Invited Historical Perspective

“Stronger Is Better”: Gale Gillingham, the

Weight-Trained Green Bay Packer All-Pro
Jason P. Shurley
Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Coaching, University of Wisconsin–Whitewater, Whitewater, Wisconsin

Abstract
Downloaded from http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr by BhDMf5ePHKav1zEoum1tQfN4a+kJLhEZgbsIHo4XMi0hCywCX1AWnYQp/IlQrHD3i3D0OdRyi7TvSFl4Cf3VC4/OAVpDDa8KKGKV0Ymy+78= on 11/13/2020

Shurley, JP. “Stronger is better”: Gale Gillingham, the weight-trained Green Bay Packer all-pro. J Strength Cond Res 34(5):
1201–1212, 2020—In the 1960s, many sport coaches advised their athletes not to lift weights, with some going so far as to threaten
to dismiss or punish any who were caught engaging in such training. Their advice or threats were well intentioned as both were
prompted by fears that weight training would make an athlete less flexible, slower, and less coordinated, known more colloquially as
“muscle bound.” Nonetheless, some athletes took up barbells despite that conventional wisdom and helped play a vital role in
dispelling the notion that weight training would hamper athletic performance. Gale Gillingham was one of those athletes. He began
weight training as an adolescent and continued to train throughout his career in intercollegiate and professional football. The size,
strength, and speed he developed through long-term strength training enabled him to become an all-conference player in college,
first-round draft pick in the National Football League, and a 6-time All-Pro offensive lineman. In addition to his dedication to regular
training, Gillingham was innovative in the way he lifted, incorporating very high intensity and partial lifts as regular components of his
workouts. Despite his many accolades, Gillingham has not received the attention he deserves for his pioneering role in demon-
strating the utility of long-term strength training to enhance athletic performance. This article seeks to correct that oversight and
discusses his career, training, and contributions to the field of strength and conditioning.
Key Words: history, resistance training, muscle bound

Introduction
Lou Filippi had seen enough. Even at the age of 40, the backfield
coach for the Little Falls (MN) Flyers retained an imposing build.
In the early 1940s, Filippi had been named a “Little All-Ameri-
can” as a halfback for the Saint Cloud (MN) State Teachers’
College (3). Although he was a little less solid in the fall of 1960
than when he starred for the Huskies and tipped the scales at 187
lbs, Filippi still liked to lead his players by example (25). This day,
he was agitated by the Flyers’ shoddy tackling and decided
a personal demonstration was needed to show the boys how it
should be performed. Filippi strode to the defensive side of the ball
and donned only a helmet. He instructed a junior fullback who
had recently transferred from Wisconsin to charge at him, and
Filippi would show the listless players what a proper tackle
should look like. Only, the demonstration played out quite dif-
ferently. The 6930, 210 lb weight-trained fullback, Gale Gilling-
ham, ran right through the coach, marking the last time Filippi
personally attempted to demonstrate tackling technique (139).
Filippi certainly would not be the last man to be on the wrong
side of Gillingham’s bruising running. Before he transitioned to
tackle in his junior year at the University of Minnesota, Gilling-
ham sidelined teammates Paul Faust and Chet Anderson during
an early season practice with a shoulder dislocation and a con-
cussion, respectively (130). Solid players in their own right, Faust
would go on to play for the National Football League’s (NFL)
Minnesota Vikings, whereas Anderson was drafted by the Pitts-
burgh Steelers. When Gillingham made it to the NFL himself in
1966, he would continue to overpower players from his spot at
Address correspondence to Dr. Jason P. Shurley, shurleyj@uww.edu.
Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 34(5)/1201–1212
ª 2020 National Strength and Conditioning Association
guard on the Green Bay Packers’ offensive line. All-Pro defensive
lineman for the Cincinnati Bengals, Mike Reid once commented,
“I was hit so hard [by Gillingham], I couldn’t fall” (88). Similarly,
Philadelphia Eagles All-Pro linebacker Bill Bergey said “When
you’re playing football and you’re concentrating and you get hit,
it never hurts.” He continued, “When Gillingham hit me, it hurt”
(67). The reason it hurt was not only Gillingham’s size, carrying
up to 290 lbs on his 6930 frame during his NFL playing days, but
also the fact that Gillingham had been religiously training with
weights since his adolescence.
Gale Gillingham was at the forefront of an epochal shift in
conditioning for sport performance. When he began high school
sports in the fall of 1958, many coaches believed that weight
training would hurt athletic performance. Such training, it was
widely believed, would result in the mythical “muscle-bound”
condition in which the athlete lost his speed, agility, and flexi-
bility. Although the fear of athletes becoming muscle bound was
pervasive, it was not universal. Some teams had begun to train
with weights and many even experienced smashing success be-
cause of that training. There were even some individuals who
functioned as nascent “strength coaches,” overseeing out-of-
season training for athletes. Old myths die hard, however, and
many coaches of the era still advised their athletes to avoid bar-
bells, including the legendary Vince Lombardi (110). Today, high
school athletes, both male and female, are regularly required to
lift weights, and the long-term training has yielded impressive
results on the field. Gale Gillingham was one of the few athletes of
his era who engaged in serious year-round weight training start-
ing in adolescence and continuing throughout his football career
and beyond. The strength and power that resulted from his ded-
icated lifting helped make Gillingham a first-round draft pick, 6-
time NFL All-Pro, and NFL Lineman of the Year (77).

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 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
Despite his success, many feel that Gillingham did not receive the
recognition that he deserved (74,103). This article seeks to correct
that oversight. At the end of Gillingham’s career, weight training
for sport had become much more common than it had been when
he first picked up a barbell. By the time of his retirement, colleges,
including the universities of Nebraska, Texas, and South Carolina,
had hired strength coaches, as had professional football teams such
as the San Diego Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs
(22,53,56,70,91). The perception of weight training changed, from
a modality that would make an athlete muscle bound, to one that
resulted in a stronger and faster athlete, thanks to the efforts of
numerous individuals. Those individuals range from barbell mag-
nates to physicians and physical educators (109,121). Most crucial
in changing the perception of strength training, however, were
athletes themselves. As athletes took up training despite their
coaches’ admonitions against it, they, as well as their coaches, fans,
and the press, were able to see the utility of strength training. One of
those pioneering athletes was Gale Gillingham.
Early Life
Gale Gillingham was born in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 3,
1944. He was the third child of Verlin Ray Gillingham (1919–1991)
and the first with wife Shirley M. Gillingham (Lancaster)
(1917–1995) (18,82). At the time, the couple lived on a dairy farm
near Stoughton (WI), just outside of Madison. In addition to farm-
ing, Verlin, a veteran of the Army during World War II, drove buses,
taxis, and cattle trucks and worked as an auctioneer. Verlin had
grown up on a farm himself in the southwestern Wisconsin before
moving to Madison in the late 1930s. During high school, Verlin was
an accomplished football player. As a tackle on the Richland Center
team, Verlin was singled out as one of the 2 most outstanding players
on his squad and lauded for his “consistent and dependable” play at
the position (12). It was even speculated that he had “Big Ten stuff”
(12). In addition to his talent, Verlin probably had the size, standing
6 foot, 1 inch and weighing nearly 190 lbs in high school, as well as
the pugnaciousness, from his time as a boxer (102). Nicknamed
“Champ,” Verlin continued to participate in both football and
boxing as a semiprofessional in the early 1940s (45).
