It was reported over the weekend that Bart Starr, legendary Hall of Fame Green Bay Packers Quarterback who won the first two Super Bowl titles in the 1960s, died at the age of 85. He had allegedly been in failing health since he suffered a stroke in 2014, according to the Packers. He won five National Football League championships for the team.
His family released an official statement, saying, “We are saddened to note the passing of our husband, father, grandfather, and friend, Bart Starr. He battled with courage and determination to transcend the serious stroke he suffered in September 2014, but his most recent illness was too much to overcome.”
The family’s statement continued on, saying, “While he may always be best known for his success as the Packers quarterback for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful manner in which he treated every person he met, his humble demeanor, and his generous spirit.”
Starr had graduated from the University of Alabama and was a 17th round pick in the 1956 NFL Draft. He would then play for the Packers from 1956 to 1971. He became one of the most legendary and iconic names in the NFL just as professional football was becoming a nationwide phenomenon in America.
Even former president Richard Nixon once said, “The 60s will be described as the decade in which football became the number one sport in America, in which the Packers were the number one team, and Bart Starr was proudly the number one Packer.”
Starr is perhaps best-remembered for his game-winning QB sneak in the freezing championship matchup against the Dallas Cowboys in December 1967. The game was officially known as the “Ice Bowl.” He even admitted at one point that he knew the play would become one of the best in Packers history.
“We knew it would work. The problem was that down there the ground had become so hard and frozen-like that it was slippery, and so you had to make sure you had your footing and so forth that it could take you to get started to take you into the end zone,” he said.
Bart Starr is survived by his children, Bret and Bart Jr, and his wife, Cherry. May he rest in peace!
Let’s remember some of Bart Starr’s best moments as part of the NFL and Green Bay Packers.
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