The greatest quarterback in Green Bay Packers history
Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series that was previously published on Lombardiave.com. This series focuses on the Green Bay Packers’ Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks – starting with Bart Starr. Each of these three articles will explain why Bart Starr, Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers are the single best quarterback in franchise history.
Bart Starr is the ‘ greatest quarterback – a distinction that could be described in one word: Championships.
Yes, was a first ballot inductee into the and , if his career continues as it has, will most likely finish with a Hall of Fame career.
But it’s the wins, especially on the game’s biggest stages, that will forever place Bart Starr in a entirely different category when it comes to greatness.
Starr, a 17th round draft choice, struggled to get on the field his first couple of seasons in the league, and it wasn’t until the arrival of head coach Vince Lombardi that Starr’s career blossomed and grew.
More Articles About Bart Starr:
manual
Starr and Lombardi made NFL history and won championship after championship in the early- to late-1960s. In fact, Starr and Lombardi won five league championships (1961-62, 1965-67) AND the first two Super Bowls – something that has never been done.
We all know how difficult it is to win in the NFL during the regular season, but to do it so consistently in the postseason is even more difficult.
During those playoff wins, Starr recorded a passer rating of 104.8 – the highest playoff passer rating in NFL history … on top of that, he was 9-1 in all playoff games, with a career completion percentage of 57.4. Up until 2003, Starr also held the record for the most franchise games played at 196.
Simply put, Starr knew how to win – and he especially knew how to win the big games.
Now one can certainly argue that he played in a different era than did Favre and Rodgers … a time without free agency and a time when teams could build dynasties.
That is all true.
But winning is winning. Every team, no matter the era, were in it to win it.
Starr did it better than any quarterback in franchise history, including Favre and Rodgers – combined
.
That, in my mind, is why he is the franchise’s greatest quarterback.
- 5× NFL Champion
(1961, 1962, 1965, 1966, 1967) - 2× Super Bowl champion (I, II)
- 2× Super Bowl MVP (I, II)
- 4× Pro Bowl (1960, 1961, 1962, 1966)
- First-Team All-Pro (1966)
- 2× AP Second-Team All-Pro (1962, 1964)
- 1966 NFL MVP (, , , )
- “Whizzer” White NFL Man of the Year (1966)
- NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
- Packers Hall of Fame inductee
- Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (1977)
- Green Bay Packers #15 retired
- Rated #51 NFL Player of all-time by NFL.com
- First NFL quarterback to win two Super Bowls
Career NFL statistics
| Pass attempts: | 3,149 |
|---|---|
| Pass completions: | 1,808 |
| Percentage: | 57.4 |
| TD–INT: | 152–138 |
| Passing yards: | 24,718 |
| Passer rating: | 80.5 |
| Player stats at NFL.com |
Here are Starr’s regular season career statistics
| Year | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Att | Comp | Yds | TD | Int | RTG | Comp. PCT % | Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| 1956 | 44 | 24 | 325 | 2 | 3 | 65.1 | 54.5 | 5 | 35 | 7.0 | 0 |
| 1957 | 215 | 117 | 1,489 | 8 | 10 | 69.3 | 54.4 | 31 | 98 | 3.1 | 3 |
| 1958 | 157 | 78 | 875 | 3 | 12 | 41.2 | 49.7 | 25 | 113 | 4.5 | 1 |
| 1959 | 134 | 70 | 972 | 6 | 7 | 69.0 | 52.2 | 16 | 83 | 5.2 | 0 |
| 1960 | 172 | 98 | 1,358 | 4 | 8 | 70.8 | 57.0 | 7 | 12 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 1961 | 295 | 172 | 2,418 | 16 | 16 | 80.3 | 58.3 | 12 | 56 | 4.7 | 1 |
| 1962 | 285 | 178 | 2,438 | 12 | 9 | 90.7 | 62.5 | 21 | 72 | 3.4 | 1 |
| 1963 | 244 | 132 | 1,855 | 15 | 10 | 82.3 | 54.1 | 13 | 116 | 8.9 | 0 |
| 1964 | 272 | 163 | 2,144 | 15 | 4 | 97.1 | 59.9 | 24 | 165 | 6.9 | 3 |
| 1965 | 251 | 140 | 2,055 | 16 | 9 | 89.0 | 55.8 | 18 | 169 | 9.4 | 1 |
| 1966 | 251 | 166 | 2,257 | 14 | 3 | 108.3 | 66.1 | 21 | 104 | 5.0 | 2 |
| 1967 | 210 | 115 | 1,823 | 9 | 17 | 64.4 | 54.8 | 21 | 90 | 4.3 | 0 |
| 1968 | 171 | 109 | 1,617 | 15 | 8 | 104.3 | 63.7 | 11 | 62 | 5.6 | 1 |
| 1969 | 148 | 92 | 1,161 | 9 | 6 | 89.9 | 62.2 | 7 | 60 | 8.6 | 4 |
| 1970 | 255 | 140 | 1,645 | 8 | 13 | 63.9 | 54.9 | 12 | 62 | 5.2 | 1 |
| 1971 | 45 | 24 | 286 | 0 | 3 | 45.2 | 53.3 | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 1 |
| Total | 3,149 | 1,808 | 24,718 | 152 | 138 | 80.5 | 57.4 | 247 | 1,308 | 5.3 | 15 |
Videos: Bart Starr career highlights