In
the span of close to 24 hours, the sports world said goodbye to the first
iconic quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, who led them to five total championships
and a former MLB hitter from “Beantown,” who for a long time was remembered for
the biggest blunder in World Series history.
On
Sunday, Hall of Fame quarterback of the NFL’s Green Bay Packers Bryan Bartlett
“Bart” Starr passed away in Birmingham, AL after a period of failing health due
to a stroke he suffered in early 2014. He was 85 years old and is survived by
his wife of over six decades, the former Cherry Louise Morton; his oldest son
Bart Starr, Jr. and three granddaughters. The younger son, Bret Michael Starr
passed away in 1988 from a drug overdose. He was just 24 years old.
On
Monday, the MLB world lost William “Bill” Joseph Buckner, passed away from Lewy
body dementia. He was 69 years old and is survived by his wife Jody, their two
daughters Brittany and Christen and son Bobby.
In
a statement from the family they said, “Bill fought with courage and grit as he
did all things in life.”
The
passing of Starr was especially tough for Packers’ nation and fans across the
country that were fans of both Starr and the team, who not only had an impact
on the field as both a passer and runner but he was a winner in every sense of
the word.
Starr
played in a time of pro football where quarterbacks called their own plays from
the line of scrimmage. The play he became well-known for occurred in the famed
“Ice Bowl” against the Dallas Cowboys in the 1967 NFL Championship Game.
In
consulting with the late great Packers head coach Vince Lombardi, who the Super
Bowl trophy is after, Starr gave the suggestion of running a basic wedge play.
The only twist was that he would run the ball himself, instead of handing it
off to Chuck Mercein.
Wanting
to get out of the bitter freezing temperatures, Coach Lombardi said, “Then do
it, and let’s get the hell out of here!”
Starr
nearly broke out laughing as he went back to the huddle, while keeping his
composure. The play now known as the quarterback sneak worked and the Packers
defeated the Cowboys 21-17.
One
week later at the Orange Bowl in Miami, FL the Packers, who were favored by
13.5 points defeated the then American Football League (AFL) champion Oakland
Raisers 33-14 in the AFL to win Super Bowl. This represented Coach Lombardi’s
final game as Packers head coach.
It
was the first of five titles that Starr led the Packers to, which included wins
in the first two Super Bowls.
In
his 15 NFL seasons, all with the Packers Starr amassed 24,718 passing yards, passed
for 152 touchdowns and 138 interceptions. He rushed for 1,308 yards and 15
touchdowns as well.
“Bart
Starr is one of the all-time greats,” co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the
Interruption” and longtime sportswriter for the Washington Post Tony Kornheiser said on Monday’s edition. “I think
he was the greatest of all the run-first quarterbacks because he had Jim
Taylor, and he had Paul Hornung, and he didn’t have to throw the ball all over
the place.”
Kornheiser
added, “I would differentiate him from Johnny Unitas, who I think was the first
of the pass-first quarterbacks and they were contemporaries.”
The
two most revered offensive signal callers to most outside of the state of
Wisconsin are Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, who have earned that, the history
of the Packers and the legacy of the organization began with Lombardi and Starr.
The
history of the NFL before the Super Bowl, which the Packers won the first two.
Before that they had 11 NFL championships to their credit and the rivalry between
them and the Chicago Bears, who won eight NFL titles, prior to the 1970 AFL-NFL
merger are also a part of that great history.
One
person who knows about the Packers/Bears tilts and their history prior to the
Super Bowl all too well and saw the best of Starr is “Windy City” native,
fellow longtime sportswriter for the Washington
Post, and the co-host of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” Michael
Wilbon.
“I
grew up on the wrong end of a rivalry featuring Bart Starr,” Mr. Wilbon said on
Monday’s edition of “Pardon the Interruption.”
“Those two teams dominated things.”
“To
me there’s a difference between quarterbacks and passer. Guys are now passers.
They don’t call there own plays. Vince Lombardi trusted Bart Starr to call his
own plays. There was no getting in the quarterback’s head until 20 seconds
left. This is Bart Starr dude! He was so great and he was on a cast of great
players.”
“I’ve
been in Green Bay and sat in the press box and been able to listen to ‘Fuzzy’
[Frederick] Thurston, and Jerry Kramer, and the ‘Golden Boy’ Paul Hornung, and
just talk about Bart Starr, and there time playing with him.”
Any
great player that goes on to win championships has not only exceptional skill
and a cast of teammates to reach that mountain top but a great teacher/coach to
bring the best out of them when it matters most.
Starr
as mentioned had Coach Lombardi, but before him, he had when he was an
All-American at the University of Alabama the late great Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Starr
in his time with the Crimson Tide as a second stringer in the beginning and
then became the team’s starting offensive signal caller, safety, and punter.
