Why Bart Starr is One of My All-Time Favorite Players

Hey, sports fans!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been busy keeping up with all of the exciting things going on in the sports world these days. The Stanley Cup Finals between the Blue and the Bruins, the NBA Finals between the Raptors and the Warriors, a bunch of exciting softball games in the Women’s College World Series (Oklahoma and UCLA are battling it out in the Finals this week), and regional baseball games in the Men’s College World Series! Whew!

But on with the show!

Today, I’m thrilled to kick off a new series here on the blog, where I’ll be talking about my favorite players. So many of you have asked who my favorites are, and why, and I am happy to oblige!

Scenes around Green Bay

I decided to start with the legendary Bart Starr, quarterback of the Lombardi-era Green Bay Packers of the 1960’s. Growing up in Wisconsin in the 60’s, Starr was a household name, and probably the first football star whose name I ever knew. And the sad news of his recent death has meant those years have been on my mind a lot lately.

Let’s start with the many reasons I’ve admired Bart Starr as a football player, and leader of those Lombardi era Packers:

Bart was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL Draft.
He was the 200th pick overall, the latest any Hall of Fame quarterback has ever been drafted.
Bart led the Packers to 5 World Championships, including the first 2 Super Bowls, where he was named MVP.
He is the only quarterback ever to lead a team to 3 straight championships.
Bart ran a goal line sneak to win the infamous “Ice Bowl” NFL Championship in 1967, the coldest NFL game ever played.
His 9-1 post season record is the best in history.
His 80.5 pacer rating also remains the best in history.
Bart posted a 94-57-6 overall record, threw for 24,718 yards, 152 touchdowns and led the league in passing five times in his career.
He was named to the Pro Bowl four times and he was named to the All-Pro Team three times.

A banner honoring #15 hangs in the atrium of Lambeau Field, at 1265 Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay — A banner honoring #15 hangs in the atrium of Lambeau Field

There have been plenty of great players to wear the Packers green and gold over the last 100 seasons (and I’ll be highlighting a few of those later in this series), but Bart’s career was certainly one of the most impressive.

Bart Starr, #15, is included in the Ring of Honor in Lambeau Field

I also admired Bart for his work outside of football. Bart loved the community of Green Bay, and he and his wife Cherry gave back to that community by helping to build Rawhide, a ranch for at-risk teenage boys.

When they moved back to their home state of Alabama in the 1990’s, Bart and Cherry supported Children’s of Alabama, Cornerstone Schools for under-served students, and were very involved with the Humane Society of Birmingham.