Bart Starr

Infobox NFLretired
position=Quarterback
number=15
birthdate=birth date and age|1934|1|9
Montgomery, Alabama
deathdate=
debutyear=1956
finalyear=1971
draftyear=1956
draftround=17
draftpick=200
college=Alabama
teams= As Player
* Green Bay Packers (1956-1971)As Coach
* Green Bay Packers (1975-1983)
stat1label=TD-INT
stat1value=152-138
stat2label=Passing Yards
stat2value=24,718
stat3label=QB Rating
stat3value=80.5
nfl=STA653568
highlights=
* 4x Pro Bowl selection (1960, 1961, 1962, 1966)
* 4x All-Pro selection (1961, 1962, 1964, 1966)
* 3x NFL champion (1961, 1962, 1965)
* 2x Super Bowl champion (I, II)
* 2x Super Bowl MVP (I, II)
* 1966 NFL MVP
* 1966 UPI NFL MVP
* NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
* Packers Hall of Fame
* Green Bay Packers #15 retired
HOF=200

Bryan Bartlett Starr (born January 9, 1934 in Montgomery, Alabama) is a former professional American football player and coach.cite web | url = http://www.bartstarr.com/biography.htm | title = Bart Starr Biography | publisher = BartStarr.com | accessdate = 2007-12-12] 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 High School football at Lanier High School in Montgomery, Alabama, where he earned a spot in the school's Hall of Fame, 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 and was named the Most Valuable Player of both games. He is the only player to quarterback a team to five NFL championships.cite web | url = http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=200 | title = Bart Starr at ProFootballHOF.com | publisher = profootballhof.com | accessdate = 2007-12-12]

Packers Quarterback

Starr was drafted in the seventeenth round of the NFL Draft in 1956, out of the University of Alabama. He was a backup to Tobin Rote in 1956 and split time with Babe Parilli until 1959, Vince Lombardi's first year as Packers coach. In that season, Lombardi pulled starter Lamar McHan in favor of Starr, and he held the starting job henceforth. In just two seasons, Starr would lead his team to NFL Championships in 1961 and 1962. In 1966, Starr was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press (AP), the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) and UPI.

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. Instead of handing off (as the play was designed), Starr sneaked the ball himself, and with the winning touchdown, the Packers won their third straight NFL championship, the fifth in seven years. Two weeks later in Miami, the Packers defeated the AFL champion Oakland Raiders 33–14 in Super Bowl II, Lombardi's final game as head coach of the Packers. Starr's playing career ended at the conclusion of the 1971 season.

In 1965, while with the Packers, he and his wife Cherry helped co-found Rawhide Boys Ranch, New London, WI, a facility designed to help at-risk and troubled boys throughout the state, and is affiliated with it to this day.

Packers Coach

Immediately after his retirement as a player, 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.

Honors

In 1999, he was ranked number 41 on "The Sporting News"' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. [cite web | url = http://archive.sportingnews.com/nfl/100/| title = "Football's 100 Best Players"| publisher = sportingnews.com| accessdate = 2008-09-22]

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)". [cite web | url = http://www.packers.com/history/record_book/honors_and_awards/retired_numbers/| title = Green Bay Packers.com, "Retired Numbers"| publisher = packers.com| accessdate = 2008-09-22] Of the five, only Starr is still living.

Starr has an NFL award named after him. The Bart Starr Award is given annually, by a panel of judges, to an NFL player of outstanding character. [cite web | url = http://www.superbowlbreakfast.com/award.aspx| title = Bart Starr Award| publisher = superbowlbreakfast.com| accessdate = 2008-09-22]

Head Coach record

Regular season

References

External links

* [http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=200 Pro Football Hall of Fame] - Bart Starr
* [http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/players.nsf/ID/03710002 Bart Starr statistics]
* [http://www.profootballhof.com/history/general/draft/1956.jsp Pro Football Hall of Fame] ] - 1956 NFL Draft
* [http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/topic/cover/Bart_Starr/1900-01-01/2100-12-31/dd/index.htm "Sports Ilustrated"] - magazine covers - (4)
* [http://www.rawhide.org Rawhide Boys Ranch]