Bart Starr Bryan Bartlett " Bart " Starr ( born January 9 , 1934 ) is a former professional American football player and coach . He wore # 15 and he was the quarterback for the Green Bay Packers from 1956 to 1971 , during which time he led the Packers to multiple NFL championships . He was less successful as the Packers ' head coach , compiling a record of 52 – 76 – 3 from 1975 - 1983 . He was named the Most Valuable Player of the first two Super Bowl s and earned four Pro Bowl selections . He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1977 . He won the league MVP award in 1966 . Starr has the second - highest playoff passer rating ( 104 . 80 , behind current Packer Aaron Rodgers ' 112 . 6 ) of any quarterback in NFL history and a playoff record of 9 – 1 . Starr ' s career completion percentage of 57 . 4 was an NFL best when he retired in 1972 . Starr also held the Packers ' franchise record for games - played ( 196 ) for 32 years , through the 2003 season . Starr played at the University of Alabama from 1952 to 1956 and was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 17th round of the 1956 draft ( 200th overall ) . Early life . Starr ’ s early life was marked by hardships . Shortly after the start of World War II , his father ' s reserve unit was activated and in 1942 he was deployed to the Pacific Theater . His was first in the US Army but transferred to the US Air Force for his military career . Starr had a younger brother , Hilton ( " Bubba " ) . In 1947 , Bubba stepped on a dog bone while playing in the yard and passed away of tetanus three days later . Starr ’ s relationship with his father deteriorated after Hilton ’ s passing . He was an introvert ed child who rarely showed his emotions and his father pushed Starr to develop more of a mean streak . Starr attended Sidney Lanier High School in Montgomery , Alabama . He tried out for the football team in his sophomore year , but decided to quit after two weeks . His father gave him the option of playing football or working in the family garden ; Starr chose to return to the football field . In his junior year , the starting quarterback broke his leg and Starr became the starter . He led Lanier to an undefeated season . In his senior season , Starr was named all - state and All - American , and received college scholarship offers from universities across the country . He seriously considered the University of Kentucky , coached by Bear Bryant . Starr ' s high school sweetheart , Cherry Louise Morton , was planning to attend Auburn and Starr wished to attend a college close to her . Starr changed his mind and committed to the University of Alabama . College career ( 1952 – 1956 ) . As the Korean War was fought during Starr ’ s freshman year , the Southeastern Conference – of which Alabama is a part – allowed freshmen to play varsity ball . Starr did not start for Alabama his freshman year , but did play enough minutes to earn a varsity letter . His high point of the season was in the Orange Bowl , where in quarterback relief he completed eight of 12 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown . Bart Starr entered his sophomore year as Alabama ’ s starting quarterback , safety and punter . His punting average of 41 . 4 yards per kick ranked second in the nation in 1953 behind Zeke Bratkowski . Alabama recorded a 6 – 2 – 3 record and lost in the Cotton Bowl to Rice by a score of 28 – 6 . Starr completed 59 of 119 passes for 870 yards , with eight touchdowns that season . In May 1954 , Starr eloped with Cherry Morton . The couple chose to keep their marriage a secret . Colleges often revoked the scholarships of married athletes in the 1950s , believing their focus should remain on sports . Cherry remained in Jackson , Alabama , while Starr returned to the University of Alabama . That summer , Starr suffered a severe back sprain while punting a football . He rarely played during his junior year due to the injury . The back sprain would occasionally bother him the rest of his football career . After a disappointing season of 4 – 5 – 2 , Red Drew was replaced by J . B . Whitworth as coach of Alabama . Whitworth conducted a youth movement in Alabama for the 1955 season and only two seniors started for the team . While healed from the back injury , Starr rarely played in his senior season either . Starr played briefly in the Blue – Gray bowl of 1955 . Johnny Dee , the basketball coach at Alabama , was a friend of Jack Vainisi , the personnel director of the Green Bay Packers . Dees recommended Starr as a prospect to Vainisi . The Packers were under the impression that Starr was