Bart Starr

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Bryan Bartlett Starr (born January 9, 1934 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA) is a former professional American football player and coach. Wearing #15, he was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers (1956-1971) and the MVP of the first two Super Bowls. He earned four Pro Bowl selections and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977. The son of an Air Force NCO, Starr played college football at Alabama, and was a 17th round pick (200th overall) in the 1956 NFL draft. After his playing career, Starr was the head coach of the Packers for nine seasons (1975-1983), compiling a 52-76-3 record.

As Vince Lombardi's quarterback, Starr's Packers won NFL Championships in the 1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, and 1967 seasons. Following the NFL championships in 1966 and 1967, he led the Packers to convincing victories over the champions of the rival AFL in the first two Super Bowls. He is the only player to quarterback a team to five NFL championships.

Starr was responsible for calling plays when he was quarterback, as was the norm at the time. One of his most famous play calls was in the Ice Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game on the final day of 1967. With 16 seconds remaining in the game and trailing 17-14, the Packers called their final timeout. It was third down and goal from the 1 yard line. The two previous plays, handoffs to halfback Donny Anderson, had gained little. Coach Lombardi decided to go for the win rather than try for a tying field goal, not automatic in the frigid weather. In the huddle, Starr called for a dive play to fullback Chuck Mercein, but decided to keep it as a quarterback sneak because the conditions made a handoff riskier than usual. The play was risky enough, because with no timeouts, the Packers would not have had enough time to regroup and call another play if the sneak failed. With the help of an excellent block on Dallas defensive lineman Jethro Pugh by center Ken Bowman and right guard Jerry Kramer, Starr scored the winning touchdown and the Packers won their third straight NFL championship, the fifth in seven years. (It was the Packers' sixth championship game in eight years, as the Packers had lost the 1960 Championship game 17-13 to the Philadelphia Eagles). Two weeks later in Miami, the Packers easily defeated the AFL champion Oakland Raiders 33-14 in Super Bowl II, Lombardi's final game as head coach.

Since the introduction of the NFL championship game in 1933, the Green Bay Packers (1965-67) are the only team to win three consecutive NFL titles.

Bart Starr's playing career ended at the conclusion of the 1971 season. He served as an assistant coach (quarterbacks) in 1972, when the Packers won the NFC Central division title at 10-4. Starr became head coach of the Packers three years later, in 1975. His regular season record was a disappointing 52-76-2 (.408), with a playoff record of 1-1. Posting a 5-3-1 record in the strike-shortened season of 1982, Starr's Packers made their first playoff appearance in ten years (and their last for another 11 years). They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 41-16 in the expanded wildcard round of 16 teams on January 8, 1983, then lost to the Dallas Cowboys 37-26 in the divisional round the following week. After a disappointing 8-8 finish the following year, Starr was dismissed in favor of his former teammate, Forrest Gregg.

Bart Starr is now chairman of Healthcare Realty Services.

In 1965, he helped make Rawhide Boys Ranch, a facility designed to help troubled boys, near New London, WI a reality.

In 1999, he was ranked number 41 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Bart Starr is one of five Green Bay Packers to have his number (15) retired by the team. The others are Tony Canadeo (3), Don Hutson (14), Ray Nitschke (66), and Reggie White (92).

[edit] Career stats

[edit] External links

• Pro Football Hall of Fame Bart Starr
• Bart Starr statistics
• 1956 NFL Draft from the Pro Football Hall of Fame
• Football cards of Bart Starr