Due to Verlin’s employment driving cattle trucks and auc-
tioneering, he was often away from home, which left much of the
heavy lifting of running a dairy farm to Shirley, along with Gale
and his younger brother Gary (1946–). Fortunately, at 59100, the
wiry Shirley was well equipped to handle the arduous work. A
force in her own right, Gale recalled being impressed by his
mother’s physical strength and remembered arm wrestling with
her when he was a boy. Gale observed that once he was strong
enough to beat his mother, he was able to pin Verlin only a few
days later (38,39). Some of Shirley’s strength was, no doubt, de-
veloped through the daily labor required to run the dairy farm. All
the cows had to be milked by hand twice daily, with the milk then
transferred into a 10-gallon can, which then had to be carried and
lifted into a chilling tank to await the arrival of the milk truck. In
addition to the actual milking, running the small farm required
a host of support tasks, including shoveling manure, building and
fixing fences, planting and harvesting, weeding, and mowing and
baling hay (37). Although the boys were young, they helped their
mother where they could, waking up hours before school to help
with the milking and related tasks before catching the school bus.
Even as a boy at the one-room Pleasant Hills School, Gale’s
tremendous strength and athleticism was evident. He regularly
bested boys who were much older in a variety of playground
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sports and games. A favorite among the boys at the school was
a game called “tackle cattle” in which boys would try to make it
from one side of the playground to the other without being taken
to the ground. Once tackled, a boy joined the others in the middle
and tried to keep the remaining boys from traversing the pitch.
There was an unspoken agreement among the boys that they
would wait to attempt to bring Gale down until everyone else was
in the middle. Even with most of his classmates trying to wrestle
him to the ground, Gale still regularly managed to power his way
to the other side (37). Although naturally gifted physically, Gale
credited his upbringing on the farm with instilling in him a respect
and desire for strength, commenting that because of the work he
“always had this idea that stronger is better” (103).
In 1957, when Gale was 13, Verlin took a job of selling real
estate for the United Farm Agency (94). The position required
relocation to Tomah, Wisconsin, where Gale began his in-
terscholastic football career. By his sophomore year, he was the
starting fullback on the football team, the starting center on the
basketball squad, and a promising shot-putter in track (112).
After Gale’s sophomore year, Verlin accepted a promotion to be
a district sales manager for the United Farm, based out of Little
Falls, Minnesota, and the family packed up and moved in the
summer of 1960. The day before the start of football practice that
fall, Verlin placed a call to Head Coach Ron Kavadas, to inquire
whether Gale could go out for the Little Falls team. Upon learning
that Gale had started as a sophomore at Tomah, Kavadas assured
Verlin that he would be happy to have the young man come out.
When Gale reported to practice the following day, Kavadas was
thrilled at the prospect of what he would describe as “a 6-foot-3
bundle of muscle” joining his squad (66).
In his junior season for the Flyers, Gale started at fullback and
defensive tackle. Kavadas took advantage of Gale’s punishing
rushing style to soften up the middle of opposing defenses, which
allowed several smaller halfbacks room to run on sweeps to the
sideline (26,29). In addition to his tremendous strength, many
teammates and opposing defenders alike were surprised at Gale’s
sheer speed. Teammate Jack Zehren commented that Gale might
have been the fastest player on the team and remembered one run
in which Gale broke through the middle for 95 yards, outpacing
all the opposing defenders on his way to the end zone (139).
During his first season in Little Falls, Gale also introduced several
of his teammates, including guard Byron Price, end Bob Lundell,
and halfback Zehren, to weight training (139).
Before their arrival in Little Falls, Verlin had purchased a set of
weights for the boys, which was kept in the basement of their
home. The source of Verlin’s inspiration to purchase the weights
in order to make the boys better athletes is unknown. The weight
set was manufactured by Joe Weider, so it is possible that Verlin
had at least been exposed to some of Weider’s muscle magazines
by that time. Indeed, Weider’s magazines had periodically made
connections between the strength developed through weight
training and improved athletic performance (133–135). It is also
possible that Verlin was introduced to barbell training during his
time in the South Pacific between 1943 and 1945 (44). The most
widely read muscle magazine of the era was Strength & Health
magazine, published by Bob Hoffman, who also owned the York
Barbell Company. During World War II, Strength & Health
documented the use of barbells in all branches of the service in
a series of articles titled, “Barbell Men in the Service.” Among
readers who wrote the magazine to describe their training exploits
were men stationed in the Pacific, so it is possible that Verlin was
exposed to barbell training during this time (117). Of course, his
own experience as a boxer and football player made Verlin
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
acutely aware of the importance of strength for both endeavors.
Regardless of Verlin’s inspiration to purchase the barbell set, Gale
and several members of the Flyers football team trained with it
regularly by 1960. Alongside Gale, the players performed var-
iants on the Olympic lifts, as well as squats, bench presses, and
curls (139).
Kavadas would later comment that he had been impressed how
hard Gale worked to physically prepare himself for the season
(128). In the fall of 1961, the results showed. In a pre-season
article, local sportswriter Jim Wallace noted that the Flyers had
“replaced speed with bulk,” with Gale tipping the scales at 210
lbs and his backfield running mate, Zehren, weighing in at 180
(124). The duo ran roughshod over opponents, largely because
the Flyers’ offense effectively began and ended with the 2 backs, as
one or the other handled the ball between 80 and 95% of the time
(27). In a game against conference rival Crosby-Ironton, for ex-
ample, Little Falls ran 40 offensive plays with either Gillingham or
Zehren carrying for 37 of them. For his part in that game, Gale
amassed 124 yards in the first quarter alone, so one could hardly
blame coach Kavadas for relying so heavily on the ground attack
(40). Throughout the season, local reporters commented on the
size and speed of the senior pair, referring to them as “backfield
huskies” and asserting that they “carried too much power” for
opposing teams (27,28). Despite the duo’s efforts, the Flyers
ended the season with a disappointing 5-win and 3-loss record,
although Gillingham finished as the fourth leading scorer in the
conference and Zehren the third (10). In addition to his 11
touchdowns, Gale amassed 1,076 yards on 181 carries, an aver-
age of 5.9 yards per carry, and set the Little Falls record for the
most yards gained in an 8-game season (125). When the All-
Conference team was named for that season, Gale was joined by 3
teammates: Zehren, Price, and Lundell, all of whom weight-
trained in the basement of the Gillingham home (123).
Beyond the gridiron, Gale was a star on the Flyers’ basketball
and track teams. A contributor in a playoff basketball team at
center as a junior, he earned All-Conference honors as a senior
(30,140) (Figure 1). In track and field, Gillingham’s exceptional
strength made him a standout in both the shot put and discus; he set
the school record in the former with a toss of 51-feet, 1-inch throw
and won the state championship in the latter with a 152-foot, 4.5-
inch throw. On the track, Gale regularly won or medaled in events
including the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard dashes and relays. The
athleticism that made Gale an All-Conference athlete in 3 sports
and record holder in 2 did not go unnoticed by the region’s biggest
collegiate athletic programs. During the spring of his senior year,
Gillingham was recruited by the Wisconsin Badgers to play end,
while the Minnesota Gophers were interested in his ability to im-
prove their ground game as a fullback (126).
