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I never knew this until just reading it.
Yes, Lombardi tried twice to trade Starr to Dallas for Don Meredith based on what seemed liked irrefutable reporting from that time and a reliable interview I had with one of Lombardi's close friends in Green Bay. And, yes, I wrote about it in "The Greatest Story in Sports," in Volume II, page 434.
The original source for the story was Jim Kensil, who basically ran daily operations in the NFL office from 1961-77 under Commissioner Pete Rozelle and later served as president of the New York Jets from 1977-88. Around the time he left the Associated Press to go to work for the NFL, Kensil said he went to dinner with Lombardi, who told him the story almost exactly as you spelled it out in your question, including the Cowboys having the pick of any two players on the Packers' roster in exchange for Meredith. The deal was discussed following the completion of Meredith's rookie year in 1960 when he backed up Eddie LeBaron.
The presumption was that the Cowboys would have chosen Starr as one of the two players, considering he was 27 and four years younger than LeBaron.
Jack Koeppler, a frequent golf partner of Lombardi's and longtime Packers board member, told me in a 2009 interview that Lombardi confided to him a few years later during a round of golf at what was then Oneida Golf & Riding Club that he was trying again to deal Starr for Meredith, this time straight-up. Koeppler couldn't remember the exact year but believed it was likely after the 1964 or '65 season.
"He (Lombardi) tried his hardest to trade for Meredith," Koeppler told me. "He didn't deal with (Tom) Landry. He dealt with Tex Schramm. He really, really wanted Meredith. He said, 'I think I can win it all if I got Meredith.' It was towards the end. He called (Schramm) two or three times a day during the summer. They didn't have cell phones, but there was a phone call that came in when we were on the golf course. (Lombardi) never took a phone call on the golf course, but he did that time. He thought maybe that was it."
Koeppler's recollection was that someone from the clubhouse found them on the course, told Lombardi that Schramm wanted to talk to him as soon as possible and that Lombardi actually left the course for the only time in all their years of golfing to call Schramm back. When Lombardi returned to the course, according to Koeppler, he expressed disappointment that Schramm had turned him down.
Meanwhile, Dave Anderson, sports columnist for The New York Times and one of the many New York writers that Lombardi frequently confided in, wrote a column in 1974 about how Lombardi had once coveted Meredith. And Keith Dunnavant, author of "America's Quarterback: Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League," wrote that Starr knew of Lombardi's first effort to trade him and used it as a motivating tool.
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Yes, Lombardi tried twice to trade Starr to Dallas for Don Meredith based on what seemed liked irrefutable reporting from that time and a reliable interview I had with one of Lombardi's close friends in Green Bay. And, yes, I wrote about it in "The Greatest Story in Sports," in Volume II, page 434.
The original source for the story was Jim Kensil, who basically ran daily operations in the NFL office from 1961-77 under Commissioner Pete Rozelle and later served as president of the New York Jets from 1977-88. Around the time he left the Associated Press to go to work for the NFL, Kensil said he went to dinner with Lombardi, who told him the story almost exactly as you spelled it out in your question, including the Cowboys having the pick of any two players on the Packers' roster in exchange for Meredith. The deal was discussed following the completion of Meredith's rookie year in 1960 when he backed up Eddie LeBaron.
The presumption was that the Cowboys would have chosen Starr as one of the two players, considering he was 27 and four years younger than LeBaron.
Jack Koeppler, a frequent golf partner of Lombardi's and longtime Packers board member, told me in a 2009 interview that Lombardi confided to him a few years later during a round of golf at what was then Oneida Golf & Riding Club that he was trying again to deal Starr for Meredith, this time straight-up. Koeppler couldn't remember the exact year but believed it was likely after the 1964 or '65 season.
"He (Lombardi) tried his hardest to trade for Meredith," Koeppler told me. "He didn't deal with (Tom) Landry. He dealt with Tex Schramm. He really, really wanted Meredith. He said, 'I think I can win it all if I got Meredith.' It was towards the end. He called (Schramm) two or three times a day during the summer. They didn't have cell phones, but there was a phone call that came in when we were on the golf course. (Lombardi) never took a phone call on the golf course, but he did that time. He thought maybe that was it."
Koeppler's recollection was that someone from the clubhouse found them on the course, told Lombardi that Schramm wanted to talk to him as soon as possible and that Lombardi actually left the course for the only time in all their years of golfing to call Schramm back. When Lombardi returned to the course, according to Koeppler, he expressed disappointment that Schramm had turned him down.
Meanwhile, Dave Anderson, sports columnist for The New York Times and one of the many New York writers that Lombardi frequently confided in, wrote a column in 1974 about how Lombardi had once coveted Meredith. And Keith Dunnavant, author of "America's Quarterback: Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League," wrote that Starr knew of Lombardi's first effort to trade him and used it as a motivating tool.
Yes, Vince Lombardi tried to trade Bart Starr for Don Meredith
Lamar McHan’s brush with Lombardi ended his days in Green Bay
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