Former Crimson Tide QB suffered long-term injury during secret hazing
By Nick Cole
Published:
Bart Starr held a secret for more than 60 years.
Before his Hall of Fame career with the Green Bay Packers, he was the the victim of a brutal beating at Alabama that left him unfit to play for the Crimson Tide.
AL.com’s Joseph Goodman relived the events with Bart’s wife Cherry, who spoke for the 82-year-old who is no longer able to speak about his football career after two strokes.
The story you may have been told is that Starr’s career with the Crimson Tide fizzled out because of a back injury that he sustained during a punting exercise.
Cherry Starr says that was simply the cover story that Bart told because he thought the truth “would make him look bad.”
Here’s an excerpt of Goodman’s piece, in which Cherry Starr reveals what really happened:
Wanting to set the record straight on a fundamental aspect of her husband’s career and their lives together, Cherry recently told AL.com exclusively that Bart’s injury in college happened during a gruesome ritualistic paddling for initiation into the university’s A-Club for varsity lettermen.
“He was hospitalized at one point in traction,” Cherry said. “That was in the days when they were initiated into the A-Club, and they had severe beatings and paddling. From all the members of the A-Club, they lined up with a big paddle with holes drilled in it, and it actually injured his back.”
She said that the injuries he sustained were so severe that they not only derailed his career at Alabama, but also disqualified him from military service and lingered throughout his 16-year pro career.
“But his back was never right after that,” Cherry Starr said. “It was horrible. It was not a football injury. It was an injury sustained from hazing. His whole back all the way up to his rib cage looked like a piece of raw meat. The bruising went all the way up his back. It was red and black and awful looking. It was so brutal.”
Hazing was a much more regular occurrence in that era, and it is fascinating to hear what lengths teammates would go to during the initiation process, as well as the pride involved for the victim in making sure word didn’t get out for so long.
Nick Cole is a former print journalist with several years of experience covering the SEC. Born and raised in SEC country, he has taken in the game-day experience at all 14 stadiums.
