Packers Legend Bart Starr Was Brutally Hazed At Alabama

Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr suffered a bad back injury before his junior year in 1954 at the University of Alabama. The injury, that bothered him throughout his NFL career, was a result of a beating he took during a hazing incident at Alabama. His wife told AL.com...

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Starr's career at Alabama fizzled before his junior season due to a back injury sustained from a punting exercise. That's the cover story the Starrs have used since 1954, and it's not true, according to Cherry Starr. 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."

“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.”

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You can read more here. Here's a look at his NFL highlights...