Cherry Starr told AL.com that Starr was badly injured from getting beaten with a wooden paddle by upperclassmen when he gained access to the “A-Club as a varsity letterman.
“His whole back all the way up to his rib cage looked like a piece of raw meat,” she said. “The bruising went all the way up his back. It was red and black and awful looking. It was so brutal.”
Starr led the Tide in passing as a sophomore in 1953,when he threw eight TD passes. But he threw just two TD passes total as a junior and senior
The back injury also caused Starr to fail a physical for the United State Air Force, which, his wife said, turned out to be a blessing in disguise.