Bart Starr: When Leadership Mattered
Bart Starr was the Green Bay Packer quarterback in the Vince Lombardi years, and for all Lombardi's greatness (see David Maraniss'When Pride Still Mattered, 1999), neither coach nor quarterback would have won a thing without the other. In the unproven Starr, Lombardi saw a young man with integrity, ability, and an overwhelming desire to learn and succeed. The Packers won a single game in 1958. In 1959, with Starr as the quarterback, they went 7-5. In the next eight years, they won six division titles, five league championships, and the first two Super Bowls. Claerbaut, through interviews with former Starr teammates, coaches, and friends, as well as extensive use of secondary sources, reveals a man who embodied most of the virtues he displayed on the field. He was gifted physically and displayed an inventive football mind on the field in the days when quarterbacks called almost all their own plays. This is a carefully researched, fluidly written biography of one of football's truly great players and a glimpse inside one of its great teams.Wes LukowskyCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved