Bart Houston was born to be in this moment, it would seem. Named for legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr, the UW senior is set to make his first start at Lambeau Field. | From Varsity Magazine

MIKE LUCAS

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Varsity Magazine

BY MIKE LUCAS

UWBadgers.com Senior Writer

The storyteller was Guy Houston; the father of fifth-year senior Bart Houston ; the starting quarterback for Wisconsin in its opener at Lambeau Field; the former Green Bay work address of Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr; the NFL role model for the aforementioned Guy Houston.

The same guy who named his first boy Bartlett out of respect for his childhood hero.

And that's where this story begins … in the East Bay.

The eastern region of the San Francisco Bay area.

"When I was a little kid in the '60s and I first became aware of things, the Green Bay Packers were in their heyday," said Guy Houston, whose dad, Fred, was a teacher and head football coach at San Ramon Valley High School in Danville, a little over 20 miles from Oakland.

"The school colors were green and gold. So as a 2-year-old on up, I wore green and gold all the time. On Fridays, I pretended that I played for the San Ramon Wolves. And on Sunday, I pretended that I was playing for the Green Bay Packers.

"That's how it came about … much to the chagrin of Raider fans and people in this area."

Houston wound up playing quarterback for his father at San Ramon Valley and set school records in 1977 for most passing yards in a season (1,908) and touchdown passes (20). That earned him a scholarship to Saint Mary's College (Moraga, Calif), where he lettered in football and baseball.

"I'd have to honestly say my pitching career was better than my quarterbacking career — and that wasn't saying much," conceded Houston, who initially had some interest in becoming a sportswriter before reversing his field and getting his BA (in 1982) and master's (1987) in business administration.

During his college years, and beyond, he was still Starr-struck to the extreme that he was more determined than ever to name his first son after Bart Starr. "That was the only non-negotiable term of engagement when I proposed to my wife (Inge)," he claimed.

She said "yes" anyway.

Houston didn't have any skeletons in his closet when they got married.

But he had a jersey in his drawer.

A Bart Starr jersey.

One of his high school friends was Rowdy Corrick, the son of Dick Corrick, who was the director of player personnel in Green Bay while Starr was coaching for the Packers.

"Rowdy would go back and work the camps (in Green Bay)," Houston said. "And one summer he came back home and gave me this jersey because he knew that I was such a Bart Starr fan.

"He told me, 'Don't tell anybody where you got it.' So I kept it in my drawer for 15 or 20 years and when Inga was pregnant with Bart, I sent the jersey and a letter to Mr. Starr.

"I wrote, 'Could you please sign it. I'm a big fan and I'm going to name my son after you.'"

Starr was gracious enough to write a letter to Houston along with returning the signed jersey.

Now fast-forward to 2006 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies in Canton, Ohio.

The induction class included former Oakland Raiders head coach John Madden.

"We were very close with the Madden family," said Guy Houston, who grew up in the same Pleasanton neighborhood. "When he was an assistant with the Raiders, he used to come over to the house and my dad and him would do X's and O's on the napkins. So we've known him for a long time.

"When he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, I was part of the entourage that went there and I brought Bart and his younger brother Sumner for two reasons. I wanted to honor Mr. Madden but I thought, 'I know Bart Starr goes to these things quite often so I might get a two-for out of the deal.'"

As it turned out, Starr didn't attend. But that didn't spoil the experience for Bart Houston .

"It was phenomenal," he said. "Obviously, we went searching for the Bart Starr stuff (in the Hall of Fame) and I got to see his bust and a lot of cool stuff."

But that wasn't the coolest thing.

"I got to shake Troy Aikman's hand," Houston said with hushed reverence.

Aikman, the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and current Fox Sports analyst, was also a member of the 2006 class, along with former Packers defensive end Reggie White, et al.

An impressionable, 12-year-old Houston may have been tempted not to wash his hands again.

"He (Aikman) was a very cool guy," he said.

The following weekend, Guy Houston was reading the San Francisco Chronicle when he came across the notice of a card show with none other than Bart Starr as the special guest.

"I spent a couple of thousand dollars going to the Hall of Fame with the boys," he said with a sigh, "and now for 125 dollars I could see Bart Starr right here in San Francisco."

So he took the boys to the card show. He took something else, too.

"Everybody was bringing balls and helmets for him to sign," Houston said. "I brought the letter that he wrote to me. He really paused when he saw it and he goes, 'Wow, that's really cool.'

"I was not only happy that Mr. Starr talked with my son but I was also happy and so glad that my hero was such a nice guy and a gentleman."

The Starr jersey is hanging in Guy Houston's office.

"And I have a picture," he said, "with Bart, myself and Mr. Starr. Those are just cool memories."

• • • •

Bart Houston was a thrower. That was the earliest memory Guy Houston had of his son.

