Bart Starr's son found dead
in Florida; cause unknown
By Tony Walter
Press-Gazette
Police officials in Tampa, Fla., have confirmed that Bret Michael Starr died several days ago in his home.
But they haven't announced how he died.
The 24-year-old son of former Green Bay Packers quarterback and coach Bart Starr and his wife, Cherry, was identified late Thursday as the man who was found dead in the four-bedroom house in a Carrollwood subdivision earlier in the day.
It took police officials about four hours to make a positive identification of the partially decomposed body.
"We don't know the cause of death yet," Jack Hall, county forensic investigator, said late Thurs day. An autopsy was expected to be conducted today.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Capt. Gary Terry of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department said there were no obvious signs of trauma on Starr's body.
Neither Starr nor any members of his family were available to comment on Bret Starr's death. Bart Starr gave a message to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department officer that he would have no comment.
Authorities said they would have to await an autopsy report from the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office to find out how Starr died, but added there were no signs of a struggle in the house and no reason to suspect foul play.
The Starr family's tragedy be gan to unfold at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when Bart Starr arrived at the house he rented for his son.
Bart Starr lives in Phoenix but apparently was concerned about his inability to contact his younger son for several days.
He was unable to get into the house and, discovering a foul odor, contacted police.
Officers obtained a key from landlord Levester Jones but were prevented from getting into the residence for some time by two, rottweiler dogs. The officers contacted Humane Society officials to have the dogs removed.
When officers entered the house at 11:40 a.m., they found Starr's body in a dining area leading to the backyard.
"It had been there an estimated two to four days and the air-conditioning was off," said sheriffs department spokesman Jack Espinosa, who said there was no identification on the body. "It was difficult to identify, unrecognizable."
Temperatures in the Tampa area were in the high 80s and low 90s this week.
A reporter for The St. Petersburg Times said he and a newspaper photographer saw police officials remove a syringe and needles from the house. The police have refused to comment on the report of drug paraphernalia being taken from Starr's house.
Starr lived alone in the house, police officials said.
Starr had been living in Tampa since 1984 when he helped start Gulf Coast Fisheries, a wholesale exotic fish and reptile importing company.
Bret Starr and his parents were together for the last time June 18 when they participated in the Lombardi Classic charity golf tournament in Menomonee Falls.
Starr was born and raised in the Green Hay area. He attended elementary school in De Pere and graduating from De Pere High School in 1982. He attended the University of Wisconsin briefly.
After high school, Starr waged a battle with a cocaine addiction, which his father described in his autobiography My Iife in Football: Starr that was published last year.
In it, Bart Starr wrote about how Bret had to be taken to Hazelden, a drug rehabilitation center in Minnesota, and how Bret left after just two days at the center.
"From the time he was a child, Bret had difficulty dealing with being Bart Starr's son in a small community," Starr wrote in his book. "While Bart junior (Starr's older son) grew up during the Packers' exciting glory years, Bret was, at a very sensitive age, living with his family through seasons of disappointments and frequent criticism of his father by the news media.
"It was not a happy time for any of us, especially Bret, who had to face his peers every Monday."
Starr related how, after the battle against drugs, Bret spent Christmas 1986 with his family and thanked his parents for their support.
"It was the best Christmas present we've ever had," Starr wrote.
At a book-signing visit in Milwaukee last November, Bart Starr told an interviewer he had discussed the matter at length with Bret before including the reference to his son's drug problem in his book.
"He was all for it," he said. "He, too, thought it might help someone."
Bart Starr was quarterback of the Packers during Green Bay's glory years of the 1960s. He led the club to five National Football League titles during the decade and was voted most valuable player in Super Bowl I and II.
He coached the Packers from 1975 to 1983, compiling a 53-77-3 record, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
Bob Long, a former teammate and now a business partner of Bart Starr, said Starr called him Thursday to tell him of the death. Long lives in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee.
"It's been a real tough five years for Bart," Long said. "He lost his dad.
His mother-in-law died. He had a major disappointment at Green Bay (when he lost the coaching job).
"And now this. Nothing, though, can be compared to losing a son," Long said.
Bret Starr is survived by his parents and a brother, Bart Jr.
The Green Bay Press-Gazzette
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Friday, July 8, 1988, p. 1
.
