He stood 6 foot 4 and weighed 260 pounds, making him one of the largest players on the Green Bay Packer defense during the Vince Lombardi era.

Like his last name, he was not flashy. He was proud of his Polish heritage and took great pride in his work ethic.

He did not possess physical gifts such as extraordinary speed or quickness.

But for three NFL championship and two Super Bowl seasons during an eight-year career from 1961-'68, Ron Kostelnik anchored the middle of the Packer defensive line.

With teammates like Willie Davis, Henry Jordan and Lionel Aldridge, Kostelnik was rarely going to garner any headlines for his play or be selected to All-Pro or Pro Bowl rosters.

He simply did his job of controlling the heart of the defensive line.

"Ron took over when (Dave) Hog Hanner retired," former linebacker Dave Robinson said. "We didn't miss a beat with Ron in there. Hog trained him right. Ron was a smart, steady player who shut down the middle. No one successfully ran a screen or draw on us very often."

Pat Peppler, Green Bay's personnel director from 1963-'71, said Kostelnik was not underrated in the eyes of Lombardi.

"Ron didn't get the credit he deserved playing along side those Hall of Famers," Peppler said. "Hog Hanner was a tough act to follow, and Ron continued quietly going about his business. His job was unheralded, but Vince respected him as a solid performer who did his job well."

Said former teammate Jerry Kramer: "It wasn't glamorous work. There aren't statistics for steady dependable guys who plug up the middle and allow other guys to excel. But that's what Ron did.

"Henry and Willie and Lionel were able to rush the passer and freelance because Ron was in the middle doing the dirty work."

Kostelnik was a second-round draft choice (No. 26 overall) of the Packers in the 1961 NFL draft. The defensive tackle from Cincinnati joined a tal ented Green Bay team that was just entering its prime after losing the 1960 NFL championship in Philadelphia.

Kramer wasn't sure the rookie would even make the team.

"I was absolutely convinced he wasn't going to make the cut," Kramer said. "Thought he had no shot. He was a little cherubic and didn't have a great deal of speed. But I couldn't measure his heart.

"I learned he was a very bright kid with a big heart and a lot of drive and effort. You had to look at the whole package with 'Cully.' "

Kramer and his teammates came up with an interesting nickname for Kostelnik.

"We called him the 'Culligan Man' because he was always around the water bucket," Kramer said with a laugh. "Ron was well-respected by his teammates and an easy going guy. He never got too emotional."

Kramer asked Kostelnik to watch him in practice to see if he was giving away any information to opposing defensive lineman in his stance.

"You know, if I was leaning or putting too much weight on my hand on the ground, which let them know I was going straight ahead," Kramer said. "He watched me pretty close and I appreciated that."

Kostelnik paid his dues and learned the position as Hanner's backup for two seasons before taking over as the starting left defensive tackle in 1963.

Robinson said Kostelnik shined in some big games, including the famed Ice Bowl.

"Ron wasn't going to get a lot of sacks from his position, but he made a tackle for a big loss of a Dallas back to get the ball back to our offense late in that game," Robinson said.

Another one of Kostelnik's finest performances came in Super Bowl I against the Kansas City Chiefs in Los Angeles.

Kostelnik recorded three tackles and was credited with a half sack of Chiefs' quarterback Len Dawson in the second half as the Green Bay defense seized the game after holding a precarious 14-10 halftime lead.

Green Bay dominated the game in the final 30 minutes as Lombardi and the old-guard NFL owners had hoped, outscoring Kansas City, 21-0. The final score of 35-10 reflected the established league's dominance over the upstart AFL.

In the Packers' 33-14 victory over Oakland in Super Bowl II, Kostelnik played a solid game with several tackles but also made a crucial block on an interception by Herb Adderley early in the fourth quarter.

Adderley intercepted a Daryle Lamonica pass and Kostelnik was one of several defenders who threw key blocks on his 60-yard return for a touchdown to give the Packers a 33-7 lead.

Kostelnik never earned All-Pro or Pro Bowl honors, but he proved to be one of the team's most durable linemen, missing only a handful of games in eight seasons and playing in 110 regular-season games.

After the 1968 season, Kostelnik was traded by Lombardi to the Baltimore Colts for a fourth-round draft choice (kicker Skip Butler) in the 1970 NFL draft.

Like many other Packers from the 1960s, Kostelnik was successful in the business world after retiring from the NFL after one season with the Colts, eventually becoming CEO of Mainline Industrial Distributors of Appleton, Wis.

He died after suffering a heart attack and crashing his car on I-75 in Kentucky on Jan. 29, 1993. Kostelnik and his wife, Peggy, were returning to their Appleton home after vacationing in Florida.

Kostelnik was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1989, a rare honor that he treasured as one of the most unheralded defensive performers of the 1960s Green Bay dynasty.

R M Kostelnik