Quote Originally Posted by Patler View Post
I have said from early in his career as a starter - Rodgers reminds me of Bart Starr. No other QB since Starr has evoked memories of and the feelings I had about Starr, until Rodgers took over as the starter. Total command of what is going on. Will not make the critical mental mistake that loses you a game. Calm in tense game situations. Demanding of those around him, just as he is demanding of himself. Rodgers seems to be the same type of gentleman that Starr is.

For me, a football fan and Packer fan who witnessed the Packer dynasty of the 1960's it is the a biggest compliment I can think of.
Nice. That may be higher praise yet. I never saw Starr play but being a lifelong Packer fan it's impossible not to hear and learn about how in control he was on and off the field.

I think it was Kramer who said that Starr was the only person he ever witnessed who Lombardi actually deferred to when it came to being questioned on how he handled players. Lombardi criticized Starr in practice one day and Starr immediately went to Lombardi's office after practiced and asked him to not do that in front of the team because he felt that, as the field general, he needed their respect and being criticized by the coach in front of them undermined that. If he had something to say to him, Starr asked him to say it one on one. Lombardi never again criticized Starr in front of any other players.

My perception of Starr's playing and leadership style, at least in terms of game management, seems akin to John Stockton, who could and would make the big plays when the game was on the line - in control as you said Patler. They were competitive killers, but were much more willing than Bird (or Rodgers) to set up their teammates to make the big shot and distribute the glory in order to make the team better. Big difference there is Starr's teams won five championships while Stockton's teams were always right on the brink but never quite over the hump. A guy named Jordan always seemed to get in the way.

Different times for sure, but a bit off the field perhaps, but my sense is that Rodgers has more ego than Starr ever had. He does a really good job of channeling it, but Rodgers, not unlike just about every great performer, is driven primarily by self-achievement. While lifetime success can be humbling, most people are driven to succeed for selfish reasons. Many great players come across as selfless but just about all of them have selfish motives for doing so. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all but that's perhaps where Starr separates himself.

Based on how friends, teammates and fans honor Starr, my sense is that he was genuinely humble and perhaps even uniquely selfless regardless of his extremely high level of success or how it may have affected his public persona. It's who he is and it comes through no matter if he was a bum on the street or the king of the world. Not as many people would know him if he was a bum but those that did would say he was the nicest bum they ever met.

Maybe that's just how his legend has grown but that seems to be his enduring quality and what shines through all the wins, championships and personal accolades.

Your comparison of Rodgers as "a gentleman" to Starr is also high praise - perhaps even a tad generous. You certainly speak/post with more authority than I on the subject because you've seen and read all the same things I have (probably more) on Starr in addition to witnessing him live as obviously more than a casual observer over the years, but I can't think of any other player in any sport with any level of comparable achievement that has that same sort of genuine "gentlemanly" quality about him as Bart Starr.