Originally published on Jun. 1, 2022
By Zane Miller
Green Bay Packers quarterback Bart Starr entered into
the 1966 NFL season with three double-digit win seasons already under his belt.
Additionally, he had also earned three championships with the Packers, coming
in 1961, 1962 and 1965, in spite of never leading the league in passing
touchdowns or passing yardage. Nevertheless, Starr was still in search of his
first MVP award and first-team All-Pro selection, which would come in 1966.
Starr’s best performance of the season came at home against
the San Francisco 49ers on October 9th, as he threw for a pair of touchdowns to
go along with 287 yards through the air. While the Packers would come up short
in the game, as the 49ers won 21-20 to hand Green Bay their first loss of the
season, they would go 12-2 on the season with Starr winning 11 of those games.
At the end of 1966, Starr had compiled 14 passing
touchdowns and 2,257 passing yards, taking the seventh spot in the league in
touchdowns passes and eighth in yardage. This would set him two touchdowns
behind 49ers starter John Brodie in sixth and 283 yards short of Los Angeles
Rams quarterback Roman Gabriel in seventh, thus finishing at the average in the
15-team league. Despite the middle-of-the-road passing statistics, this would
not stop Starr from being selected as a first-team All-Pro, as well as league
MVP, both of which would be the first and only times he would score the award. This
would come despite Cleveland Browns quarterback Frank Ryan passing for over
twice as many touchdowns and almost 3,000 yards while also leading his team to
a winning record, so I don’t know what the voters were looking at either.
With the Packers easily taking the Western Conference
title, they would travel to face the Eastern Conference champ Dallas Cowboys
for the league title game. The contest would be a thriller right from the
start, with five touchdowns scored in the first half alone as the Packers held
a slim 21-17 lead at halftime. While the Cowboys cut the deficit to one to
begin the scoring in the third quarter, Starr threw back-to-back touchdown
passes to put the game out of reach, with Green Bay eventually sealing a 34-27
victory. Starr put on a clinic throughout the contest, scoring four touchdown
passes and 304 yards to come through with one of the best showings of his
entire career, in a moment where the Packers certainly needed it the most.
Prior to the 1966 season, the story would have ended right
here, however this season saw the beginning of a game you might have heard of
called the Super Bowl, in this case featuring the American Football League
champion Kansas City Chiefs. After both teams headed to Los Angeles for the
historic event, the Packers were able to grab a 14-10 lead at halftime.
However, the offense would explode for three touchdowns in the second half,
while the defense shut Kansas City out for a 35-10 win in the inaugural version
of the big game. While not quite as dominant as he was in the lead-in matchup
against the Cowboys, Starr still had plenty of highlights against the Chiefs
courtesy of two passing touchdowns and 250 yards, nearly matching his best game
from the regular season. As if he didn’t already have enough accolades during
the season, Starr became the first player to earn Super Bowl MVP honors thanks
to his incredible performance.
With all of the statistics in mind, I grade Starr’s
1966 season at an A. While his regular season statistics left a lot to be
desired, especially for an MVP candidate, he rose to another level in the
postseason with exceptional clutch performances in both contests. I also have
to take into consideration the historical significance of the first Super Bowl
victory, to go along with the first Super Bowl MVP award as well.
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