Bart Starr

Starr's most famous move occurred on December 31, 1967, in the final minutes of the 1967 NFL championship, against the Dallas Cowboys. This game, later famed as the "Ice Bowl" because it was played at fourteen degrees below zero with a wind chill of forty-nine below, tested both players and fans in the Packers' outdoor stadium. The testing began before the players arrived at the stadium: some of them couldn't start their cars and had to hitch rides to the stadium. At the Cowboys' hotel, the doors were frozen shut and had to be kicked open.

On the first play of the game, referee Norm Schachter's whistle froze to his lip. After that, plays were yelled instead of whistled. The halftime show was canceled when a band member's lip froze to his horn during the rehearsal.

Nevertheless, the game went on as scheduled. The Packers, who lived in the cold Wisconsin climate and who were used to playing at the team's frigid Lambeau Field, were ahead 14-0 early in the game. However, as the weather deteriorated, the Packers fumbled twice, allowing Dallas to score a touchdown and a field goal. In the fourth quarter, Dallas added another touchdown. With 4:50 left in the game, the Packers were losing, seventeen to fourteen. By this time, the temperature had dropped to eighteen below zero and the wind was forty miles per hour. Over 50,000 fans huddled in their parkas in the stands, waiting for the outcome.

Starr called a time out, his last. The playing field was now a sheet of ice. The team's only chance was to pass: an incomplete pass would stop the clock, allowing the Packers to set up a field goal, tying the game and sending it into overtime. A completed pass would allow them to win. Starr consulted with Lombardi. According to a writer for ESPN Sports Center, Lombardi said, "Run it, and let's get the hell out of here." Starr returned to the huddle.

Starr took the snap from center Ken Bowman. Bowman, along with guard Jerry Kramer, stopped Dallas tackle Jethro Pugh. Starr sneaked behind Jerry Kramer, who was on the one-yard line, and dove into the end zone, scoring a touchdown with only 13 seconds to go and winning the championship.

"We were supremely confident," Starr reflected in the ESPN Sports Center article. "We were never arrogant. I think there's a huge difference. I think arrogance can bury you, but confidence can put you right on the edge of invincibility."

In 1971, Starr underwent surgery on both shoulders and missed the first ten games of the season. In July of 1972, he decided to retire from play, although he remained on the team as quarterback coach for the rest of the year.

In 1973, Starr officially retired. He became a sports analyst for the CBS network. In 1975, Starr became head coach of the Packers, a position he held until 1984. In 1976 Starr was elected to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, and in 1977 he was inducted into the National Football Hall of Fame. In 1984, Starr and Cherry moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where they and others hoped to start a new NFL team.

In July of 1988, Starr and Cherry became uneasy because they had not heard from their younger son, Bret, who was then 24 years old. Bret was recovering from an addiction to cocaine, and called his parents daily. After three days passed with no contact from Bret, Starr flew to Tampa, where Bret lived, to check on him. "I just had a gut feeling that something was wrong," Starr told Loren Mooney in Sports Illustrated. Tragically, he found his son dead on the floor in his apartment. An investigation revealed that Bret had died from irregular heart rhythms, a complication of his addiction.

As a result of this loss, Starr's older son, Bart Jr., told his parents that he thought it would be a good idea for them to move to Birmingham, Alabama, where he lived and worked as an investment advisor. He wanted them to be together as a family. Starr and Cherry agreed, and moved to Birmingham nine months later.

Starr became chair of Starr Sanders Projects, a subsidiary of Healthcare Realty, a real estate investment firm, and director of Barry, Huey, Bulek, and Cook, an advertising firm. He and his wife frequently saw their son, and his family. Starr told Mooney, "They are really our family. We'll always be indebted to Bart Jr. for bringing us back."

Starr is still considered a hero both in Wisconsin and in his home state of Alabama. As a writer noted in the St. James Encyclopedia, "To many, he will always be the hard-working conscience behind the Packer dynasty."