Despite the interest from the Badgers, Verlin favored the
Gophers, who had won the 1960 national championship and
were coming off of a Rose Bowl victory to cap the 1961 season
(137). Seeking to ensure that his son made good on his own “Big
Ten stuff,” Verlin wrote to Minnesota coach Murray Warmath at
the beginning of the 1961 season (46). In the letter, Verlin assured
Warmath that Gale was “very fast and very powerful” and
asserted that he would best be used as a tackle. Warmath wrote
back a few days later to confirm with Verlin that a Gopher as-
sistant would be out to scout Gale (131) (Figure 1).
The scout who ventured up to Little Falls was sufficiently
impressed with Gale’s performance that he was offered a full
scholarship and joined the Gophers in the fall of 1962. At the
time, freshmen were ineligible to compete on the varsity squad,
but Gale excelled as a member of the freshman team, averaging 4
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Figure 1. The Little Falls varsity basketball team after
a playoff victory in March of 1961. Gillingham is pictured at
the top right. His football teammate, Jack Zehren, is number
30. Photo courtesy of the Brainerd (MN) Daily Dispatch.
yards per carry (127). In spring drills in 1963, local sportswriters
raved about his performance in intrasquad exercises, with one
dubbing him “the big boy from Little Falls” and another com-
menting that it had “been a while since Minnesota has had
a fullback with the evident power potential of big Gale Gilling-
ham” (31,55,108). Despite his high ceiling, Gillingham abruptly
quit the team a few days into fall camp in 1963. It was reported
that Gillingham told Warmath that he did not like football, never
had, and only played to please his father (42,128). The sporting
press puzzled over the hasty decision, commenting that the NFL’s
recently added Minnesota Vikings were keeping an eye on his
progress and quoting Gopher staffers who believed that Gilling-
ham would have been the best fullback to don maroon and gold in
decades (128,129).
Despite the statements about not enjoying football, the reason
Gale actually left the team was to work on a farm owned by his
father. Verlin had promised the farm to Gale as an inheritance when
his playing days were complete but had changed his mind and
decided to sell the property (107,119). Gale, whose primary aspi-
ration was to become a farmer himself, determined he could change
his father’s mind if Gale was able to prove that he could run the
farm. Over the course of the rest of 1963 and in 1964, Gale did just
that and Verlin agreed to retain the property. The matter settled,
and Gale wrote to Murray Warmath to apologize for his abrupt
departure and to ask for permission to rejoin the team, which
Warmath granted. Before returning to the Minneapolis, Gale
married Jeanne Hoglund, a former high school classmate (63).
Upon returning to the Minnesota squad, Gale was slated as the
number 5 fullback on the depth chart, a position that would be
short-lived. Within a week, his brutal ball carrying had injured 2
of the team’s best defenders and moved Gale up the depth chart
(130). Sportswriters went so far as to compare him with a Gopher
legend, with one reporting, “Gillingham has been laying mates
low in scrimmage, much as Bronko Nagurski used to do” (50).
Given that Nagurski had joined the inaugural Pro Football Hall
of Fame class the year earlier, and would later have his jersey
number retired by the Gophers, it was high praise indeed. At 235
lbs, 15 more than the previous fall, Warmath described
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
Gillingham as “all muscle” (72). Only 4 players on the team that
fall weighed more than Gillingham, and all 4 played tackle (1).
With his combination of size, strength, and speed, and the team
weak on the offensive line, Warmath decided Gale would be
better suited to help the team as a tackle than a fullback, switching
his position early in the 1964 season (41,49) (Figure 2).
Gillingham’s high school coach, Kavadas, praised the decision.
While pointing out that Gale was “one of the most ferocious ball
carriers you’ll ever want to see,” Kavadas noted that Gale had played
both offensive and defensive tackle in high school. Calling tackle his
“natural” position, Kavadas spoke highly of Gale’s willingness to
sacrifice his personal interests to help the team win (66). By the third
game of the season, Gillingham was starting at offensive tackle (19).
Although primarily thought of as an offensive player, he was also
frequently called upon to shore up the Gopher defensive line, until an
ankle injury caused him to miss the final 2 games of the season (2,93).
Headed into the 1965 season, the football media guide highlighted his
“fine combination of size, power, speed, and agility” and speculated
that Gale would be a candidate for post-season honors (32). Although
the team would set a handful of offensive records that year, the
Gophers finished a disappointing 5-4-1 (79). For his part, Gale again
played both ways and was named “All-Big Ten” as an offensive tackle
by the Associated Press (76,81). The writers of the Associated Press
were not the only ones who took notice of Gillingham’s outstanding
play, however, as coaches from both the NFL and American Football
League (AFL) also speculated about his potential (Figure 3).
Professional Career
On November 27, 1965, NFL officials held that year’s draft at the
Summit Hotel in New York City. On the same day, owners of the
Figure 2. During the mid-1960s, football programs at the
University of Minnesota featured caricatures of star players,
with one player featured for each home game. Gillingham
was featured in the Minnesota vs. Northwestern football
program in 1965. Courtesy of the University of Minnesota.
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rival AFL held their own draft of college players. Founded in 1959
by Texas oil men Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams, the AFL had
begun to pose an increasingly significant problem for the more
established league (59). The popularity of professional football
increased dramatically during the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Cold War concerns about “soft” living fostered increased interest
in a game in which violence was such an integral component, and
militaristic terms, such as “bombs” and “blitzes,” were featured
(80). Along with the appeal of vicarious violence, appreciated by
many office-bound men in the expanding managerial class, the
development of television facilitated the game’s rise to promi-
nence. In the mid-1950s, approximately 2/3 of American house-
holds had a television; by 1960, the number had increased to
90%, and professional football became one of the things people
most wanted to watch (80). The 1958 NFL championship game
between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants attracted
between 30 and 40 million viewers, approximately one-fifth of
the US population (21,84). The advent of color television in the
early 1960s made watching games on TV even closer to being in
the stadium (132). With an interested audience, the NFL was able
to sign their first national TV contract in 1962, selling their rights
for $4.65 million. By 1964, the value of securing those rights for 2
seasons had jumped to $14.1 million and increased to $18.1
million by 1966. For their part, the AFL sold their rights to the
American Broadcasting Company for $8.5 million over 5 years,
beginning in 1960. In 1964, the National Broadcasting Company
paid $36 million to televise AFL games for 5 years, beginning in
1965 (59,84) (Figure 3).
