Bart

Bart and Cherry celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary back in May.  :clap:

Grew up watching Starr. He doesn't get the credit he deserves from the rest of the NFL. Everyone said it was Lombardi, but Starr was an extension of Lombardi on the field who carried out the coach's vision to a T. Starr deserves all the accolades, and more. Great man, great Packer.

As a kid I watched Bart Starr win.  Then I was lucky enough to meet him and talk with him and he gave me a ride in his car.  I told this story before here at X4, he conducted a personal Packer tryout for one of my best friends back in '78.  Today we use the word "great" for too many things that aren't even close to what "great" really stands for.  Bart Starr was truly a "Great" player.

Bart was a great player.

 

Bart is an exceptional human being.

Mr. Starr remains the best 17th round draft choice EVER.

 

IMO, Mr. Starr also remains the best QB of the men were men era.

 

There aren't enough superlatives for Mr. Starr.

 

 

The best, ever.  On the field and off.  A great football player.  An exceptional human being.

A loving and holds-no-bar look at Bart, Cherry, and his fight to recovery. A tough but essential read. Longform from ESPN the Magazine.

... He suffered his first stroke on Sept. 2, 2014. Five days later he suffered a second stroke, a heart attack and four seizures that some doctors thought would kill him. Cherry was with him in intensive care, and she held onto her husband and caressed him when his body shook violently, uncontrollably, trying to make it stop. She'd never witnessed a seizure before, and she was terrified. Soon one doctor was telling her that her high school sweetheart, the man she'd loved unconditionally for 64 years, was not going to make it through the night.

 

Hospital officials asked Cherry if she wanted Bart placed on life support if necessary, and she explained that they both had living wills and that neither wanted to be sustained by a machine. Cherry called their granddaughters and told them they were needed at Bart's bedside. But she never said her own goodbye to her husband; she couldn't bring herself to do it. And the very next morning, that goodbye was no longer necessary. Bart Starr had launched his comeback.

 

He had been a walker, a jogger, an 80-year-old man who worked out regularly in the gym he maintained upstairs in his home. His physical strength helped him endure two-and-a-half months in the hospital and then the better part of eight months in a wheelchair.

 

To everyone around Starr, this much was certain: Vince Lombardi's quarterback was not going down without a fight, even if he was no longer sure who Vince Lombardi was...

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_...-great-drive-lambeau

Thank you so much Cuqui.

 

Thanksgiving will be a great day!

Thanks for that link it was a great read!  I am too young to remember they Lombardi years but I do remember the very tail end of his career.  What I do remember about him is that he spoke at my football banquet and he didnt leave after his speech.  He took the time to speak to just the football players about how football will shape our lives and things like that.  He was the head coach of the Packers at the time and I am sure he had tons of things to do but he spent 3 hours talking to a bunch of kids in Manitowoc that night and I will always remember that.  Class pure class and I for one will be emotional when he goes out on Lambeau Field this year.

sheesh, my eyes are well lubed after reading that ESPN piece.

GO BART GO!  what a mountain of a man!

Hope the stadium doesn't crumble to the ground from the ovation he'll receive in November!  for me, it ain't even about brent anymore.

Cherry Starr.

 

No words.

Of all the great athletes ....never a greater man. 

was just talking about the similarities of Bart and Aaron's faith vs. Russell Wilson's with a friend the other day.  both Bart and Aaron walk the walk and keep their mouths shut and demonstrate what they believe by how they live their lives but you'd never really know from anything they've said.  Russell on the other hand...  if you wear it on your sleeve it leads me to believe you're not too sure what you're up to.

in the same discussion we marveled at how perfect AR has been in the media, during the offseason, anywhere all the time - guy is like Bart II with a better arm.    so nice to not hafta worry about your QB being a media distraction or offseason worry or nightlife mess.

Hard to see a sports hero like Bart get old.

 

I had no idea he was that unwell.

It was a great article. I'd bet on him making it to Green Bay for the Thanksgiving game. I'd also bet that many of us will end up with a picture on our wall of Aaron Rodgers, Brett Favre, and Bart Starr standing together at midfield that evening. It's hard to come up with an equivalent for what that sports moment would mean - maybe if Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio, and Mickey Mantle had ever been able to stand together in Yankee Stadium?

 

I also wouldn't be surprised if Bart doesn't live long beyond that evening. I hope I'm wrong on that, but it's going to take a lot of out him to get to that point and, based on the article, I think the goal has sustained him for the last year.   

friend's comment after reading the ESPN Bart article:
"You look up "class" in the dictionary and if anybody else's picture is there it's a ****ing lie!"

It's hard to imagine a QB having the guts to walk into Vince Lombardi's office after practice and telling him his constant screaming and yelling has to end if he wants his QB to effectively lead a team. 

 

For obvious reasons, I can totally picture Bart Starr doing it and not giving a second thought to whether he should. 

You've just been traded to the Giants.

I was a little S#*t QB in Milwaukee who idolized Bart Starr and Eddie Mathews. To this day whenever their names appear anywhere I feel like a hero-worshipping kid again. I can only pray that he makes it to Thanksgiving. I'll be there, with frozen tears.

I have one team in all of sports and Mr Starr is my idol today like he was in the 60's when I was a little boy. It will be like loosing another parent for many when God and Lombardi take him home. I feel selfish because I want that picture of all three together. 

I wish the Hall of Fame had its own Super Hall of Fame that Bart could be enshrined in.  The regular Hall of Fame just seems insufficient.

MANY thanks for posting that article.  There aren't enough superlatives in the English language to properly describe this incredible man.  I had the honor of meeting him once, in Winston Salem, NC, when the Packers were here practicing for their playoff game against the Redskins when he was their QB coach.  He took 15 minutes of his time (while they were preparing for a playoff game!) to talk to me... and I couldn't respond at all.  I was in awe then, and I still am.  And I didn't bring a camera!

 

God bless you, Bart.  See you on T-Day at Lambeau Field!

Bart almost died a couple of weeks ago.

 

http://www.jsonline.com/sports...239z1-328408001.html

I am fairly certain that the episode Bart Jr. is referring to is cited in the ESPN the Mag article posted on September 1. Excerpt:

... Starr ended up back in the hospital last week after he ran a 103-degree fever, causing Cherry to worry that he was facing yet another serious health crisis; Bart's heart rate was up to 200 on the ambulance ride over. But Cherry said her husband was diagnosed with the same bronchial infection she had the previous week, and he was released and back home in three and a half days.

 

It was the first time Starr was hospitalized since the fall of 2014, and his support team believes the setback won't stop Bart from returning to Lambeau in November. Cherry says her husband seemed exhausted at home over the weekend, but Starr was back in a rehab session with Burns by Monday. Bart Jr. says the new challenges brought on by the infection won't change their commitment. "We now have a longer road to Thanksgiving," he says, "but that date remains our goal. ... I think he was ready 10 days ago to walk onto that field. The infection knocked him down, but our attitude is we will figure out a way."