
America's Quarterback
Bart Starr and the Rise of the National Football League
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $20.72
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jay Snyder
-
By:
-
Keith Dunnavant
About this listen
A powerful biography of one of the greatest football players of all time, in the spirit of Johnny U and Namath.
No one can touch Bart Starr's record setting 5 NFL Championships, including 3 straight. America's Quarterback tells the story of the man who helped create the legend of Vince Lombardi and the Green Bay Packers. Set against the changing landscape of the last half of the 20th century, this biography traces Starr’s life from childhood in Alabama to stardom in Green Bay and beyond. Not a simple sports story, Dunnavant traces the story of one man reaching for the American dream while professional football emerged from the shadows to capture the nation’s imagination.
It’s a story of the tension between a coach and a player as different as fire and ice, and how they came to trust and revere each other. It’s a story of triumph tempered by tragedy, and the world-class athlete who quietly and persistently, achieved a level of greatness unsurpassed by any quarterback since.
A remarkable blend of personal memory and historical narrative, America’s Quarterback is a tribute to an American hero and the perfect companion to the classic When Pride Still Mattered.
©2011 Keith Dunnavant (P)2013 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Instant Replay
- The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer
- By: Jerry Kramer, Dick Schaap
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic sports book takes listeners inside the 1967 season of the Green Bay Packers, following that storied team from training camp to their dramatic victory in Super Bowl II. Candid and often amusing, Jerry Kramer describes from a player's perspective a bygone era of sports, filled with blood, grit, and tears. No game better exemplifies this period than the classic "Ice Bowl" conference championship game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which Kramer, who made the crucial block in the climactic play, describes in thrilling detail.
-
-
A Sports Classic
- By W. Hetfield on 03-17-25
By: Jerry Kramer, and others
-
The Missing Ring
- How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football's Most Elusive Prize
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Very few institutions in American sports can match the enduring excellence of the University of Alabama football program. Across a wide swath of the last century, the tradition-rich Crimson Tide has claimed twelve national championships, captured 25 conference titles, finished 34 times among the country's top ten, and played in 53 bowl games.
-
-
Fantastic
- By John Rogers on 03-29-18
By: Keith Dunnavant
-
What It Takes to Be #1
- Vince Lombardi on Leadership
- By: Vince Lombardi
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In What It Takes to Be #1, Vince Lombardi, Jr. explores his father's leadership philosophy and extracts powerful lessons about what it takes to be an effective leader. Taking as his jumping-off point his father's legendary 1970 speech on the supreme importance of self-knowledge, character, and integrity, Lombardi, Jr. examines each of those qualities and offers guidelines on cultivating and applying them at work and in your personal life.
-
-
This book does not load correctly.
- By Stacy Isaacson on 09-15-22
By: Vince Lombardi
-
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor for the American experience. The nine seasons during which he led the Green Bay Packers to five world championships is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography that has become an American classic.
-
-
What's in a name?
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-05-17
By: David Maraniss
-
The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban
- How Alabama's Coach Became the Greatest Ever
- By: John Talty
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With coach Nick Saban at the helm, the Crimson Tide has won six of the last twelve national titles. The 2020 championship team showcased Saban's evolution as a leader and further solidified what many long suspected was true: Nick Saban is college football's greatest coach ever. Leaders of any kind, including coaches and beyond, stand to gain great wisdom and inspiration by learning from his success.
-
-
A Regrettable Use of a Credit
- By Jeremy Barnett on 01-22-23
By: John Talty
-
That First Season
- How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Pat Young
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City.
-
-
Narrator should refund his fee
- By Brian W. Barton on 08-20-18
By: John Eisenberg
-
Instant Replay
- The Green Bay Diary of Jerry Kramer
- By: Jerry Kramer, Dick Schaap
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This classic sports book takes listeners inside the 1967 season of the Green Bay Packers, following that storied team from training camp to their dramatic victory in Super Bowl II. Candid and often amusing, Jerry Kramer describes from a player's perspective a bygone era of sports, filled with blood, grit, and tears. No game better exemplifies this period than the classic "Ice Bowl" conference championship game between the Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, which Kramer, who made the crucial block in the climactic play, describes in thrilling detail.
