STARR: The Story of My Life in Football

A candid and fast-paced memoir by the great Green Bay Packer quarterback and former head coach. Staff's third book and Olderman's 11th (The Defenders, 1974; The Pro Quarterback, 1966, etc.) benefits from the warm, intelligent and humble voice of the Alabama-born Starr, who surprised all in the NFL by transforming himself from a 17th round draft-pick in 1956 to quarterback for five championship Packer teams and a Super Bowl MVP. Always a team player, Starr has good things to say about almost everyone associated with the old Packers. Coach Vince Lombardi is praised for his dedication and, surprisingly, warmth. Running-back Jimmy Taylor and lineman Jerry Kramer are singled out for providing the muscle for Starr's field command and savvy, generally regarded as among the best in NFL history. Unfortunately, Starr is not a colorful storyteller or wit. He winces at the idea of providing inside ""dirt"" on teammates, barely alluding, for example, to Paul Hornung's suspension for gambling in 1963. Instead, he is most forthright about himself and his family. His detailing of blunders while coaching the Packers is refreshingly honest, and brief portraits of his wife Cherry and his two sons, one a former drug abuser now gone straight, are outright touching. Start is no Lawrence Taylor: his NFL is a clean, well-lighted place. But his book makes fine reading for the fan who still likes his sports, and his sports' heroes, straight.