The Packers selected him in the seventh round of the 1953 NFL draft. Ringo was considered vastly undersized at. He was not, however, unfit for the role; he used his outstanding quickness and excellent technique to build a 15-year NFL career, the first 11 with the Packers, as one of the game's best centers. Ringo played for four different head coaches in Green Bay. In his first six seasons under Gene Ronzani, Lisle Blackbourn, and Ray "Scooter" McLean, the Packers went But Vince Lombardi's arrival in January 1959 changed everything, and for Ringo's next five seasons, the Packers went and 2–1 in championship games. Ringo certainly knew individual success before the Lombardi era—attending his first of seven straight Pro Bowls in 1957—but he flourished under the coaching legend, earning consensus All-Pro honors from 1959–63. Ringo's speed and mobility made him an ideal blocker for Lombardi's famous Packers sweep, and all but one of running back Jim Taylor's five 1,000-yard seasons—including his then-record 1,474-yard effort in 1962—came with Ringo at center.
Ringo was a member of the Packers' NFL Championship teams of 1961 and 1962 but was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles The details of Ringo's trade have been the subject of speculation. In his memoir, Jerry Kramer, who played guard next to Ringo from 1958-1963, recounted the story that following the 1963 season, Ringo showed up in Lombardi's office with an agent in tow and looking to negotiate a raise. Lombardi, according to this account, was so angered that he excused himself for five minutes only to return and announce that he had traded Ringo to the Eagles. Over the years, it has been suggested that that story is more fiction than fact. In reality, Lombardi had probably been negotiating a trade for some time. The Packers also traded fullback Earl Gros and received in return linebacker Lee Roy Caffey and a first-round draft pick, which was used to select halfback-punter Donny Anderson as a "future pick" in 1965. Still, the legend persists. Ringo, who played 126 consecutive games for the Packers from 1954–63, finished out his career with the Eagles, attending three more Pro Bowls and retiring after the 1967 season.
Ringo died November 19, 2007, in Chesapeake, Virginia, after a short illness and just two days before his 76th birthday. He is buried at Fairmount Cemetery in his hometown of Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
