A Short Memoir – A Hero in Green and Gold

When I was a child, Bart Starr was one of my heroes. I wasn’t particularly obsessed by football, but it was one way that I could relate and be close to my father. Every Sunday afternoon during “the season” we would watch the Green Bay Packers play. When they were doing well, they were the best in the world. When they were not so good, my Dad would call it the Green Bay Polka, one, two, three, kick, one two three kick!

But, no matter the outcomes, Bart Starr was always my favorite. And his quarterback sneak in the Ice Bowl of 1967 win is still the stuff of legend.

I always wanted to be Bart Starr! I asked for and got a football one year for my birthday and I would play in the front yard, sometimes with friends and neighbors, but mostly, by myself, pretending I was part of the great team. Oh, to be the Green and Gold number 15!!

Over the years Bart and Cherry Starr have been in and out of the public eye and my own sphere of vision. But, from the Rawhide Boys Ranch to his visits to Lambeau Field, Bart Starr has always been a class act.

I cried seeing him in 2015, old and weak, but still determined and brave as he took a last trip around Lambeau field in a golf cart with Brett Favre. No matter what, Green and Gold Number 15 will always remind me of what life is supposed to be. Do your best. Help others. Stay humble.

Now that’s what I call a real hero.