Bart Starr: The legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback dies at age 85



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Starr, who has won five National Football League championships with the Packers, was in poor health since his 2014 stroke, according to the Packers.

"We are saddened to see the death of our husband, father, grandfather and friend, Bart Starr," said his family in a statement. "He struggled with courage and determination to transcend the severe stroke that he suffered in September 2014, but his most recent illness was too difficult to overcome."

"Even though he is known for his success as a quarterback for the Packers for 16 years, his true legacy will always be the respectful way in which he has treated every person he has encountered, his humble behavior and his generous spirit. "

The family also thanked the friends and fans who have enriched Starr's life over the decades, especially over the past five years.

"His love for all of humanity is well known and his affection for the people of Alabama and Wisconsin fills him with gratitude." He had hoped to make a final trip to Green Bay to watch the Packers this fall but he will always stay there in spirit, "said his family.

Featured player of the 1960s

Starr graduated from the University of Alabama and was selected for the 17th round of the NFL Draft in 1956. Despite these unpublished beginnings, he played for the Packers from 1956 to 1971 and became a iconic leader, professional football becoming the most popular sport in America.

"The '60s will be described as the decade in which football became the number one sport in America, in which the Packers were the number one team, and Bart Starr was proudly number one of the Packers," said President Richard Nixon.

He excelled when it mattered most and he went 9-1 in the playoffs in his career under coach Vince Lombardi. Starr was named the most valuable player in the first two Super Bowls ever played and was also named the league's most valuable player in 1966. He was elected to the NFL Hall of Fame and led the Packers. as head coach from 1975 to 1983.

Starr is best known for his winning QB in the extremely cold championship game against the Dallas Cowboys in December 1967, a game known as "Ice Bowl".

Starr spoke to CNN in early 2014 and said that playing in sub-zero temperatures was an attitudinal thing.

"I really believe in such situations, it's your attitude that makes the difference," he said.

Starr himself admitted that he had chosen the play that would become one of the most well known in the history of the Packers. "We knew it would work, the problem was that there, the ground had become so hard and frozen, like it was slippery, so you had to make sure that you were in control of your land and so on, that it might take you to start. " to take you to the end zone, "he said.

Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy congratulated Starr and the time with the team.

"A champion on and off the pitch, Bart personifying the class and being loved by generations of Packers fans," he said. "A clutch player who led his team to five titles in the NFL, Bart could still refill electricity at Lambeau Field decades later during his many visits." Our thoughts and prayers are with Cherry and to the whole Starr family. "

Wayne Sterling from CNN contributed to this report.

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