Today, as we head into the Labor Day weekend, we feature a bit of news about legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr. As we all probably know, 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 and 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, 1965, 1966, and 1967. Starr was responsible for calling plays when he was quarterback, as was the norm at the time.
But Starr is in the news again these days in what is hoped to be the last act of a sad drama that we've been following for months. This type of individual proves that even if you're a 73-year-old former football player trying to enjoy retirement, you still have people trying to “sack” you. This is illustrated by the following news item from last Friday’s Associated Press:
“Woman gets probation in Starr extortion case”
“An 82-year-old Texas women who pleaded guilty to trying to extort $2 million from Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr was sentenced to one year probation in San Antonio. A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Ruby Y. Young to not have any contact with Starr or his family or contact the media about an alleged relationship she had with the two-time Super Bowl MVP in 1960. Court documents show Young sent a 3½ page letter to Starr in October that read, in part, "And now, the time has come for you to pay — to pay for the many injuries you caused me."
“The letter continued, "I am going to be vindicated one way or another. You know very well that any and all tabloids, TV newscasters such as ABC, CBS, NBC would simply devour this story." Young pleaded guilty in June. Starr, 73, who played at Alabama, was MVP of the first two Super Bowls for the Green Bay Packers.”
