GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila and Chris Jacke have been announced as the headliners of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame 2013 class.
Gbaja-Biamila played all nine of his NFL seasons with the Packers, accumulating a franchise record 74.5 sacks along the way.
"I'm very humbled and thankful to be able to be entering this Hall with many of the greats that were here," Gbaja-Biamila said Tuesday inside the Packers Hall of Fame. "It's an honor and a privilege to be here."
After playing only seven games as a rookie, the team's 2000 fifth-round pick then began a streak of having at least 10 sacks for four consecutive seasons. Often known simply as "KGB," the defensive end played 132 career games with Green Bay before being released by the team in 2008. He was a one-time Pro Bowl selection in 2003.
"This is a surreal moment for me to be standing here," Gbaja-Biamila said. "So many times people have told me how I was too small to accomplish anything, to even play in the NFL, so to be part of an old franchise like the Green Bay Packers and to be a part of the Hall of Fame is truly an honor.
"I didn't know what to think. It was like, 'wow, that is kind of cool.' I could see Reggie White, I could see Brett (Favre), I could those guys (being in the Packers Hall of Fame), but being a part of that now is kind of cool.
"From where I started to where I am today, it's truly a blessing. It was more than I could ever imagine."
Jacke, the Packers' kicker for eight seasons from 1989 to 1996, was drafted by the team in the sixth round. More than 15 years since playing his last game in Green Bay, Jacke is still third on the Packers' all-time scoring list with 820 points, behind only Ryan Longwell and Don Hutson.
"Maybe 13 is a lucky number for me," Jacke said Tuesday. "It was my number playing and we're in 2013. When I heard the news from the president of the Hall of Fame, I actually didn't answer his phone call right away. It was a number I didn't recognize and he didn't leave a message the first couple times and he finally did leave a message and I got back to him and he said, 'we're going to induct you into the Hall of Fame.'
"It's surreal. There really isn't a better way to describe it."
Jacke has the most 50-plus yard field goal makes (17) in franchise history and also holds the team record for most field goals in a game (5), which he did twice. Jacke was a one-time Pro Bowl selection in 1993 and won a Super Bowl ring with the Packers in his final season in Green Bay.
"I do a lot of charity work with Gilbert Brown and William Henderson, all these guys that I played with that are in the Hall, and to be joining those guys and to be recognized on that level with those people, it's surreal," Jacke said.
Joining Gbaja-Biamila and Jacke is contributor Emil Fischer, who joined the board of directors in 1926 and held several roles with the Packers for more than three decades.
Gbaja-Biamila, Jacke and Fischer will join the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame with an induction ceremony on Saturday, July 20, 2013, in the Lambeau Field Atrium. Tickets can be purchased for $135 each.
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