Ringo, "Jim" (James S.)
Football
b. Nov. 21, 1931, Orange, NJ
A seventh-round draft choice out of Syracuse University, Ringo weighed only 211 pounds when he arrived at the Green Bay Packer training camp in 1953. After seeing how big the other linemen were, he left camp.
His wife and father talked him into going back. Ringo eventually got up to 235 pounds and set a record by starting 182 consecutive games at center, 126 with the Packers and 56 more with the Philadelphia Eagles.
During bouts with mononucleosis and a staph infection, Ringo stayed in the hospital from Monday through Friday, worked out with the team on Saturday, and played on Sunday.
He was the All-Pro center in 1957 and from 1959 through 1963. The Packers traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles after the 1963 season and he spent four years in Philadelphia before retiring.