Bart Starr

Starr drops back in Super Bowl I

Bryan Bartlett Starr died today at the age of 85.

Many are saying how good -- even great -- Bart Starr was, and I'm glad to read that.

We seem to forget the legends, especially when we get blinded by Tom Brady, Joe Montana, and so on.

Bart Starr should absolutely be in that conversation.

The reason he's not, first and foremost, is the era he played in. Starr played in the "run first" years of the NFL, never throwing for more than 2,438 miles in a season. That would place Starr at 28th in 2018, after Joe Flacco and in front of Ryan Fitzpatrick.

In total, number 15 threw for 152 touchdowns.

In his career.

Bart Starr engineered the Packer Sweep, handing the ball to Jim Taylor and letting him do the rest. He had good receivers -- never the best ones necessarily. He had a great offensive line for sure.

He had the greatest coach. Yes, I said the greatest.

Another reason we don't talk about number 15 Bart Starr the way we talk about many others is his humility. Bart wasn't a commercial guy. He wasn't seen with Giselle, though he was quietly married to his high school sweetheart Cherry for 65 years. He wasn't part of a funny family.

There was no flash to Bart Starr. There was just focus and winning.

There were also five NFL championship wins in six tries. Those, actually, meant more back then than the two AFL-NFL World Championship Games that he won.

You know, the game that became known as the Super Bowl.

Oh, he played pretty well in those two games also, where he won the first two MVP awards.

Starr played in an era in which his contemporaries included Johnny Unitas (still the GOAT for my money), Frank Tarkenton, Norm Van Brocklin, Bobby Layne, YA Tittle, John Brodie, George Blanda, and Len Dawson. At the end of his career, the names were Namath and Bradshaw and Staubach and Griese.

By that point, Bart Starr had set the standard for winning without flash.

It's fair to say he never needed to go beat the Raiders in Super Bowl II, though that certainly was a fine topper on his career, which still had a few years left in it.

He had already cemented his legend by following Jerry Kramer into the most frozen of tundra at Lambeau Field on Dec. 31, 1967.

The game, of course, was "The Ice Bowl," as the Packers and Cowboys met for the second year in a row to resolve the NFL championship. Starr convinced Lombardi that the lineman could get just enough traction to block the Cowboys defensive line late in the fourth quarter.

If you don't know, the temperature at kickoff was −15 °F and the wind chill was −48 °F.

By the time Starr ran back to the huddle to call Brown right 31 Wedge, the sun was setting.

The Packers trailed 17-14. If a run was stopped at the line, the game was over. A rollout pass would either be incomplete, a touchdown, or leave time for a field goal.

Of course, Starr scored, and the legend of the game was born.



Lombardi would eventually resign and make a last return with the Redskins before dying in Sep 1970.

Starr would walk away after 1971, and immediately become a QB coach for the Packers. He tried broadcasting on CBS, but returned to the Packers as head coach for nine seasons of mostly little success, compiling a record of 52–76–2.

Starr's health would deteriorate in his early 80s, thanks to strokes, a heart attack, and brain damage. Bart was able to visit his friend Brett Favre at the ceremony to retire number four in 2015.

Bart Starr was special. A class act. All the things you want to hear about a man.

A man who would sign any autograph.

A man who played tough and hard and make no fuss.

A winner.

Green Bay -- always Titletown -- is very sad tonight.

While not their most talented quarterback died today, their greatest one did.

*****
A quick side-note. I had a small affection for auto racing as a kid. I cared about two races (Daytona and Indianapolis) because my dad did. But the culture of the whole scene -- especially NASCAR -- changed, and it largely turned me off. Too much glitz. Too commercial. Too...well...too much something.

Maybe it's me. Maybe I've changed. Like anything else, I can be brought back to it.

Anyway, I watched a large chunk of Indy today, and the end was fantastic.

My dad would have loved it.

I just wanted to say that.