SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — Legendary Green Bay Packer Bart Starr died this weekend. Starr is a hall of fame quarterback on the field but to his fans, he was just as impressive off it. A Sioux Falls teacher is sharing a touching story about how Starr’s light shined on his family.
You may know Jim Trett from his days as the Washington High School basketball coach, but he’s also one of the biggest Green Bay Packers fans around. His basement is filled with green and gold regalia.
“First time I ever saw the Packers in green and gold was in Super Bowl I. We went to one of my friend’s houses. His dad was a mortician. Had a lot of money and they had a color TV,” Trett said.
Trett’s favorite player of all time is Starr. Back in 1980, when Starr was Green Bay’s head coach, he found out Trett’s mother, Myrt, was recovering from arthritis surgery and couldn’t sit out in the cold when the Packers were playing at rival Minnesota.
“They didn’t know us from Adam. They didn’t know who we were at all. Bart said, “Why don’t you invite those two people to come and sit with my wife and Zeke Bratkowski’s wife up in the heated booth in the old Met,” Trett said.
The gesture meant a lot to Trett’s mom who got to meet Starr in the locker room after the game.
“She loved Bart Starr. All the time. When we’d play games in the car sometimes, figure out a celebrity. Hers was always Bart Starr,” Trett said.
That next season, Jim stumbled into the Packers locker room again in Minnesota and caught up with Starr.
“He shook my hand and I said hi, I’m Jim Trett. Without me saying another word, he said how is Myrt and Dick doing? He remembered them from the year before and he had only ever met them one time. That was a great moment without question,” Trett said.
A moment Trett holds dear. While he’s sad to see Starr’s light fade with his death, he thinks the hall of famer set a great example of humility everyone should follow.
“I think a lot more people could. He was a star but he was very humble and he never wanted to be known that way,” Trett said.
He’ll go down in history as both, a football star and a great person.
Starr’s funeral is being planned in Alabama. Organizers are also putting together a public gathering in Green Bay to celebrate Starr’s life.