Although 17 million people watched professional football on
an average Sunday on television in the mid-1960s, in-person at-
tendance also increased, leading to higher revenues from ticket
sales and concessions. Average attendance at AFL stadiums
nearly doubled from 16,500 to 31,800 between 1960 and 1965,
whereas the NFL increased from 40,100 to 47,300 over the same
span (84,132). In the fall of 1965, professional football officially
eclipsed Major League Baseball as the most popular sport in
America (84). Long derided as a game occupied by nothing more
than professional gladiators, professional football had also sur-
passed the popularity of the collegiate game. Since its inception,
fans of college football promoted the game as one that turned
boys into men and instilled a respect for hard work and developed
toughness and resilience. It was argued that collegiate athletes
played with more enthusiasm, whereas professionals played only
for a paycheck (84,132). Regardless of players’ motivation to take
the field, many Americans agreed that the professional game was
the more exciting version. Professionals were larger, stronger, and
faster than their younger counterparts, leading to more spectac-
ular plays and violent collisions on the field. Vince Lombardi
argued that professionals could fully dedicate themselves to suc-
cess on the field, without having to worry about distractions like
coursework (132). National Football League owners had recog-
nized as early as the 1930s that they were in entertainment
business and shed all pretensions of being interested in any goal
other than winning. To that end, owners tailored the game to
promote scoring and allowed more frequent substitutions, which
enabled the players to specialize at one position and developed
a more complex and faster game (21).
The influx of cash from gate receipts and television revenues
helped spark a bidding war between the rival professional leagues
for collegiate talent. In 1965, the AFL’s New York Jets outbid the
NFL’s St. Louis Cardinals for the services of Joe Namath, offering
him a record 3-year, $427,000 contract (84). The same year, the
AFL’s Houston Oilers and NFL’s Green Bay Packers drafted
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
Figure 3. Gillingham began training in a small shed behind
the family home during his college career. Shown here is
a deadlift with approximately 700 lbs performed during the
off-season. Courtesy of the Gillingham family.
Donny Anderson, a running back from Texas Tech, in the first
round. Anderson chose to stay in school during the 1965 season
but reportedly signed with the Green Bay Packers for $600,000
immediately after his collegiate career ended (138). In the 1966
draft, the Packers chose another running back, Jim Grabowski
from the University of Illinois, who reportedly signed a 3-year
$400,000 contract. Between the 2 rookie running backs in 1966,
then, the Packers had agreed to contracts worth $1 million,
earning the backs a nickname as “The Gold Dust Twins.” Head
coach of the Green Bay Packers, Vince Lombardi, saw “the
twins” as replacements for his aging running backs, Paul Hor-
nung and Jim Taylor (75). The ball carriers were not the only
players on the Packer roster nearing the end of their careers, as the
majority of the offensive line was 30 or older headed into the 1966
season. To shore up the line, Lombardi and General Manager Pat
Peppler selected Gale Gillingham with the 13th overall pick
(90,136). Before the draft, the New York Jets had taken Gilling-
ham out on the town in New York City, and he had heard of some
interest from the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams, but Gillingham was
excited to be selected by the small-market Packers because they
were close to home (103,106).
Along with Grabowksi and Anderson, Gillingham was chosen to
play as a member of the College All-Star team in an exhibition game
against the Packers in early August (4). The All-Star team had taken
on the defending NFL champions every year since 1935 as an ex-
hibition game, benefiting Chicago Tribune Charities. Although the
collegians had typically not fared well against the more developed
professionals, they had upset the Packers in 1963, which continued
to eat at Lombardi heading into the 1966 matchup (132). During
one of the practices with the All-Stars, Gillingham fractured his
hand when it was crushed by a teammate’s helmet while Gale held
a blocking dummy (103). The injury would prove to be an un-
expected windfall. When he learned of the injury, Lombardi
demanded Gillingham join the Packers, telling All-Star team
organizers, “he’s my property, get him up here” (103). By joining
the Packers relatively early in pre-season camp, Gillingham had
more opportunity to learn the playbook (62). He missed only a few
days of practice in Green Bay and posted an impressive perfor-
mance in an intrasquad scrimmage less than 2 weeks after the in-
jury. When asked if Gillingham would play against the All-Star
team the following week, Lombardi responded, “certainly he’ll
play, he’s mine now. Everyone will play” (58).
Jerry Kramer, one of Gillingham’s teammates on the offensive
line for his first years in Green Bay, joked that Lombardi was
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a “miracle healer” (68). The coach would march into the training
room and shout, “What the hell’s wrong with you guys? There’s
nobody in here hurt,” and all of the lame would be healed (68).
Given Gale’s quick return to action after his hand injury, it seems
that Lombardi may have worked his magic on the rookie tackle.
After taking part in Packer practices, Gale was struck by how
much higher the intensity was than in the All-Star camp. After
seeing both, Gillingham advised his former and future teammates
Anderson and Grabowski to feign an injury in warm-ups because
“you are going to get massacred” (106). Indeed, the Packers beat
the All-Stars decisively, 38-0. In addition to the higher intensity,
Gale noted that professional defensive linemen were “a lot more
agile,” not as easily driven off of the ball, and required him to
continue his blocks for much longer than college defenders (101).
At 6930, Gale also lacked the height and reach to play tackle
professionally and was moved to guard during pre-season camp.
Despite the learning curve, he adjusted quickly, impressing
Lombardi and teammates throughout camp (13,83,116).
In front of him on the depth chart were seasoned veterans Fred
“Fuzzy” Thurston and Jerry Kramer. Thurston joined the NFL in
1956 and had been starting at left guard for the Packers since
being traded from the Colts in 1959 (105). Two years younger
than Thurston, Kramer had been drafted by Green Bay in 1958
and became the primary starter at right guard in 1959 (14).
Headed into the 1966 season, it was anticipated that Gillingham
would take over for the older Thurston in relatively short order
(8). The opportunity came in early December when Thurston
suffered a sprained ankle and Gillingham came off of the bench
against the San Francisco 49ers (61). As a starter against the
Baltimore Colts, he more than held his own, drawing acclaim
from Lombardi that he had performed “a workmanlike job” and
was “a great young ball player” (17,20). The game clinched a fifth
consecutive western division title for the Packers in 7 years and
guaranteed them a spot in the NFL championship game. The
Packers would go on to defeat the Dallas Cowboys 34-27 to win
the league crown.
During the spring of 1966, owners from both the NFL and AFL
fretted about the rising cost of doing business, as the bidding war
for rookies had dramatically escalated the salaries of young
players. To ensure financial solvency, the 2 leagues worked out
a merger, which had been announced in June of 1966. A com-
bined NFL was to be formed in 1970, but in the interim, league
winners would square off at the end of the season in an “NFL-
AFL World Championship” game. The game would not come to
be known as the “Super Bowl” until 1969 (84). Gale’s rookie
season with the Packers coincided with their appearance in what
came to be known as Super Bowl I. Although Thurston got the
start, owing to his veteran status, Gillingham also played as the
Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 and became
champions of all of professional football (115).
