GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) - Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr has been tossing the football again as he prepares to return to Lambeau Field for a special ceremony on Thanksgiving honoring another Green Bay Packers legend, Brett Favre.
Starr has been working out at a Birmingham, Alabama, gym three times a week and exceeding his trainer’s expectations, WTMJ-TV (https://bit.ly/1I8cZsw ) reported. Starr tosses a football to trainer Brian Burns from a short distance away.
“I believed him and I knew he could do it, but he has taken it so much further than what I could have imagined,” Burns said. “I was looking back at the film when he used to play and he uses the same throwing motion. Kind of going more up top with the way he’s throwing it. His hand-eye coordination, he’s still got it.”
Starr, 81, is moving a little slower these days after two strokes and a heart attack in 2014, but he’s on track to make the trip to Wisconsin - a trip Starr and his wife, Cherry, say could be their last to Green Bay.
The Starrs, who have been married 61 years, have twice flown to Mexico to take a chance on experimental stem cell treatments and say it has made a difference in Bart’s recovery.
The Starrs say the Favre ceremony has been a great motivator in Bart’s rehabilitation.
“He’s very motivated and of course this event we remind him that he’s going to do something very special this Thanksgiving day,” Cherry Starr said.
Bart Starr and Favre share a close bond off the field. Favre has always helped with a cause Starr has long promoted, Rawhide Boys Ranch, a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides residential programs for delinquent and emotionally disturbed adolescent boys in Wisconsin.
From 1956 to 1971, Starr became the only quarterback in NFL history to lead the Green Bay Packers to five championships, as well as Super Bowls I and II. Favre’s name and his retired No. 4 will be unveiled on the facade of Lambeau Field on Thursday, when the Packers play the rival Chicago Bears.
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