A
severe back injury during a hazing incident during his initiation into the A
Club, which Starr covered up saddled him for much of his junior season and a
coaching change from Harold D. “Red” Drew to J.B. Whitworth saw Starr only get
rare playing time as well in his senior season.
Starr
got his chance with the Packers because the basketball coach for the Crimson
Tide Johnny Dee recommended him as a prospect to his was a friend Jack Vainisi,
the Green Bay Packers Personnel Director.
After
being convinced of Starr having the ability to succeed at the next level and
his ability to grasp information, he was selected in the 17th round
of the 1956 NFL Draft, at pick 200 overall and the rest is history.
Buckner
amassed 2,715 career hits, 174 home run s and 1,208 hits, on a, .289 batting
average playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1969-1976), Chicago Cubs
(1977-84), two stints with the Boston Red Sox (1984-87 and 1990), and the then
California Angels (1987-88)-now Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City
Royals (1988-89).
Those
numbers unfortunately have been masked by the well-known fatal error he made at
First Base that cost the American League champion Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986
World Series against the New York Mets.
With
the score tied and two outs and one man on second base, Mets outfielder Mookie
Wilson, who fouled off several off Red Sox pitcher Calvin Shiraldi hit a slow
roller to Buckner at First base, which rolled to the left side of his glove,
through his legs, and into right field, allowing Mets’ infielder Ray Knight to
score the winning run from second base.
The
Mets tied that series at 3-3 and won Game 7 to win the World Series and turned
that mishap by Buckner at the time into a career defining moment, that led to
constant ridicule wherever he went. He got booed by Bostonians, and even received
death threats.
Buckner
went as far as making a joke about making such a blunder just weeks before Game
6 saying on Oct. 6, 1986, “The nightmares are that you’re gonna let the winning
run score on a ground ball between your legs.”
That
moment did become reality, which he said in a story for ESPN’s “E:60” that he
said he sees “once or twice a week for 23 years-When it comes on TV, I switch
the station.”
That
play by Buckner placed a dark cloud over as mentioned a 22-year career that
included him winning the National League (NL) batting title in 1980 and making
the MLB All-Star Game one year later.
Things
turned however 11 years ago when the Red Sox organization invited Buckner to
throw out the first pitch to former teammate at the home opener on Apr. 8, 2008
as the team unfurled their 2007 World Series title banner. The California
native wiped away tears during a two-minute standing ovation from the Boston
faithful at Fenway Park.
It
was a long-awaited step in the healing process that was helped by the team
winning World Series titles in 2004, 2007, 2013 and 2018.
“I
really had to forgive, not the fans of Boston, per se, but I would have to say
in my heart I had to forgive the media for what they put me and my family
through,” Buckner said after the opener when asked about any second guessing of
appearing at that contest. “So, you know, I’ve done that and I’m over it.”
He
added by saying a couple of years ago, “At some point you have to realize ‘This
was just a game.’”
While
it took time for Bostonians to move on from that rough moments 33 years ago,
Buckner took a light-hearted approach on an episode of HBO’s “Curb Your
Enthusiasm.”
Wilson,
who hit the ball on that famed blunder paid tribute to his longtime friend by
saying on the Mets Twitter page @Mets, “We had developed a friendship that
lasted well over 30 years. I felt badly for some of the things he went through.
Bill was a great, great baseball player whose legacy should not be defined by
one play.”
This
was also an example of what Buckner’s wife Jody said in that same “E:60” story,
“I believe a lesser man would have crumbled under what we endured.”
At
the start of this week, the sports world said goodbye to two well know figures.
One who started a legacy of championships and set a standard for the Green Bay
Packers and for playing quarterback in Bart Starr. Another who would not allow
one play to define his career or himself.
Sports
is something that brings everyone together regardless of the likes of class or
race. It displays what can happen when great teamwork and devotion to the being
great can produce. It also can show how one play can live in infamy of a community,
its residence and for the play that committed that blunder, and how it takes a
lengthy period of time to let something like that go.
Bart
Starr and Bill Buckner were pro sports figures that are remembered to this day
and will be remembered long after their departures from this world for the
roles they played in their respective time in the NFL and MLB.
Information, statistics, and quotations are
courtesy of 5/27/19 5:30 p.m. edition of ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption,” with
Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon; 5/28/19 8 a.m. edition of ABC News’ “Good
Morning America,” with Cecilia Vega, Amy Robach, George Stephanopoulos, Ginger
Zee and Lara Spencer, with report from T.J. Holmes; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Bears;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Bay_Packers;
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Starr;
and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Buckner
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