Bart Starr was a famous American football player and coach. He recently passed away!
So let’s find out some trivia about his life and career!
- His full name is Bryan Bartlett Starr
- He was born on January 9, 1934
- He died on May 26, 2019
- He was a professional American football player and coach
- He played quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL)
- From 1956 through 1971
- Starr was the only quarterback in NFL history to lead a team to three consecutive league championships (1965 – 1967)
- Starr led his team to victories in the first two Super Bowls: I and II
- As the Packers’ head coach, he was less successful
- Compiling a 52 – 76 – 3 (.408) record from 1975 through 1983
- Starr was named the Most Valuable Player of the first two Super Bowls
- And during his career earned four Pro Bowl selections
- He won the league MVP award in 1966
- He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame
- And the Packers Hall of Fame in 1977
- Starr has the highest postseason passer rating (104.8) of any quarterback in NFL history
- And a postseason record of 9 – 1
- His career completion percentage of 57.4 was an NFL best
- When he retired in 1972
- Starr also held the Packers’ franchise record for games played (196) for 32 years
- Through the 2003 season
- Starr played college football at the University of Alabama
- And was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 17th round of the 1956 NFL draft (200th overall)
- Starr was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama
- To parents Benjamin Bryan Starr, a labor foreman with the state highway department, and Lula (Tucker) Starr
- Starr’s early life was marked by hardships
- Shortly after the start of World War II, his father’s reserve unit was activated
- And in 1942 he was deployed to the Pacific Theater
- He was first in the U.S. Army but transferred to the U.S. Air Force for his military career
- Starr had a younger brother, Hilton E. “Bubba” Starr
- In 1946, Bubba stepped on a dog bone while playing in the yard
- And three days later died of tetanus
- Starr’s relationship with his father deteriorated after Hilton’s death
- He was an introverted child who rarely showed his emotions
- And his father pushed Starr to develop more of a mean streak
- Starr attended Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery
- And tried out for the football team in his sophomore year
- But decided to quit after two weeks
- His father gave him the option of playing football or working in the family garden
- Starr chose to return to the football field
- In his junior year, the starting quarterback broke his leg and Starr became the starter
- He led Lanier to an undefeated season
- In his senior season, Starr was named all-state and All-American
- And received college scholarship offers from universities across the country
- He seriously considered the University of Kentucky, coached by Bear Bryant
- Starr’s high school sweetheart, Cherry Louise Morton, was planning to attend Auburn
- And Starr wished to attend a college close to her
- Starr changed his mind and committed to the University of Alabama
- Starr and his wife Cherry were married for more than sixty years
- They had two sons
- Of whom the younger Bret is deceased
- He died in 1988, age 24, drug overdose
- And three granddaughters
- He was a Christian
- In 1965, Starr and his wife Cherry helped co-found Rawhide Boys Ranch in New London, Wisconsin
- A facility designed to help at-risk and troubled boys throughout the state of Wisconsin
- Starr even donated the Corvette he received as MVP of Super Bowl II to help Rawhide during their early years
- He and Cherry continued to be affiliated with Rawhide Boys Ranch as of 2017
- In 1971, Starr and his wife Cherry helped start the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation
- Raising funds for cancer research and care in honor of the his late coach, Vince Lombardi
- They were active at all their events throughout the years
- He and Cherry launched the Starr Children’s Fund within the Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation to continue their legacy of work supporting pediatric cancer research and care
- During his latter years, Starr suffered a number of physical ailments
- Including ischemic stroke, hemorrhagic stroke, a mild heart attack, seizures, and a broken hip
- In June 2015, Starr’s family reported that he was undergoing stem-cell therapy in a clinical trial
- He managed to attend a ceremony at Lambeau Field on November 26, 2015 retiring QB Brett Favre’s jersey number
- And a fall 2017 reunion of the Ice Bowl Packers
- At Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, the NFL held a pregame ceremony honoring the MVPs of all 49 Super Bowls
- Although he wished to attend, Starr was not well enough to travel to the game
- And instead sent a videotaped greeting from home
- Starr died at the age of 85 on May 26, 2019
- In Birmingham, Alabama
- After a period of failing health
- Due to the stroke he had suffered earlier
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