a Sigma Chi and would learn quickly . In the 17th round of the 1956 NFL Draft , Starr , selected by the Packers , was the 199th pick . Starr spent the summer of 1956 living with his in - laws and throwing footballs through a tire in their backyard , in order to prepare for his rookie season . The Packers offered $ 6500 to sign Starr and he accepted , with the added condition , requested by Starr , that he receive $ 1000 up front . Packers quarterback . Starr began as a backup to Tobin Rote in 1956 and split time with 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 . The following season the Packers advanced to the 1960 NFL Championship Game , but lost to the Philadelphia Eagles , Lombardi ' s only post season loss as a head coach . The Packers returned to the title game and won in 1961 and 1962 , both over the New York Giants . In 1966 , Starr was named the NFL ' s Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press ( AP ) , the Newspaper Enterprise Association ( NEA ) and UPI . Starr was responsible for calling plays when he was quarterback , as was the norm at the time . One of his most famous play calls was in the Ice Bowl against the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL championship game on the final day of 1967 . In Miami , the Packers defeated the AFL champion Oakland Raiders 33 – 14 in Super Bowl II , Lombardi ' s final game as head coach of the Packers . Bart Starr and the Packers surprised the runner - up Raiders . The 1967 Packers were the last team to win three consecutive NFL titles . Starr ' s playing career ended at the conclusion of the 1971 season , and at the time had the second best career passer rating at 80 . 5 . ( First at the time was Otto Graham at 86 . 6 In 1965 , Starr and his wife Cherry helped co - found Rawhide Boys Ranch in New London , a facility designed to help at - risk and troubled boys throughout the state of Wisconsin , and continue to be affiliated with it . In 2006 , Starr ( then 72 ) received a form letter from an 81 - year old woman named Ruby Young residing in Kerrville , Texas alleging that the two had had an affair in 1960 and that he owed her $ 2 million in compensation for " mental and emotional distress " caused by the relationship . The letter was sent to the Rawhide Boys Ranch . Starr immediately turned it over to a US Postal Service investigator , who wrote two letters to Young posing as the former QB and received replies both times demanding money . Starr and his attorney issued a statement saying that he did not know and had never had any contact with Young , who was subsequently charged with extortion and given a suspended sentence under the condition she have no further contact with Starr or any of his family . Packers coach . Immediately after his retirement as a player , he served as an assistant coach ( quarterbacks ) in 1972 under Dan Devine , when the Packers won the NFC Central division title at 10 – 4 with Scott Hunter under center . He was then a broadcaster for CBS for two seasons . When Devine left for Notre Dame after the 1974 season , Starr was hired as head coach of the Packers . His regular season record was a disappointing 52 – 76 – 2 ( ) , with a playoff record of 1 – 1 . Posting a 5 – 3 – 1 record in the strike - shortened season of 1982 , Starr ' s Packers made their first playoff appearance in ten years ( and their last for another 11 years ) . They defeated the St . Louis Cardinals 41 – 16 in the expanded wild card round of 16 teams on January 8 , 1983 , then lost to the Dallas Cowboys 37 – 26 in the divisional round the following week . After a disappointing 8 – 8 finish the following year , Starr was dismissed in favor of his former teammate , Forrest Gregg , who previously led the Cincinnati Bengals to Super Bowl XVI and coached the Cleveland Browns before . Honors . Starr was voted to the NFL Pro Bowl four times . He was voted NFL Most Valuable Player by both AP and UPI in 1966 , and was chosen Super Bowl MVP in 1966 and 1967 . He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1977 . He is one of five Green Bay Packers to have his number " ( 15 ) " retired by the team . The others are Tony Canadeo " ( 3 ) " , Don Hutson " ( 14 ) " , Ray Nitschke " ( 66 ) " , and Reggie White " ( 92 ) " . Of the five , only Starr is still living . Starr was elected to the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame in 1981 . Starr has an NFL award named after him . The Bart Starr Award is given annually , by a panel of judges , to an NFL player of outstanding character . Drew Brees was the recipient of the 2011 award , presented in Dallas , Texas .