With great sadness, I learned today of the passing of Bryan Bartlett Starr. Sad to think that this all-time great will never again get a chance to walk onto Lambeau Field.
Starr, the Hall of Fame quarterback who, like his peers, called his own plays and ran the offense his way -- after building that playbook with Lombardi. This wasn't the era of passers throwing for 4,000 yards a season. This was an era of game control; for Green Bay, that was Jimmy Taylor and Paul Hornung on the Packer Sweep, turning the corner behind guards Fuzzy Thurston and Jerry Kramer.
Starr and his wife of 65 years, Cherry, are probably the closest thing to royalty that Wisconsin has ever seen. The Starrs, in 1965, were involved in starting the Rawhide Boys Ranch to give back to the community. Based in New London, it continues today to offer at-risk youth programs, programs that help reshape lives and provide counseling services for boys, girls, adults and families.
For years, and on his own, Starr would call Green Bay draft picks and welcome them to the Packer family. Not even an ill-advised stint as head coach could dim the shine on this Starr. Without any coaching experience, he responded when the franchise asked him to come in as head coach -- because of the loyalty he felt to the Green Bay Packers. From 1975-83, he directed the Packers to a 53-77-3 record (he was 1-1 in the playoffs).
Despite that lack of success as a coach, Starr is beloved by Packer fans. Whenever he returned to Lambeau Field for Packer Alumni reunions, no one received a bigger ovation than Bart Starr, no matter who shared the field with him.
Remember when former persona non grata Brett Favre returned to be honored and mend fences, Packer faithful forgave him because Bart Starr, attending Favre's special evening despite health issues that included a couple of strokes.
RIP Bart. Gone, but never forgotten by Packer Nation.
No comments:
Post a Comment