-
-
A Sports Classic
- By W. Hetfield on 03-17-25
By: Jerry Kramer, and others
-
The Missing Ring
- How Bear Bryant and the 1966 Alabama Crimson Tide Were Denied College Football's Most Elusive Prize
- By: Keith Dunnavant
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Very few institutions in American sports can match the enduring excellence of the University of Alabama football program. Across a wide swath of the last century, the tradition-rich Crimson Tide has claimed twelve national championships, captured 25 conference titles, finished 34 times among the country's top ten, and played in 53 bowl games.
-
-
Fantastic
- By John Rogers on 03-29-18
By: Keith Dunnavant
-
What It Takes to Be #1
- Vince Lombardi on Leadership
- By: Vince Lombardi
- Narrated by: Michael Prichard
- Length: 4 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In What It Takes to Be #1, Vince Lombardi, Jr. explores his father's leadership philosophy and extracts powerful lessons about what it takes to be an effective leader. Taking as his jumping-off point his father's legendary 1970 speech on the supreme importance of self-knowledge, character, and integrity, Lombardi, Jr. examines each of those qualities and offers guidelines on cultivating and applying them at work and in your personal life.
-
-
This book does not load correctly.
- By Stacy Isaacson on 09-15-22
By: Vince Lombardi
-
When Pride Still Mattered
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: Richard M. Davidson
- Length: 28 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
More than any other sports figure, Vince Lombardi transformed football into a metaphor for the American experience. The nine seasons during which he led the Green Bay Packers to five world championships is the most storied period in NFL history. Lombardi became a legend, a symbol to many of leadership, discipline, perseverance, and teamwork, and to others of an obsession with winning. Maraniss captures the myth and the man, football, God, and country in a thrilling biography that has become an American classic.
-
-
What's in a name?
- By Brian W. Barton on 05-05-17
By: David Maraniss
-
The Leadership Secrets of Nick Saban
- How Alabama's Coach Became the Greatest Ever
- By: John Talty
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With coach Nick Saban at the helm, the Crimson Tide has won six of the last twelve national titles. The 2020 championship team showcased Saban's evolution as a leader and further solidified what many long suspected was true: Nick Saban is college football's greatest coach ever. Leaders of any kind, including coaches and beyond, stand to gain great wisdom and inspiration by learning from his success.
-
-
A Regrettable Use of a Credit
- By Jeremy Barnett on 01-22-23
By: John Talty
-
That First Season
- How Vince Lombardi Took the Worst Team in the NFL and Set It on the Path to Glory
- By: John Eisenberg
- Narrated by: Pat Young
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
John Eisenberg's That First Season is the seldom-studied prequel to a phenomenal football career for Vince Lombardi and the Packers, drawing on exhaustive new research and interviews to tell an incredible ensemble tale of a team, a town, and their leader. The once-vaunted Green Bay Packers were a laughingstock by the late 1950s. They hadn't fielded a winning team in more than a decade and were close to losing their franchise to another city. They were in desperate need of a savior, and he arrived in a wood-paneled station wagon in the dead of winter from New York City.
-
-
Narrator should refund his fee
- By Brian W. Barton on 08-20-18
By: John Eisenberg
-
Best of Rivals
- Joe Montana, Steve Young, and the Inside Story Behind the NFL's Greatest Quarterback Controversy
- By: Adam Lazarus
- Narrated by: James Conlan
- Length: 11 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this revealing, in-depth look at the NFL's greatest quarterback controversy, Adam Lazarus takes listeners into the locker room and inside the huddle to deliver the real story behind the rivalry - when Joe Montana and Steve Young battled on and off the field and forged one of the finest football dynasties of all time. From 1987 to 1994, the two future Hall of Famers spurred each other on to remarkable heights, including three Super Bowl wins and four MVP awards, setting new standards for quarterback excellence.
-
-
Excellent backstory of Montana and Young
- By Jason on 04-28-15
By: Adam Lazarus
-
The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume I, Fort Sumter to Perryville
- By: Shelby Foote
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 42 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Civil War: A Narrative, Volume 1 begins one of the most remarkable works of history ever fashioned. All the great battles are here, of course, from Bull Run through Shiloh, the Seven Days Battles, and Antietam, but so are the smaller ones: Ball's Bluff, Fort Donelson, Pea Ridge, Island Ten, New Orleans, and Monitor versus Merrimac.
-
-
OUTSTANDING! I'M PROUD TO BE A BLACK AMERICAN!!