Grass Drills and Laps Around the Goal Posts
Jerry Kramer attributed the Packers’ success to their team ap-
proach, fostered by Lombardi, in which players were willing to
put aside their own interests for those of the team. He also
asserted that the Packers worked harder and were better condi-
tioned than any team in the league (68). As one might expect,
Lombardi, who would not let players drink water during practice,
took a traditional approach to football conditioning (84). In the
1960s, that meant a heavy emphasis on cardiovascular endur-
ance. Players typically started practice running laps around the
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
goal posts, from one end of the field to the other. This was fol-
lowed by a combination of calisthenics, agility drills, and “grass
drills” (68). Although other teams might have performed
a handful of side-straddle hops, the Packers would do 100 and
continue to do a higher volume of a variety of similar exercises
(54). Then, the players would begin “grass drills,” more collo-
quially known as “up-downs,” with Lombardi standing in front
of the group. He would initiate the drill with his whistle, and
players would begin to run in place with exaggerated knee lift.
Then, he would shout “down” that served as an instruction for
players to hurl themselves to the ground. While still splayed prone
on the grass, Lombardi would command “up!” and the players
would pull themselves to their feet and continue running in place.
“When Vince is in a good mood,” Kramer said, “he gives us only
3 or 5 minutes of them.” When Lombardi was not in a good
mood, “he’ll keep going until someone is on the ground and can’t
get up, till everyone’s on the brink of exhaustion” (68). Center
Ken Bowman recalled doing as many as 78 consecutive repeti-
tions (54).
Like most coaches of his era, Lombardi eschewed weight
training (34). To avoid becoming “muscle bound,” the Packers
generally avoided weights, although Lombardi did recognize that
strength training might have some positive effects on football
performance, particularly later in his career. A key reason for that
recognition was running back Jimmy Taylor, who played with the
team from 1958 to 1966. Before being drafted by the Packers,
Taylor had starred for the Louisiana State University (LSU)
Tigers. A native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Taylor had taken up
weight training during his high school career under the tutelage of
local health studio owner, Alvin Roy. The way Taylor played, it
was hard for any coach to believe that weight training had hurt his
performance, so Phil Bengtson, the defensive coordinator for the
Packers under Lombardi, traveled to Baton Rouge after the 1959
season to learn more about the program. Although the Packer
coaches were impressed with Roy and his program, they were still
hesitant to take up barbell training, opting instead to institute
a program of isometric exercises. Bars were installed next to the
locker rooms, and players were required to press upward on a bar
at chest height and pull on another at knee height for rounds of 10
seconds before heading out to practice (6). By 1965, coaches had
incorporated a device called the “Exer-Genie,” which consisted of
a nylon rope running through a metal cylinder (64). Adjustments
could be made on the cylinder to make the rope easier or more
difficult to pull. Players initially performed an isometric con-
traction in various pushing or pulling movements, and then,
tension was reduced to allow a resistance through the full range of
motion. The team spent 10 minutes doing a variety of resisted
running, cycling, and sit-up exercises with the pulleys after
a running warm-up. Two years later, in 1967, Lombardi was
impressed by a universal multistation weight machine while at-
tending a coaching conference. He ordered one for the Packers,
and they began circuit training on the machine 3 times each week
before the 1967 season (6,24).
Vince Lombardi retired early in 1968 and was succeeded by
Bengtson. Like Lombardi, Bengtson was wary of fully embracing
barbell training. When “aerobics” became popular following the
publication of Kenneth Cooper’s book of the same name, how-
ever, Bengtson was quick to adopt distance running as the pri-
mary conditioning method for the Packers (6,52). After the 1968
season, the Packers began a year-round running program super-
vised by Bruno Balke, a renowned exercise physiologist from the
University of Wisconsin—Madison. During the early months of
1969, players did runs of 2 miles or more, with some averaging as
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many as 5, along with middle distances such as 330-yard dashes
(7,9,52). As the season approached, the focus shifted to shorter
sprints, with players performing workouts that included sets of
ten 100-yard sprints, with 60-second rest intervals. During
training camp, all players, regardless of position, were required to
complete a 2-mile run in under 15 minutes (7). Those who failed
to meet the standard had to stay after practice each day and run 1
mile until they were able to pass the 2-mile test.
Not all professional football coaches were as hesitant to en-
dorse barbell training as those of the Packers. Sid Gillman, coach
of the AFL’s San Diego Chargers, had invited Al Roy to California
to set up a weight program for his team in 1963. Gillman did so on
the recommendation of one of his former assistants Paul Dietzel,
then coach of the LSU Tigers, who had seen what Roy’s weight
program had done for Jim Taylor and Heisman winner Billy
Cannon (91). After a 4-10 season in 1962, the weight-trained
1963 Chargers won the AFL championship with an 11-3 record
(11). The initial program was a combination of isometric exer-
cises and traditional barbell movements, including squats, bench
presses, deadlifts, and calf raises (53,104). After the season, the
Chargers began training 11 months of the year. Roy prescribed
a 4- or 6-day split routine with 2–3 days of lower-body exercises
and 2–3 days of upper-body exercises in the off-season. The
workout also included 20-, 40-, and 220-yard sprints after the
barbell exercises and runs of 3–5 miles on nonlifting days
(11,104,114). Once the season started, the Chargers decreased
their frequency of lifting to twice weekly. In 1968, Roy was hired
away from the Pacific coast to work with the Kansas City Chiefs.
He brought a program that had evolved by the late 1960s to
include variants on the Olympic lifts (71). As in San Diego, the
weight program made a marked difference, helping the Chiefs
improve from a good team into a great one that would win Super
Bowl IV the year after Roy’s arrival (56).
In addition to a few pro football teams that were barbell-
trained, some individual players had also taken up strength
training to improve their game by the early 1960s. One newspa-
per account in 1957 reported that a “barbell cult is thriving
among the top guards in the NFL” (97). The list of barbell men
included Duane Putnam of the Los Angeles Rams, Jack Stroud of
the New York Giants, and Stan Jones of the Chicago Bears. Jones,
who grew up 30 minutes from the home of York Barbell in eastern
Pennsylvania, began weight training in high school (78). By the
end of his collegiate career, the 69 10, 250 lb tackle was able to
bench press nearly 400 lbs and squatted 425 for 5 repetitions as
part of his regular workout (78). Chosen as a consensus All-
American as a senior, Jones went on to play in the NFL from 1954
to 1966 and has been inducted into both the Professional Football
and National Football Foundation College Halls of Fame (118).
Jones credited much of his success to his barbell training and
advised boys to take up weights in the off-season to improve their
game (78,118).
While a few professional football players trained with weights
by the time Gillingham entered the NFL, they were in a decided
minority. One of Gale’s linemates at Minnesota, Randolph
Staten, took up barbells after being drafted by the New York
Giants in 1965. Staten did so on the recommendation of a Giants
scout who pointed out that professional players were of a differ-
ent caliber than collegians; while Staten might have gotten by
without barbells as a college player, it was unlikely he would be
able to do the same at the next level (111). Staten’s lack of weight
training at Minnesota is consistent with Gillingham’s experience.
Gale recalled being chased from the weight room by Gopher
football coaches, concerned that weights would make him too
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
bulky (38). Not easily deterred, however, he snuck into the weight
room with the wrestling team so that he would be able to continue
his weight training without his coaches’ knowledge.