"At a very young age, he had an arm," he said. "He'd throw things, whether rocks or dirt clods or whatever. As an infant, he would throw the ball with the dog. He was always throwing things."

As a result, it was only natural for Bart Houston to gravitate to quarterback, the position that he played with distinction — 38-1 record as the starter — for national powerhouse De La Salle High School.

Under the leadership of legendary coach Bob Ladouceur — who played for Fred Houston at San Ramon Valley — the De La Salle Spartans won 151 straight games over 12 seasons (1992-2003).

All of which was depicted in a book and later a movie, When the Game Stands Tall.

Jim Caviezel was cast in the role of Ladouceur, who retired in 2013 with a mark of 399-25-3.

Houston didn't throw the ball very much, by design, for Ladouceur who ran a triple option, play-action offense. Houston was more of a game manager. He never attempted more than 22 passes.

But he still had a measurable impact on the success of the Spartans.

"As a dad," said Guy Houston, a successful real estate agent, "you remember every good play and you know every bad play and you remember them more than the kids."

One of his memories was from his son's sophomore year at De La Salle.

"It was probably a breakout game for him," he said. "They were behind in a league game which was very uncommon. Bart was the third-string quarterback.

"The first two couldn't get anything going and they put in Bart near the end of the first half because he had the best arm.

"On a play-action roll-out, he set up and threw a bomb and took a huge hit. But it got us down to the 5-yard line and we scored. He also threw another touchdown and it kind of jump-started him.

"I've got friends from that high school (Amador Valley) and they still like to tell me, 'We made Bart Houston .' But he had this real moment in time — something I'll always remember."

That was Bart Houston 's second career game. On his "bomb" — a 48-yard completion — he kidded, "I remember just closing my eyes and throwing the ball."

It's one of his favorite punch lines. But he also remembered the team needing a spark.

"I hit that deep ball and I hit a shorter pass that went for a touchdown, my first on the varsity," he said. "And that was the confidence I needed. It was like, 'I can play here.'"

De La Salle rallied for a 32-21 win and Houston was named the starter the next week against Monte Vista, whose quarterback, Brett Nottingham, was one of the top college prospects in California.

"He was the best quarterback in the league by far," Houston said of Nottingham, who went on to Stanford. "I trained with him back in the day and I thought, 'Man, I'm going against an elite guy.'"

De La Salle won, 28-21. And Houston will never forget his first career start for two reasons.

1) the Spartans' 5-7 tailback Terron Ward was lights out. He rushed for 398 yards.

2) the lights really did go out. "Someone flipped the switch," Houston said.

Subsequently, there was a 20-minute delay at Monte Vista's home field.

"As soon as the lights went off, one of my guards picked me up and ran me to the sidelines," Houston said. "He thought someone was going to take a (cheap) shot at the young buck."

Guy Houston recalled another defining "moment" of his son's prep career.

"At the end of a close, hard-fought game against Bishop Gorman of Las Vegas," he said, "Bart called a naked boot and scored to break the game open.

"It's not always the throwing (that defines a competitor) — it's the mental part of the game. Some things might not show up in the stats. But you know as a dad or coach they're pretty cool plays."

Houston kept his composure and took advantage of the aggressiveness of Bishop Gorman's star defensive end Jalen Grimble (a Miami Hurricanes recruit and a Warren Sapp clone).

"He just ate people alive," Houston said. "That's what he did to us. We were purely based on technique and we'd beat him with technique. And, then, he'd just toss us aside and make a play.

"Late in the fourth quarter, Coach (Ladouceur) was thinking about a play and I said, 'Coach, I got it. Call the quarterback keeper.' I was 100 percent confident, 'I got this.'"

Ladouceur showed faith in Houston and deferred to his QB's instincts.

"We faked power," Houston said, "and I ran around the big boy (Grimble) for a touchdown. That's when the coaches knew that they could count on me."

Guy Houston always trusted his sons to do the right things — on and off the field.

"It was kind of a family project," he said of offering them diverse challenges. "I wanted the boys to be exposed to something besides sports and to different people and leaders."

As such, he encouraged them to get actively involved with the Boy Scouts.

"Other good men were able to work with them," he said. "And it made them more well-rounded than just 100 percent football, basketball and baseball. It was something that we emphasized.

"There are probably not many Eagle scouts in D-I football."

There are at least two: Bart Houston at Wisconsin and Sumner Houston at Oregon State.

Both made the climb to the top rung; a meaningful accomplishment considering only 4 percent of all Boys Scouts achieve Eagle Scout status. Candidates must earn at least 21 merit badges.

They must also complete a community service project. Bart Houston solicited and collected sports equipment from donors in San Ramon and turned it over (12,000 pieces) to the Oakland YMCA.

