Green Bay Packers legend Bart Starr suffered from debilitating back issues throughout his career because he was beaten in a hazing incident at Alabama, his wife told AL.com.
The story that was widely circulated was that Starr was injured in a punting exercise before his junior year with the Crimson Tide in 1954. Instead, Cherry Starr says, he was badly beaten during initiation into the school's A-Club for varsity letterman.
"He was hospitalized at one point in traction," Cherry said to AL.com. "That was in the days when they were initiated into the A-Club, and they had severe beatings and paddling.