Green Bay Packers: Top 10 offensive linemen of all time

, 1975 Topps football card. Credit: The Topps Company

#7 Gale Herbert Gillingham

Gale Gillingham was an athletic 6-foot-5, 265-pound guard known for his hard-nosed demeanor, fast feet and brute strength. There wasn’t anything fancy about him – he simply wanted to overpower and win the battle against his opponent.

"“It’s a battle in the trenches, man against man,” Gillingham said. “It’s not pretty in there. And I didn’t like to lose the battles.”"

Vince Lombardi selected Gale with the 13th overall pick in the 1966 draft and he played 11 years for the Packers.

In 1972 , head coach Dan Devine inexplicably shifted his best offensive lineman to defense. Gillingham sustained a season-ending knee injury two games into the regular season.

"“It was not a good move,” Gillingham said. “What was really ridiculous about it is that we played six exhibition games back then, but Devine waited until the regular season to put me on defense.”"

“I started the game with basically no practice time. I wanted to leave (Green Bay), but I was a team captain.”

Gillingham played in Super Bowls I and II and was six-time All Pro. He was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1982.

He started at left guard in the Ice Bowl and Super Bowl II (the last two games for Packers head coach Vince Lombardi).

Read more about Gale Gillingham in Martin Hendricks’, Special to Packer Plus, “Offensive lineman was six-time all-pro.”

Next: First player ever drafted by the Green Bay Packers