The End of the Lombardi Era
While Gillingham started a few games filling in for Fuzzy Thur-
ston during his rookie year, he became a fixture at guard during
his second season. During training camp in 1967, Jerry Kramer
commented that “Gilly is twice the ballplayer this year that he was
last year,” continuing, “he’s taken Fuzzy’s job away for good”
(68). Over the course of his first year in green and gold, Gilling-
ham had impressed his teammates and coaches with his combi-
nation of size, speed, and skill. Kramer described him as “thick-
shouldered, powerful, and strong” (68). When the linemen were
tested to see how quickly they got off the line when the ball was
snapped, Gillingham consistently beat all of the others by 3 yards.
His explosiveness led offensive tackle and future Pro Football
Hall of Fame inductee, Forrest Gregg, to comment “we might as
well stop trying to beat him ‘cause we ain’t going to do it” (68). In
50-yard conditioning sprints, Gillingham stretched his margin of
victory over the other linemen to 5–10 yards (48). Kramer noted
that Gillingham had usurped him as the fastest lineman on the
team, although he attributed that speed to Gillingham’s youth
(68). Lombardi went even farther, observing that Gale was “the
fastest man on the team behind (halfbacks) Donny Anderson and
Elijah Pitts” (122). Center Ken Bowman asserted that Gillingham
could run a 4.7 or 4.8 40-yard dash (103). Although age was
certainly a factor in Gillingham’s tremendous speed, strength was
likely a larger contributor. Another future Hall of Famer, de-
fensive tackle Henry Jordan, commented that the second-year
guard was almost as strong as Kramer “and I never thought
anybody could be that strong” (17). Similarly, legendary line-
backer Ray Nitschke compared Gillingham with Kramer, saying
“they’re both strong and rangy and when they fold back on me in
practice, they’d like to blow me right out of there” (89).
In addition to his tremendous size and athleticism, Gillingham
was able to secure the starting spot at left guard due to his ea-
gerness to learn about his craft. He credited his linemates,
Thurston, Forrest Gregg, Bob Skoronski, Ken Bowman, and
Kramer, with teaching him more about how to be an offensive
lineman than he had learned from any coach. “Those guys could
have said, “screw you rookie,”” Gillingham observed. Instead,
“they took me under their wing like I’d been there for 10 years”
(103). It helped, of course, that Gillingham had a perfectionistic
tendency. Domenic Gentile, an athletic trainer for the Packers
during Gillingham’s tenure, remarked that he was “a high-
intensity type player” who “had to be errorless in every practice”
(106). Between coaching from teammates, his own willingness to
learn, and a desire to be outstanding, Gillingham developed into
a standout on the Packer line (Figure 4).
During the 1967 season, the Packers battled their way to a 9-4-
1 record amidst speculation that the season would be Lombardi’s
last. Two days before Christmas, they routed the Los Angeles
Rams by 21 points to secure a spot in the NFL championship
game against the Dallas Cowboys (5). In what would become
known as the “Ice Bowl,” the teams took the field that New
Year’s Eve day with actual temperatures as low as 17° below zero
and wind chills as frigid as 50° below zero (16). During the week
leading up to the game, Cowboys’ coach Tom Landry remarked
that Gillingham had one of the day’s toughest assignments, hav-
ing to block Pro Bowl defensive tackle Bob Lilly (69). At 6950 and
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Figure 4. Gale pictured with Brad (front), Karl (behind Brad),
Kim (at right), and Wade before a game in Green Bay.
Courtesy of the Gillingham family.
a listed weight of 260 lbs, Lilly was larger than Gillingham and
had the strength and speed to match. The Packers and their fans
felt certain that the extreme cold would provide a sort of home
field advantage; Kramer commented “we were freezing, and they
were dying” (68).
Initially, that instinct proved correct as Green Bay jumped out
to a 14-0 lead. After 2 turnovers, however, the Cowboys nar-
rowed the margin to 4 points. In the fourth quarter, Dallas scored
a second touchdown to go up 17-14. With just under 5 minutes to
go into the game, the Packers started their final drive at their own
32-yard line. With 1:11 remaining, they reached the Dallas 11-
yard line. Quarterback Bart Starr called a “54 give,” which was
a dive play intended to trick the defense into thinking the Packers
were running their famed “Packer sweep” around the tackle.
Gillingham had the key role of pulling as if he were going to lead
block on the outside play. The goal was to get Lilly out of the play
by luring him into following Gillingham; it worked. Running
back Chuck Mercein burst through the hole left by Lilly for 8
yards to the Dallas 3. On the next play, Donny Anderson got
within 1 yard of the goal line to make it first-and-goal. He was
given the ball on the next 2 downs, but, with the field essentially
a sheet of ice, the Packers were unable to get enough traction to
clear a running lane. Starr called Green Bay’s last time out with 16
seconds remaining. With a third straight championship on the
line, Starr called a play that the Packers had never run: a quar-
terback keep. As the clock ticked down to 13 seconds, Starr
plunged across the line behind Bowman and Kramer securing the
victory, 21-17 (16). Two weeks later, in the much more hospitable
climate of Miami in January, Green Bay easily outpaced the
Oakland Raiders 33-14 to win Super Bowl II (5).
By 1968, Gale had been joined on the Packers by a few other
players who had been exposed to barbell training and wanted to
continue their lifting in Green Bay. Center Bob Hyland, whom
Kramer described as “muscle-mad,” lifted after practice with
Gillingham and linebacker Jim Flanigan (57,68). For his part,
Flanigan recalled being surprised at the absence of weight training
upon his arrival in Green Bay in 1967 and the fact that many of
the seasoned veterans could not lift 200 lbs (34). In 1968, the
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
small group of barbell devotees was joined by a guard who, like
Gillingham, had lifted since he was a schoolboy: Bill Lueck. Also,
like Gillingham, Lueck grew up on a dairy farm, but it was his
interest in training that forged a bond with the older guard (73).
Although more players were interested in training, they were still
limited by the facilities and the beliefs of the coaching staff.
Although the team had acquired a barbell set at some point,
Bengtson forbade the players from using them, threatening to fine
players who were caught lifting (73). Like Gillingham, Lueck had
been pleasantly surprised what a difference lifting had made to his
performance when he first began training in high school. Lueck
credited his training with enabling him to be strong and quick for
his size and, like Gillingham, had no intention of stopping his
training in the NFL. After practice, Gillingham and Lueck began
a custom of loitering in the locker room as the other players
showered and changed. They chatted with teammates and with
Equipment Manager Gerald “Dad” Braisher, who also served as
their lookout man. Braisher would let the duo know as soon as all
of the coaches had departed for the day, and they could take their
workout without fear of fines. Once the all clear was given, Gil-
lingham and Lueck commenced their routine of heavy squats,
presses, and rows (73).
