Quote Originally Posted by Maxie the Taxi View Post
I am still not willing to make that admission.

I think Mackey benefited greatly from the pass-oriented offense of Unitas and company. The Packers were more rush first and pass second. Kramer was a blocker first. If Mackey played for the Pack and Kramer for the Colts, their stats might be reversed and today's John Mackey Award might be the Ron Kramer Award.

At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I wouldn't argue strenuously against you, either. In some ways, Kramer may have made it possible for Mackey to be Mackey, by showing how an athletic TE could be a legitimate receiving threat. Kramer was a devastating blocker; of course, he was as big as any of the Packer's o-linemen at the time. Mackey wasn't quite as big, but was probably faster and almost impossible for one DB of that time to tackle. Great hands, too; although I remember Kramer as very sure-handed too.