful, you might become a Packers fan, after reading this fantastic diary of HOFer Jerry Kramer.

I read this book when it first came out, ca. 1968, when I was a high school senior in Racine, Wisconsin. I had been a fanatic Packer backer throughout the glorious early and middle 60s, but by 1968, Lombardi was no longer the coach, only the GM (and besides, I was now interested in other things). He would move on to the Redskins for the 1969 season before dying of cancer in the fall of 1970, so INSTANT REPLAY captures the end of an era, his last hurrah as coach in Green Bay. As with another reviewer below, the Packers of the 60s have marked my life, especially Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, and their leader, the great Coach, and I have always viewed INSTANT REPLAY as the period or exclamation point on my early infatuation with them. Besides its subject matter, INSTANT REPLAY possesses its own literary merit. Kramer is clearly highly intelligent, and since intelligence is not stereotypically associated with the brute violence of the NFL, it's interesting to read his reflections on life in general and life in football, not to mention the ways he perfected his blocking skills. He talks about how his helmet was his best weapon in warding off defensive linemen--which certainly must have done something to his braincells and neck muscles. I also love the running joke about Lombardi's almost-weekly proclamation: "Gentlemen, this is the start of the big push!" as he exhorted the Packers to still-greater efforts in a long painful slog of a season. There's also an interesting description of how the Packers' veteran blockers made a rookie look slow--the vets had played together for so long they anticipated the snap, while the inexperienced new guy waited for it, losing a fraction of a second in the process. And there's a mystery. With third and goal and 16 seconds left in the Ice Bowl, the famous sub-zero championship against the Dallas Cowboys, Kramer states flatly that Starr told the huddle, "31 wedge, and I'll carry the ball." This contradicts the more widely-accepted version, that Starr kept the QB sneak a secret, so everyone thought he would hand off to the fullback. What really happened? I would love to hear Kramer's side of this story. INSTANT REPLAY is a wise reflection on NFL football and its greatest coach at a time when the sport was on the verge of making the transition to the overhyped, fabulously-profitable carnival it is today. For several years after it was published, it was the best-selling sports book of all time. Rereading it, it's easy to see why.

I'm not sure Vince Lombardi would've succeeded in the NFL of the 21st century. It's a different era of pro football, and that's part of what makes "Instant Replay" so compelling to read in 2012. Times and circumstances have changed over the past 45 years, but human nature hasn't. We may not be able to relate to the era depicted, but we can sure relate to young players struggling to earn their place on the Packers as well as the veterans trying to hold on for one more year before their bodies finally give out and they have to find another way to make a living, all of it under a sometimes maniacal coach who is alternately hated and loved by his players. Jerry Kramer does a great job with "Instant Replay" because he's obviously an intelligent person with interests beyond football, and he's able to share the emotions involved with playing under Lombardi driving them relentlessly to a third straight NFL championship. Although you don't get the same "feel" of the Sixties and its cultural divide that you do in Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" (which in a way makes "Ball Four" seem more dated than this book) the same insight into the human side of players shines through. This is, to many, THE classic book on pro football, but I don't think you have to be a football fan to enjoy it (although Kramer deals a lot with technical aspects of the game). It's as much a people book as it is a football book.

First a disclaimer: I first read this book when I was a kid- maybe 10 years old- I think my dad got a copy of it when he bought a razor or razor blades- something like that. This book turned me into a Green Bay Packer fan for life. 35 or so years later- I still love the team- lived and died with them during the lean 1970's and loved them when Favre led them to the Super Bowl. Funny how something you can read as a child can impact you that way. Ok, the book itself- a classic- funny, touching, moving- it really is a great peek behind the curtain of pro football. Jerry Kramer does a terrific job of showing what his job is like as a guard for the Packers. His description of Vince Lombardi, the great coach of the Packers, is wonderful and the way he talks about his job and his life really sets this apart from most sports book. It mgiht be the finest book ever written about football (though Friday Night Lights and Paper Lion are also pretty good). The book holds up even though it is almost 40 years old. It is written in diary form and is an easy read. The season it captures, the 1967 Super Bowl winning season, helps Kramer, but I suspect the book would have been just as good if the Packers would have been bad that year. Kramer's voice rings true and he brings us into the arena- he shares with us the good and the bad. This book belongs on the shelf of anyone who likes football or likes books about sport. It really is a classic of the genre.

Born and raised in Fort Worth, I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan for decades. I was 13 years old and watched every minute of the "Ice Bowl", and still feel a twinge of regret over Bart Starr's quarterback sneak (helped by the blocking of Jerry Kramer) that won the game for Green Bay. I bought Instant Replay the year it came out, and I read it every two or three years, to get me geared up for the football season. My first edition copy is well worn and beloved. Indeed, reading the other reviews, I am struck by how many people also admit to re-reading this book. And no wonder. Mr. Kramer simply wrote a beautiful love-story about football. You get the feel of the locker room, of the players preparing for each game, and of the game itself. Names from the past float by, such as Alex Karras and Bob Lilly. Vince Lombardi is huge, of course, and the stories about him are simply fun to read (interestingly, Vince would not allow any photographs of him in Jerry's book, since Vince planned on writing his own book). As others have noted, the Packers were an aging team, and Jerry writes vividly at one point about how, as he gazed around the locker room, he saw players getting shots, getting taped up, etc., all evidence of their aging, breaking bodies. Instant Replay transcends team loyalty. Any fan of football will enjoy this book. Buy a good copy and be prepared to read it several times over the years.

