Gale Gillingham

Who was Gale Gillingham?

Gale Herbert Gillingham was an American guard who spent his entire ten-year professional football career in the National Football League with the Green Bay Packers.

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Gillingham grew up on a farm in nearby Stoughton. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he was a classmate of future Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Aaron Brown, whom he faced in Super Bowl I.

In his rookie season, he alternated as the starter at left guard with veteran Fuzzy Thurston. During the 1967 season, he took Thurston's spot full-time, opposite perennial All-Pro Jerry Kramer. He started the Ice Bowl and Super Bowl II, coach Vince Lombardi's final games after nine seasons with the team.

Gillingham was the last member of the Lombardi-era Packers to be active with the franchise. By time he retired, Bart Starr, whom he blocked for when Starr was leading the Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowls, was the team's coach. Gillingham was a five-time Pro Bowler, six-time All Pro, and a two-time NFL First Team All Pro. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1982.