Under Bengtson, the Packers finished a disappointing third in
their division in each season between 1968 and 1970. Dan Devine
took over as head coach in 1971 with a similar result at the end of
his rookie season, as the Packers finished fourth in the NFL
Central (5). Despite the team’s losing record in 3 of 4 seasons,
Gillingham continued to be as focused and intense a competitor as
he had when he arrived in the league. He was a feared opponent in
the “nutcracker” drill, a brutally simple exercise in which offen-
sive and defensive linemen fire into each other from their stance
and try to push the other backward or out of the drill. Defensive
tackle Henry Jordan commented that hitting Gillingham was
“just like kissing the front of a moving train” (86). Linemate
Lueck chuckled when he recalled watching defenders count the
offensive players in line and then shuffle around to avoid facing
Gillingham (73). In one particularly memorable team session
during practice, Gillingham was challenged by defensive line
coach Dave “Hawg” Hanner. The coach lined up defensive tackle
Mike McCoy, a rookie out of Notre Dame whom the Packers had
selected with their first pick in the 1970 draft, across from the
veteran Gillingham. When Gale asked Hanner if he was sure he
wanted to do that, Hanner teasingly asked if Gillingham was
afraid. Not only was Gillingham not afraid, but he was also in-
censed and, on the next snap, slammed into McCoy so hard that
he reportedly fractured the tackle’s sternum (103).
Gillingham, of course, was no softer on opposing defensive
tackles during games. He drew praise from the sporting press for
his “brilliant” blocking of Detroit Lions’ All-Pro defensive tackle
Alex Karras (96). He shut down the pass rush of future Hall of
Fame defensive tackle “Mean” Joe Greene and handled the San
Francisco 49ers’ All-Pro, Charlie Kruger (99,100). By 1969,
teammate Donny Anderson had begun to assert that Gillingham
was “the best guard in pro football,” and opposing coaches
agreed (60). Sports Illustrated magazine conducted a survey of
NFL-assistant coaches, asking them to rank the best player at
every position during the 1969 season, and the coaches voted
Gillingham the league’s top guard (65). Not coincidentally, Gale
was named to the first of his 5 Pro Bowls in 1969 and chosen to
start. He followed up with consecutive Pro Bowl appearances in
1970 and 1971 (87). Unfortunately, his streak of 3 consecutive
appearances in the NFL’s All-Star game would end in 1972 as
a result of injury after Dan Devine moved him to defensive tackle.
1208
Copyright © 2020 National Strength and Conditioning Association. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
Looking back on the move years later, running back MacArthur
Lane fumed that the decision still upset him (103). Devine rea-
soned that Gillingham could have more impact on the game if he
were able to disrupt opposing offenses. Unfortunately, Gilling-
ham had little opportunity to cause disruption because he suffered
a devastating injury to his right knee in the second game of the
season (98). The torn anterior cruciate and medial collateral lig-
aments would require surgical repair and at least one revision.
Although he was lost for the season, Gillingham continued to lift
as heavily as he could to prepare himself for 1973.
During his collegiate career, Gale had relocated his training site
to a small shed behind the family home. By that point, he was able
to deadlift 700 lbs using an assortment of weights sold by Weider,
York Barbell, Sears, and various other suppliers (35). To perform
squats before 1964, he had a pair of Y-shaped squat stands,
affixed to pieces of plywood to improve their stability. Although
the stands would have been adequate for many lifters, they were
not stable enough for the several hundred pounds Gillingham
needed to hold; so, his father-in-law helped him make an im-
provised power rack out of 4 3 4 wood in the mid-60s (39). Since
he often lifted without a spotter, Gale needed the safety bars of the
power rack to allow him to lift as much weight as possible with
less risk of injury (35). The power rack also inspired him to per-
form heavy partial lifts, a practice he would increasingly in-
corporate after his knee injury. In 1971, he upgraded again,
commissioning Little Falls Machine Shop to manufacture a metal
power rack based on drawings he and his wife Jeanne created (39)
(Figure 5).
On the sturdier metal rack, Gillingham performed heavier lifts,
including rack presses and partial squats. The partial squats were
performed largely out of necessity after the knee injury, as the
damaged knee could not withstand the full version of the lift,
particularly early in the rehabilitation process. To track his
progress, Gillingham kept records using a marker on the boards
of the shed. The records are undated, but among them is a pro-
gression in the overhead press “from floor” starting at 330 lbs
and topping out at 405. Others record a power clean of 375 lbs
for 5 sets of 5 repetitions and a 240-lb upright row for 3 repeti-
tions. Partial squats on the rack’s fifth notch from the top (about
a 90 movement) range from 1,100 to 1,200 with the note “knee
bad” at 1,100, “knee worse” at 1,150, and a ditto mark at 1,200.
Gillingham performed partial deadlifts from just above his patella
with records on the wall attesting to a lift as high as 1,150 lbs. In
the note accompanying the feat, he wrote, “Tore skin off both
hands. Will go down.” Near the end of his career, Gillingham’s
York Olympic barbell was not long enough to accommodate all
of the resistance he needed, so he adapted by creating bundles of
assorted metal and plastic weights and then tying them to the bar.
With this makeshift setup, he was able to lift 1,500 lbs in a partial
squat, out of the rack’s fourth notch from the top. The corre-
sponding note on the wall reads, “1,500 done. Out of tie on’s
[sic]”; he had apparently used all of his weights (35) (Figure 6).
Gillingham’s dedication to training enabled him to return to
action for the 1973 season. By the time he returned to the team,
lifting weights was no longer an offense worthy of a fine. In the
weight room one afternoon, defensive tackle Bob Brown strug-
gled with 300 lbs on the bench press, which drew a snicker from
Gillingham. “Put some weight on there,” he challenged the tackle.
Brown furrowed his brow and returned the challenge, “you get
under there.” Gillingham obliged, and after playfully tossing the
weight up a few times asked Brown, “how many times do you
want me to put it up?” (103). Having returned to his preinjury
form, Gillingham was again selected for the Pro Bowl in both
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
Figure 5. Gillingham squatting in his custom power rack,
fashioned by a local machine shop. This is the lift that he
recorded as “1,500 Done. Out of tie on’s [sic].” Courtesy of
the Gillingham family.
1973 and 1974 (87). Unfortunately, despite his individual ex-
cellence, the team’s performance waned; Devine had one winning
season in Green Bay, coming in 1972. The Packers finished 5-7-2
in 1973 and 6-8 in 1974, third in their division both seasons, and
Devine was dismissed (5) (Figure 6).
The sporting press still lauded Gillingham as “the real leader of
the club and the man looked up to by everyone,” and “probably
the equal of any guard in the league” going into the 1975 season
(15,92). Still, early in training camp, Gillingham decided it was
time to bow out (85). He had lost faith in Devine after the position
switch and decided he did not want to play under the new staff of
first-year Head Coach Bart Starr (106). Gillingham recalled that
he wanted to be traded after the position switch under Devine and
made the request to Starr but was denied. Still physically able to
play, Gillingham found it difficult watching as Green Bay limped
to a 4-10 result in 1975 (36). In January of 1976, Starr called
Gillingham and asked him to return (113). When he agreed,
Packer backs were elated, with John Brockington commenting, “I
love to see that big 68 out there” (120). He was once again elected
as a team captain. Despite Gillingham’s desire to play, however,
his surgically repaired knee was not up to the rigors of a full
season of professional football. He played in intense pain for
much of the season, had repeated aspirations of the joint to al-
leviate swelling, and missed parts of games due to the discomfort
(23). In 1976, Green Bay finished fourth in their division with a 5-
9 record, and Gillingham hung it up for good at season’s end.
