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SPORTS Monday 27 May 2019

Bart Starr, QB who led Packers to greatness, dies at 85

Continued from Page 17 the game. “It was 20 de- yards to the Dallas 3.
grees the day before,” the Halfback Donny Anderson
“A champion on and off late Tom Landry once re- slipped twice on handoffs,
the field, Bart epitomized called. “It was great. Vince so Starr called timeout,
class and was beloved and I were together that went to the sideline and
by generations of Pack- night and we talked about suggested a sneak be-
ers fans,” Packers Presi- how good the conditions cause of the poor traction.
dent Mark Murphy said in a were and what a great “Then run it and let’s get
statement. “A clutch player game it would be.” the hell out of here,” Lom-
who led his team to five NFL They were half-right. When bardi barked.
titles, Bart could still fill Lam- the grounds crew rolled The play worked perfectly,
beau Field with electric- up the tarpaulin, a lay- a flawless finish to that cold-
ity decades later during his er of condensation had est of games so frozen in
many visits.” formed underneath and, time.
The Packers selected Starr with 40 mph wind, the field “I’ve never been in a hud-
out of the University of Ala- promptly froze like an ice dle where there was great-
bama with the 200th pick rink. Packers running back er composure and where
in the 1956 draft. He led Chuck Mercein would later there was a higher level of
Green Bay to six division ti- In this Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015, file photo, Brett Favre, right, smiles compare the ground to intensity and concentra-
tles, five NFL championships at Bart Starr during a ceremony at halftime of an NFL football “jagged concrete.” tion,” Mercein once told
and wins in the first two Su- game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears in With a temperature of mi- The Associated Press.
per Bowls. Green Bay, Wis. In this Thursday, Nov. 26, 2015, file photo, Brett nus-14 and a wind chill of Mercein is the one in the
Until Brett Favre came Favre, right, smiles at Bart Starr during a ceremony at halftime minus-49, it was the coldest famous photograph of the
along, Starr was known as of an NFL football game between the Green Bay Packers and NFL game ever recorded. play diving into the end
the best Packer ever. The Chicago Bears in Green Bay, Wis. Associated Press The wind chill had dipped zone behind Starr with his
team retired his No. 15 jer- another 20 degrees by the hands held high, as though
sey in 1973, making him just credited Lombardi for “Bart was a true gentle- time the Packers got the he’s signaling “Touch-
the third player to receive showing him “that by work- man, a great player and a ball at their 32 trailing 17-14 down!”
that honor. Four years later, ing hard and using my great pioneer for the NFL,” with five minutes left. “But what I’m actually do-
he was inducted into the mind, I could overcome fellow Hall of Famer John With one last chance for an ing is I’m showing the of-
Pro Football Hall of Fame in my weakness to the point Elway tweeted. “He set a aging dynasty to win a fifth ficials that I’m not assisting
Canton, Ohio. where I could be one of the tremendous example for all NFL title in seven seasons, or aiding Bart into the end
After losing the 1960 NFL best.” QBs to emulate.” Starr took the field as line- zone,” Mercein said.
title game in his first playoff The gentlemanly quarter- When Starr retired following backer Ray Nitschke hol- That would have been a
appearance, the Packers back’s status as a Packers the 1971 season, his career lered, “Don’t let me down!” penalty and it would have
never lost another playoff icon was tested by his strug- completion rate of 57.4 Starr wouldn’t, completing negated history’s most fa-
game under Starr, going gles as the team’s head percent was tops in the run- all five of his passes and mous quarterback sneak.
9-0, including wins over coach. In nine seasons heavy NFL, and his passer directing one of the most Mercein and the rest of his
the Kansas City Chiefs and from 1975-83, he won just rating of 80.5 was second- memorable drives in NFL teammates thought he was
Oakland Raiders in the first 41 percent of his games, best ever, behind only Otto history. going to get the handoff
two Super Bowls. going 53-77-3, including 1-1 Graham. “We all have a capacity to on the play. Nobody knew
Starr’s college career in the playoffs, part of three But the play he was most focus and to concentrate but Starr and Lombardi that
wasn’t very noteworthy decades of futility that fol- famous for was a run. to a unique degree when it was to be a quarterback
and it wasn’t until Lombar- lowed the glory years. In the NFL championship we’re called upon to do sneak.
di’s arrival in Green Bay in After football, Starr, be- on Dec. 31, 1967, Starr it,” Starr said on the 30th So, Mercein dug in, think-
1959 that Starr, living by his came a successful busi- knifed into the end zone anniversary of that game. ing he was getting the ball,
motto “desire and dedica- nessman in Birmingham, behind guard Jerry Kramer “That’s exactly what I did and he got a great takeoff
tion are everything,” be- Alabama, not far from his and center Ken Bowman that day. And I think the on the frozen field.
gan to blossom. hometown of Montgom- with 16 seconds left to lift same was true of the Cow- “As a matter of fact too
Lombardi liked Starr’s me- ery, where he was born on the Packers over the Dal- boys. Let’s face it, they good because after a
chanics, his arm strength Jan. 9, 1934. las Cowboys 21-17 in what obviously were not accus- couple of steps I realized
and especially his deci- Starr was a four-time Pro became known as the “Ice tomed to something like I wasn’t going to get the
sion-making abilities. Un- Bowl selection and two- Bowl.” that and yet they were the ball. But I couldn’t really
der Lombardi’s nurturing, time All-Pro. He won NFL The Packers had spent team which had surged pull up because it was so
Starr became one of the titles in 1961, ‘62, ‘65, ‘67 $80,000 for a heating coil and come back in the sec- icy,” Mercein said. “So
league’s top quarterbacks. and ‘68. He was the 1966 system that was to have ond half and were in a po- that’s why I dive over the
“If you work harder than NFL MVP and was named kept the field soft and sition to win it.” play and I have my arms
somebody else, chances to the 1960s All-Decade warm, and forecasters said With 1:11 remaining, tackle upraised, which appears
are you’ll beat him though team. He also was named not to worry because the Bob Skoronski opened a to everyone in that famous
he has more talent than MVP of the first two Super approaching cold front hole and Mercein charged picture that I’m signaling
you,” Starr once said. He Bowls. wouldn’t arrive until after through the middle for 8 touchdown.”q