Pro football was a different game in the 1960s and Vince Lombardi's offense was built around a power running game, which served Starr's talents well. Of course, it didn't hurt that he played with 12 other future Pro Football Hall of Famers and didn't have to carry his team.

In 1961, the Packers put on one of the most dominating performances in the history of NFL championship games, crushing the New York Giants, 37-0. Starr completed 10 passes for 164 yards that day.

In 1962, the Packers finished 13-1 and might have had their best team ever. Starr finished the season with 12 touchdown passes and nine interceptions. In the most impressive Packers' showing of the season, they walloped the Chicago Bears, 49-0. Starr played all but the last series and marched the offense up and down the field for 409 yards and 21 first downs, but he completed only 9 of 12 passes for 154 yards.

When the Packers won three straight NFL titles, Starr was the league's MVP in 1966, but didn't even make the Pro Bowl the other two years. The head coaches of the Western Conference teams picked Fran Tarkenton and John Brodie over him in 1965, and John Unitas and Roman Gabriel in 1967.

In the eyes of many of his teammates, Starr wasn't even the best of the Lombardi Packers. But he came to symbolize them.

Nobody on those teams had more grit or was more single-minded. Detroit, the Bears, Baltimore Colts and New York Giants of the 1960s all played defense like barroom brawlers. But thanks in part to Starr's iron will, the Packers went 32-9-2 in their showdowns with them from 1961 to 1967.

"He took some shots, boy," said former end Gary Knafelc, a good friend and one of Starr's roommates. "There were no rules. He was a tough cookie."

Like his teammates, Starr also rarely made mistakes. Lombardi's teams almost never beat themselves.

Give Lombardi most of the credit for that, but Starr was his extension on the field. He was the surgeon who cut up opposing defenses with what Lombardi referred to as his "analytic mind, retentive memory and inner toughness," more so than his arm, which Lombardi considered good enough, but not his best asset.

"He threw the turn-ins and short posts as good as anybody," said Knafelc. "Bart didn't have that strong an arm so he didn't throw deep that much. And no (he didn't throw many outs) – not much.

"One thing about Bart, the point (of the football) was always up, easy to catch and you always had time. He anticipated so well. That was his secret. It wasn't his touch so much; he anticipated your break. When you made that final cut, the ball was there.