For decades it was told and believed Bart Starr had his college football career at Alabama taken off course due to a back injury suffered during a punting exercise, but now the explanation for the back injury is changing. Cherry Starr, the wife of Bart Starr, told Al.com her husband was hazed during a traditional initiation event for Alabama’s A-Club for varsity lettermen in 1954.
“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.”
Cherry says her husband chose not to discuss the hazing ritual for years because he feared it would “make him look bad.” Cherry claims her husband’s back was never right again following that hazing ritual and is to blame for disqualifying Starr from military service and lingered into his professional career with the Green Bay Packers.
“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.”
The story of Starr’s hazing injury is also supported by former Alabama tight end Nick Germanos, a former teammate who described the beatings to Al.com.
“It was hell,” Germanos said. “Lord have mercy it was a rough initiation.”
Starr was Alabama’s starting quarterback as a sophomore, and he also played safety and punted for the Crimson Tide. During a 6-2-3 season, Starr tossed eight touchdown passes to help set the bar for expectations the following season. But after the hazing incident before his junior season, Starr rarely played due to the injury, a back sprain. Following the 1954 season, Alabama made a coaching change to bring in J.B. Whitworth, who opted to go with more youth on the roster. This left little playing time for Starr.
Starr went on to build a legendary football career anyway with the Green Bay Packers, winning five NFL championships that included the first two Super Bowl victories in league history. He also earned two Super Bowl MVP honors and later was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for the 1960s and was voted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Despite the star Starr would become, even he was not able to go through life without being the victim of hazing.