Bart Starr's son found dead
in Florida; cause unknown
By Tony Walter
Press-Gazette
Police officials in Tampa, Fla., have confirmed that Bret Michael Starr died several days ago in his home.
But they haven't announced how he died.
The 24-year-old son of former Green Bay Packers quarterback and coach Bart Starr and his wife, Cherry, was identified late Thursday as the man who was found dead in the four-bedroom house in a Carrollwood subdivision earlier in the day.
It took police officials about four hours to make a positive identification of the partially decomposed body.
"We don't know the cause of death yet," Jack Hall, county forensic investigator, said late Thurs day. An autopsy was expected to be conducted today.
Funeral arrangements are incomplete.
Capt. Gary Terry of the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Department said there were no obvious signs of trauma on Starr's body.
Neither Starr nor any members of his family were available to comment on Bret Starr's death. Bart Starr gave a message to a Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department officer that he would have no comment.
Authorities said they would have to await an autopsy report from the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office to find out how Starr died, but added there were no signs of a struggle in the house and no reason to suspect foul play.
The Starr family's tragedy be gan to unfold at 9:30 a.m. Thursday when Bart Starr arrived at the house he rented for his son.
Bart Starr lives in Phoenix but apparently was concerned about his inability to contact his younger son for several days.
He was unable to get into the house and, discovering a foul odor, contacted police.
Officers obtained a key from landlord Levester Jones but were prevented from getting into the residence for some time by two, rottweiler dogs. The officers contacted Humane Society officials to have the dogs removed.
When officers entered the house at 11:40 a.m., they found Starr's body in a dining area leading to the backyard.
"It had been there an estimated two to four days and the air-conditioning was off," said sheriffs department spokesman Jack Espinosa, who said there was no identification on the body. "It was difficult to identify, unrecognizable."
Temperatures in the Tampa area were in the high 80s and low 90s this week.
A reporter for The St. Petersburg Times said he and a newspaper photographer saw police officials remove a syringe and needles from the house. The police have refused to comment on the report of drug paraphernalia being taken from Starr's house.
Starr lived alone in the house, police officials said.
Starr had been living in Tampa since 1984 when he helped start Gulf Coast Fisheries, a wholesale exotic fish and reptile importing company.
Bret Starr and his parents were together for the last time June 18 when they participated in the Lombardi Classic charity golf tournament in Menomonee Falls.
Starr was born and raised in the Green Hay area. He attended elementary school in De Pere and graduating from De Pere High School in 1982. He attended the University of Wisconsin briefly.
After high school, Starr waged a battle with a cocaine addiction, which his father described in his autobiography My Iife in Football: Starr that was published last year.
In it, Bart Starr wrote about how Bret had to be taken to Hazelden, a drug rehabilitation center in Minnesota, and how Bret left after just two days at the center.
"From the time he was a child, Bret had difficulty dealing with being Bart Starr's son in a small community," Starr wrote in his book. "While Bart junior (Starr's older son) grew up during the Packers' exciting glory years, Bret was, at a very sensitive age, living with his family through seasons of disappointments and frequent criticism of his father by the news media.
"It was not a happy time for any of us, especially Bret, who had to face his peers every Monday."
Starr related how, after the battle against drugs, Bret spent Christmas 1986 with his family and thanked his parents for their support.
"It was the best Christmas present we've ever had," Starr wrote.
At a book-signing visit in Milwaukee last November, Bart Starr told an interviewer he had discussed the matter at length with Bret before including the reference to his son's drug problem in his book.
"He was all for it," he said. "He, too, thought it might help someone."
Bart Starr was quarterback of the Packers during Green Bay's glory years of the 1960s. He led the club to five National Football League titles during the decade and was voted most valuable player in Super Bowl I and II.
He coached the Packers from 1975 to 1983, compiling a 53-77-3 record, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.
Bob Long, a former teammate and now a business partner of Bart Starr, said Starr called him Thursday to tell him of the death. Long lives in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee.
"It's been a real tough five years for Bart," Long said. "He lost his dad.
His mother-in-law died. He had a major disappointment at Green Bay (when he lost the coaching job).
"And now this. Nothing, though, can be compared to losing a son," Long said.
Bret Starr is survived by his parents and a brother, Bart Jr.
The Green Bay Press-Gazzette
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Friday, July 8, 1988, p. 1
.
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