There has been a lot of talk about Tom Brady joining the ranks of Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as a four time Super Bowl champ. While I don’t have a problem with that notoriety, there is something about the whole thing that gets under my skin.
Let me first say that Brady’s fourth Super Bowl ring is an amazing feat. Not many too QBs even get there twice. If I were a Patriot fan, (thank goodness I’m not) I would be pumped about it. That’s a great accomplishment.
However, the fact that Tom Brady is mentioned with Montana and Bradshaw and there is no mention of Bart Starr reveals a very sad truth about the current perception of the NFL.
Too many people are under the impression that the NFL began when the Super Bowl began, and that’s just not true.
If you’re impressed by Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, and Tom Brady each having four world championships under their belt, try to wrap your head around the fact that Bart Starr has a world championship ring for each finger of his throwing hand. Does that make him a better quarterback than the above mentioned QBs? We could certainly argue that point.
My point though is this; by the time the Super Bowl was two years old, Bart Starr already had five world championships and the Packers had already three-peated as champions… twice! Before there was a salary cap, a town of 37,000 was going toe to toe against teams from towns with millions of people and stomping them into the ground.
The birth of the NFL was NOT when the Super Bowl began folks… It was when the Packers began.
Some one should inform Skip Bayless and the other guy about Bart Starr………before the SuperBowl , remember Standard Oil, And Hamms Beet!
people like Skip to my loo will become the ruin of football as we know it!
You are dead on with your comment about championships.People still have to remember that the Super Bowl was a name given to the NFL Championship game for the hype.Green Bay is still Titletown with their 13 NFL Championships with the 2 three peats that you mentioned which no other team has ever done.
Somebody should see that Bart gets his mentions before it’s too late! He’s not a young man anymore and has been of ill health lately.
Twitter: GPN_JR
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I know. Sad isn’t it. Really pulling for him to get better.
They are right about not giving The Green Bay Packers and especially Mr. Bart Starr the credit they deserve! The Packers were wallowing in the mud with more prominent teams from bigger cities and beating the snat out of them long before some of these current teams were even thought of. The media pays more attention to teams such as Pittsburg, Denver, New England and Dallas no matter whether they’re winning, or losing than they do the Packers even winning. I call this absolute favoritism. Give credit where credit is due for crying out loud! I know, supposedly it’s to draw a larger audience, but is this really what it is all about? Let’s give Mr. Starr his due.
WHEN Bart played, it was real hard-core football. His accomplishments were far more difficult due to the way the game was played at that time. God’s blessings to Mr. Starr!
A lot of fans of other teams say that the Packers 13 championships were won during a time where there was inferior competition and are thus not meaningful. The problem with that argument is that their teams also played during that time and did not win anywhere near what the Packers accomplished. Bart Starr is my all-time favorite player and he doesn’t get near the credit or respect he deserves. I am lucky enough to have met Bart and he is the classiest person you will ever meet. Get well Bart!
Thank you for this article I’m going to repost this. Every year I get so tired of explaining this exact point to every Steeler’s fan and Cowboy’s fan who feel they need to brag about how many rings they have. Thank you!! I love your page.
Ditto.. and shame on them
had the pleasure of meeting Bart and beautiful wife…. Yes he was a great football player but wonderful man and husband and I believe I read that Aaron Rodgers respects Bart Starr and his QB attributes but better yet the man he is…. hmmm, how about that…..
By the same measure and argument, Bill Russell has (11)NBA championship rings, all with the same team and did that in his first (13) years. All other players that we boast about have not come close to that milestone and that includes Micheal Jordan.
I too,like Pam had the honor of meeting Bart in Sept. 2010.
Most gracious man , shook my hand escorted me into the Packer Pro Shop to find his wife, called me by name to come and get a picture with him…Smile never left my face the whole weekend…my first Packer game ..we won.I hope that this memory lapse of the real start of NFL and # 1 GREAT Quarterback Bart Starr is Recognized and Honored Asap. Get well Bart,want to see you and Brett this fall.
The first game in 1967 L.A. Coliseum was called the WORLD CHAMPIONSHIL GAME!I attended the game and have the ticket stub ($12.00) and program (1.00) as proof!
The biggest Superbowl GOATS.
10. Fred “The Hammer” Williamson, Chiefs, Super Bowl I
Kansas City cornerback Fred Williamson boasted before the game that he’d be all over Packers receivers Boyd Dowler and Carroll Dale. “Two hammers to Dowler, one to Dale should be enough,” he said.
Well, not quite. Dowler injured his shoulder while blocking early in the game. His replacement, the hungover, semi-retired Max McGee, burned The Hammer and his mates for seven catches, 138 yards, and two TDs. Dale caught four passes for 59 yards. Williamson was credited with a whopping three tackles.
And he was crushed, knocked out and carried off on a stretcher after he brought down Packers rookie Donnie Anderson in the fourth quarter. “I don’t remember a thing,” Williamson said. “Did I make the tackle?”
I was at the Ice Bowl on Dec 31,1967– in the endzone Bart snuck over to win the game! That was the game the Cowboys became 0-1 @ Lambeau. They became 0-2 a couple weeks ago! I played basketball with Donnie Anderson and Jim Grabowski in the Oshkosh city league in the early 70s. I met Max McGee and Fuzzie Thurston in that time period also.
People just won’t admit how great the Packersr,’cause they r green w/envy, that we r such loyal fans & will always back the Pack forever. Could be ’cause we r small town America,where loyalty is true blue! My best wishes also for Bart to get better & more recognition for his outstanding career!
There are some very legitimate reasons why Bart isn’t in the discussion with Tom Brady, Joe Montana, Terry Bradshaw et. al. It largely comes down to the fact that Bart had a relatively short period of dominance (seven years as I recall)…especially compared to the new breed like Brady and Manning. Sorry folks, but most long-term observers also believe that the NFL today actually demands a far higher caliber of skill, conditioning, and intelligence than years before. Wallowing in the mud and snow is not a measure of greatness. Bart played in a simpler time and he was certainly a credit to the team, the game, and the community. But the Packer’s tradition really doesn’t measure up to what the Patriots have done over the past 15 years, or what may soon come to be as Aaron Rodgers hits his prime years with the Pack.