GROWING UP WATCHING THESE GUYS ON BLACK AND WHITE TV , I ALWAYS HAD A GREAT RESPECT FOR THE PACK. THIS IS MY THIRD BOOK ON THE TEAM, AND LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE INNER WORKINGS IS INTERESTING. THE FACT THAT THESE GUYS PLAYED AND COACHED FOR SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY REAFFIRMS MY LACK OF RESPECT FOR TODAYS PREMADONNAS IN ALL BRANCHES OF SPORTS.

There will never be another great team like the Packers of the 1960's for a number of reasons. The only way to relive this era is through the numerous books that rehash the Lombardi dynasty. This book has to be one of the cornerstones of reliving that era with its candid yet humble prose giving an inside view of the Packer locker room. Jerry Kramer, who resents the 'dumb jock' stereotype of football player, composed a well written memior of football in "Instant Replay". From the days after Superbowl I to Lombardi's retirement after Superbowl II, this book takes readers through the entire 1967 season. Lombardi is known for the grind players were made to endure in his training camps. Kramer tells what the players are feeling as speculation begins that this would be Lombardi's final season coaching in Green Bay. Being the number one target of the NFL after being champion for the last two years makes the regular season a grind. While the Packers did not play their best in the regular season, they turn their game up a notch in the playoffs. Often voted the greatest game in NFL history, Kramer devotes significant time to the Ice Bowl. This is significant because Kramer had a key role in the game and this book marks an early admission that he may have moved a little prematurely. After the Ice Bowl, the Superbowl almost seemed anticlimactic. Two years after the 1967 season, Vince Lombardi died of cancer and many of the pieces of the Packer dynasty were in retirement. This book is a great way to relive the magic of the Packer dynasty.

classic

I first read this book when I was in high school, a few years after it was written. I enjoyed it back then, and a recent re-reading of it confirmed my original impression. This is NOT your usual football book. It is somewhat raw and candid, and it has a sense of honest spontaneity. The language is rough, but as an athlete in two high school sports, I can attest that this is just the way young men talked. Kramer had a love-hate relationship with Vince Lombardi, and he was not afraid to record his interactions with the famous coach. If you want to know what it was like playing for one of the all-time sports dynasties, this is a great read.

I'm a big professional football fan and love reading about football. Jerry Kramer's Green Bay Packers diary - which details the 1967 season of the Green Packers, was quite an enjoyable and educational read for me. For starters, the Green Bay Packers in 1967 were clearly the best team in pro football but were showing signs of aging. This season saw the infamous Ice Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL Championship where Jerry Kramer threw the key block to get Bart Starr in for a touchdown, securing a trip to Super Bowl II. And of course this year also saw the Packers win its second straight Super Bowl and the legendary coach Vince Lombari's retirement from the Green Bay Packers. Kramer's diary is pretty much just that - a retelling of what he went through during the 1967 season. Some things are familiar. Don't let the hyperbole or nostalgia fool you, money WAS a big issue in professional football back even if the contracts were not that large. Kramer talks a lot about money and business issues in his book. Kramer also tells us a bit about what it was like to be a player under Coach Lombardi - who drove the players relentlessly and made them better than they otherwise would have been both as individuals and a team. The players clearly had a love-hate, father-son relationship with the coach. Also, some of the stories about the playboys on the team like Max McGee and Paul Hornung are humorous. In today's NFL it seems the shenanigans of players involve guns and criminality. On this team, it was just booze and chicks, good old boys having fun. And of course it was interesting to see how Kramer thought of the upcoming opponents - both individuals and teams - as he prepared to face them. Maybe the most interesting aspect of the book is a bit of introspection on Kramer's part. He was an older player (31), by football standards, and feeling it. He often wondered why he went through the pain of pro football and it mainly came down to a simple fact - he was a football player. While he didn't define himself totally by football, in essence that is what he felt he was. Of course the money and the championships made it worth it. Overall I would definitely recommend this book to professional football fans.

I first read Instant Replay almost immediately after its initial publication. I was a high school kid, a bookworm, and an offensive lineman. I devoured every word. I went back and read it not long ago, and it stands the test of time, transporting the reader into the locker room and onto the gridiron for some of the greatest moments in football history.

There was a first-edition hard cover of this book lying around my Wisconsin childhood home, no doubt purchased by one of my older brothers, all devoted Packer fans old enough to experience the great Lombardi era. I, however, was too young to remember the Packer dynasty, and first read the book as a pre-teen one summer in the early-mid 1970's, turning pages very late into the warm summer evenings - I could not put it down. I read the book every summer for years. It is a truly unique piece of work, written with a mix of candor, simplicity, humor, humility, and kindness. The insights on what it is truly like to be a professional football player, during a much simpler era, in the last year of the Lombardi dynasty, are wonderful. Kramer manages to make the mundane interesting and humorous, and mixes in some good old stories with what really happens in his life as the year unfolds. Of course, the game and pro athletes have gotten bigger, richer, and more complex in the nearly 50 year since the book was written. I love today's game, but I read Kramer's book every few years to remember how it used to be. Wonderful, timeless book.

Met all expectations. Thank you

An absorbing read, hard-hitting and emotional without being maudlin. I first read this book as a 13 year-old and was mesmerized. Since then I have re-read it maybe three or four times. This book is not a football book. Make no mistake about that. This book is a book about grown men, their thoughts, their problems, their passions, and their pain - and these men just happen to play football. The distinction is enormous. For anyone who wants to understand what drives a person to do the things they do - read this book.