Discussing his retirement, Starr remarked, “I look at the effort
and the sacrifices he made, despite his condition, and I can only
marvel” (43).
Life After Football
Although forced to give up professional football, Gillingham
never gave up weight training. He had used the bonus money he
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earned after the Packers won the first Super Bowl to buy a large
cattle ranch and 300 head of cattle in Minnesota. Unfortunately,
cattle prices dropped sharply in the mid-1970s, the farm became
insolvent, and Gillingham was forced to sell. Once out of the
cattle business, he followed in his father’s footsteps and got in-
volved in real estate, selling everything from farms to residential
and lakefront properties (94). Over the course of his playing ca-
reer, he and Jeanne had 4 children: Karl (1965–), Brad (1966–),
Kim (1969–), and Wade (1971–). Weight training had also be-
come a family affair, with all of the boys taking up lifting in one
form or another by the time they made it to elementary school.
One of the things Wade remembered most vividly about his father
was his dedication to his workouts. Even after his retirement, Gale
lifted at least 4 times each week (94). When he was in the shed
slogging through his training with news radio in the background,
he was not to be disturbed (47). Gillingham continued to keep
himself in good shape because he was still able to bench more than
500 lbs in the early 1980s. In addition to his upper-body strength,
he also retained his explosive power through midlife and was still
able to dunk a basketball in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, after
a few successful demonstrations of his dunking ability, he tore his
patellar tendon landing from one of his jumps (67). As evidence of
Wade’s assertion that workouts were not to be missed, however,
his sons remembered watching him bench press in the shed a few
days later with his casted leg propped up on a chair (35).
In 1982, Gillingham was inducted into the Packers Hall of
Fame. With that professional high came a personal low, as he and
Jeanne divorced the same year. Still, in an interview with Jerry
Kramer conducted as part of a 1984 Packer reunion, Gillingham
spoke about the importance of his children and Jeanne’s role in
their lives. “I have an obligation to the children,” he said, con-
tinuing, “I want them to live up to the ability they have” (67). By
any measure, it seems that the Gillingham children have done just
that. All of them have continued to reside in Minnesota. Kim, the
couple’s only daughter, is a nurse, whereas the 3 boys have be-
come standouts in the world of strength sports. Karl is a 3-time
qualifier for the World’s Strongest Man and 2-time participant in
the Arnold Strongman Classic contest. Brad is a 6-time World
Champion in powerlifting, has been inducted into the In-
ternational Powerlifting Federation (IPF) Hall of Fame, and was
also a 2-time participant in the Arnold Strongman Classic. Wade
competed in strongman events as well, but is better known for his
Figure 6. A partial squat workout, this session performed
with weights ranging from 1,100 to 1,200 lbs, and the
comments “knee bad” and “knee worse” for each of the
weights. In the lower left, the text, “1,500 Done. Out of tie
on’s [sic]” is visible. Courtesy of the Gillingham family.
 Gale Gillingham (2020) 34:5
exceptional grip strength, which earned him an invitation to
compete in exhibitions at the Arnold Classic. All of the Gilling-
ham boys credit their father’s enthusiasm for training and his
coaching with their success in strength sports. Each of them lifted
under their father’s tutelage by elementary school, and he con-
tinued to coach them well into adulthood. Beyond supervising
their training, Gale also accompanied them to major events, ad-
vising and encouraging them. The success of the boys as strong-
men and powerlifters, on top of Gale’s reputation as one of the
strongest men in the NFL during his playing days, earned the
Gillingham’s the moniker of “the first family of strength” (33).
As their father and grandfather did before them, the boys have
tried to help their children realize their athletic potential with the
help of weight training. One of Karl’s sons, Alex, competed on the
national level in weightlifting, whereas Brad’s weight-trained
daughters, Emily and Lizzy, have earned scholarships to compete
in cross country and track. Although still early in their athletic
careers, Wade’s daughters have also taken up strength training to
improve their performance in volleyball and basketball. In addi-
tion to their own children, the Gillinghams have coached many
more. Brad volunteers as a strength coach, working with wres-
tling and volleyball at Southwestern Minnesota State University,
and both he and Wade have coached interscholastic sports. All 3
boys have co-owned Jackals Gym in Marshall, Minnesota, since
1995. The gym has been the training home to winners of 39 USA
Powerlifting championships and 10 individual qualifiers for the
IPF world championships since 1997 (35).
As Gale aged, the boys attempted to convince him to slow
down and maybe not lift quite as strenuously (47). The old guard
would have none of it. On October 20, 2011, while lifting weights
in the shed that had been his training facility for decades, Gale
Gillingham died of a heart attack at the age of 67 (82). Over the
course of his playing career, he racked up a host of titles: All-Big
Ten, 6-time All-Pro, 5-time Pro Bowler, and 2-time Super Bowl
Champion. He was named the starting guard for the Green Bay
Press-Gazette’s Packers “All Century” team and the 21st most
outstanding player in the history of the Packers’ organization by
the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (51,77,87). Of the players ahead
of him on the Sentinel’s list, only 3 are linemen and all 3 are in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame (95). The most likely reason for Gil-
lingham’s omission from the list of former Packers in Canton is
that the teams on which he played after 1967 were largely for-
gettable. After his second season in Green Bay, the Packers fin-
ished with a losing record in 6 of his 8 seasons and never won
another playoff game during his career. Even an outstanding
player on a largely forgettable squad can easily be over-
looked (5,74).
Despite being “unheralded” with respect to the Hall of Fame,
Gillingham is, nonetheless, a pioneer in the world of strength (74).
Gale was one of the first professional football players to train
intensely with barbells year-round and part of a tiny cohort who
started that training during adolescence. In that sense, he was at
the forefront of what modern strength training for sport has
become—progressive training with an eye toward long-term
athlete development. Gillingham used the strength he developed
to become a standout in an NFL that was just transitioning into its
role as the most popular spectator sport in the United States. He
was a member of the last draft before the AFL and NFL merged,
played in the first 2 Super Bowls, and was in his fifth season when
“Monday Night Football” debuted as a cultural phenomenon.
Through his unique combination of size, strength, speed, and
performance, Gillingham helped disabuse many of the notions
that weight training would make for a muscle-bound athlete. Gale
1210
Copyright © 2020 National Strength and Conditioning Association. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.
shared his knowledge about, and enthusiasm for, weight training
with people throughout his life. He taught high school teammates
how to train, lifted with fellow Packers despite the threat of fines,
and coached his children to a host of titles in several strength
sports. That knowledge has been transferred through them to
contemporary athletes who, like Gale, have taken up training in
their youth to enhance their sport performance. The ripples that
Gale Gillingham created reverberate to this day. In helping others
to see that strength training improved performance, as Lombardi
said of Gillingham early in his career, “he did a workman-
like job.”
Acknowledgments
The author thanks Drs. William Kraemer and Nicholas Ratamess
for proposing this project. Thanks are also due to the Gillingham
family, including Gale’s brother, Gary, sons Karl, Brad, and
Wade, and nephew Brian, who provided interviews and photo-
graphs for this project. Jack Zehren and Bill Lueck also took the
time to be interviewed and are owed thanks for all of the helpful
anecdotes they provided.
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