"Bart came back and said, 'I love that place. The people are real special and it feels like home,'" Guy Houston remembered. "And he has stuck it out. It never entered his mind to transfer."

Given this backdrop, he was quizzed on what goes into becoming an Eagle Scout.

"It's a lot of time and it's a lot of dedication and it's a lot of yelling from my mom — I'm just kidding about that," Houston said. "My mom was very involved. There's a lot of paper work.

"My dad was more invested in the camping and backpacking — more of the action things. I learned a lot about time management and just the overall management of everything I do."

Learning how to live the life of a politician's kid (and the potential scrutiny that comes along with it) didn't get Bart Houston a merit badge. But it was part of growing up in his household.

Guy Houston was the mayor for seven years in Dublin, Calif. — a community of nearly 60,000 less than 10 miles from San Ramon — and a state assemblyman from the 15th District for six years.

"I've known a lot of political people where that (lifestyle) can be a negative for the family," he said. "But it can be as positive or negative as you make it. All in all, I think it was positive.

"My kids have met Presidents and senators and they've been to events and done things that a lot of people don't get a chance to do. Like the Boy Scouts, it's another side of life (to experience)."

Besides recognizing the importance of knowing how to tie a tie for formal events — "I can clean up when I get out of his football gear" Bart Houston said — there were other benefits.

Like controlling the message.

"It shaped me to be politically correct as well as being my own person at the same time," Houston chuckled. "That's Class 101 for politicians: being yourself and being optically correct."

While existing in the fishbowl, Guy Houston praised Inge for pulling everyone together. "My wife has been very supportive," he said. "You have to have that or it's not going to work at all."

Bart Houston , 23, also had nothing but praise for his mom's role in their upbringing.

"She was a stay-at-home mom when dad worked," said Houston, who spent this past weekend cheering on his girlfriend, Caitlyn Clem, the second-team All-Big Ten goalie on the UW women's soccer team.

"My mom went through a lot of stuff having three very active kids — driving them around. It's a full-time job and she nailed it."

Inge Houston, a history and tourism major as an undergrad, has been taking courses at an East Bay community college, where the boys' younger sister, Glynnis, is a freshman.

"She was bored," contended Bart Houston , who's working towards his master's in kinesiology.

It was Inge who accompanied her son on his recruiting trip to Madison and the UW campus.

"Bart came back and said, 'I love that place. The people are real special and it feels like home,'" Guy Houston remembered. "And he has stuck it out. It never entered his mind to transfer."

After a brief pause, Guy Houston admitted, "It entered my mind. He's a kid from California going out there (the Midwest) and you'd think that if something went wrong (like not playing) he might leave.

"But he said, 'Dad, I love it here. I'm a Badger. I love the program, the school and the people.' And I'm very proud of him that he did that (stay five years)."

The Houstons will be well represented in Green Bay. The travel party will include Inge and Guy, Glynnis, the ol' ball coach Fred and some friends.

"Tough ticket to get," Guy said. "We couldn't bring as many as we wanted."

It's a busy week for the family. Sumner Houston will fly east with his Oregon State teammates for Thursday night's game against Minnesota at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

Houston, a 6-2, 289-pound redshirt sophomore, started the final two games last season at nose tackle for Gary Andersen, the former UW head coach.

Small world, indeed.

So much so that Guy Houston has another tie to Green Bay beyond Starr. One of his longtime friends is Rich Moran, who played nine years on the offensive line for the Packers (1985-93).

In 2013, Guy Houston flew to Wisconsin for a football weekend with his son that included watching the Badgers vs. BYU on Saturday and the Packers vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

That was the last time that Bart Houston saw a game at Lambeau, a Packers loss. Seneca Wallace started for an injured Aaron Rodgers and Scott Tolzien replaced Wallace after the first series.

Tolzien, the former Badgers quarterback, threw for 280 yards and a touchdown.

That was three years ago.

Houston, then a UW redshirt freshman, appeared in just two games and attempted as many passes as the middle linebacker (Chris Borland) and the punter ( Drew Meyer ). They threw once each.

Last Thursday, Bart Houston called home with the news that he was going back to Lambeau Field as Wisconsin's starting quarterback for the season opener.

Guy Houston kind of anticipated what the call was about.

"The boys don't typically call us at 8 a.m.," he pointed out.

So what does he anticipate for Saturday's matchup against heavily-favored LSU?

"It's going to be special," Guy Houston said. "I thought it was very smart of Coach (Paul) Chryst to take the team up there in the spring to let the players look at the place.

"It kind of reminded me of 'Hoosiers' and the scene where they went into the gym and he (Norman Dale/Gene Hackman) said, "The hoops are 10 feet high just like back home (in Hickory).'

"Hopefully the boys will go there Saturday and realize, 'This is our state and this is our home field.' And it will be an advantage because it all comes down to those 100 yards at the end of the day."