- By The Louligan on 08-22-13
By: Shelby Foote
-
It's a Long Story
- My Life
- By: Willie Nelson, David Ritz - contributor
- Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant
- Length: 9 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Unvarnished. Funny. Leaving no stone unturned"...So say the publishers about this audiobook I've written. What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it. It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right. Of my childhood in Abbott, Texas, to the Pacific Northwest, from Nashville to Hawaii, and all the way back again. Of selling vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias while hosting radio shows and writing song after song, hoping to strike gold.
-
-
An Enjoyable Listen
- By Patrick on 05-19-15
By: Willie Nelson, and others
-
Heart and Steel
- By: Bill Cowher, Michael Holley
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Bill Cowher - author's note
- Length: 9 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Bill Cowher, the Super Bowl-winning, Hall-of-Fame Pittsburgh Steelers coach, and cohost of CBS’ The NFL Today, comes a poignant, inspirational story about football, family, and love.
-
-
Incredible.
- By Nicole Hagan on 09-06-21
By: Bill Cowher, and others
-
Tombstone
- The Earp Brothers, Doc Holliday, and the Vendetta Ride from Hell
- By: Tom Clavin
- Narrated by: Johnny Heller
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The true story of the Earp brothers, Doc Holliday, and the famous Battle at the OK Corral, by the New York Times best-selling author of Dodge City and Wild Bill. On the afternoon of October 26, 1881, nine men clashed in what would be known as the most famous shootout in American frontier history. Thirty bullets were exchanged in 30 seconds, killing three men and wounding three others. The fight sprang forth from a tense, hot summer.
-
-
Great fun read, western history.
- By Dennis on 06-03-20
By: Tom Clavin
-
Path Lit by Lightning
- By: David Maraniss
- Narrated by: David Maraniss
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jim Thorpe rose to world fame as a mythic talent who excelled at every sport. Most famously, he won gold medals in the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, he was an All-American football player at the Carlisle Indian School, the star of the first class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and played major league baseball for John McGraw’s New York Giants. Even in a golden age of sports celebrities, he was one of a kind.
-
-
Authors can’t always narate
- By SH on 09-05-22
By: David Maraniss
-
Love, Lucy
- By: Lucille Ball
- Narrated by: Lucie Arnaz
- Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Love, Lucy is the valentine Lucille Ball left for her fans—a warm, wise, and witty memoir written by Lucy herself. The legendary star of the classic sitcom I Love Lucy was at the pinnacle of her success when she sat down to record the story of her life. No comedienne had made America laugh so hard, no television actress had made the leap from radio and B movies to become one of the world’s best-loved performers. This is her story—in her own words.
-
-
What a great book
- By SCOTT on 07-11-18
By: Lucille Ball
-
The Last Folk Hero
- The Life and Myth of Bo Jackson
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 22 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the mid-1980s into the early 1990s, the greatest athlete of all time streaked across American sports and popular culture. Stadiums struggled to contain him. Clocks failed to capture his speed. His strength was legendary. His power unmatched. Video game makers turned him into an invincible character—and they were dead-on. He climbed (and walked across) walls, splintered baseball bats over his knee, turned oncoming tacklers into ground meat.
-
-
If you are a sports fan and over 35 years old, you have to listen/read this. Awesome!
- By betty sammons on 06-29-23
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
Eleven Rings
- The Soul of Success
- By: Phil Jackson, Hugh Delehanty
- Narrated by: Matt Walton
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
During his storied career as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers, Phil Jackson won more championships than any coach in the history of professional sports. This is the story of a preacher's kid from North Dakota who grew up to be one of the most innovative leaders of our time. Eleven times, Jackson led his teams to the ultimate goal: the NBA championship - six times with the Chicago Bulls and five times with the Los Angeles Lakers. This book is full of revelations.
-
-
Listener Beware
- By Robert S. Wegener on 07-12-13
By: Phil Jackson, and others
-
The Best Game Ever
- Giants vs. Colts, 1958, and the Birth of the Modern NFL
- By: Mark Bowden
- Narrated by: Phil Gigante
- Length: 6 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On December 28, 1958, the New York Giants and Baltimore Colts met under the lights of Yankee Stadium for that season's NFL Championship game. Football was still greatly over-shadowed by the country's favored pastime - baseball - but the 1958 championship proved to be the turning point for pro football.
On the field and roaming the sidelines were 17 future Hall of Famers, including Colts stars Johnny Unitas, Raymond Berry, and Gino Marchetti, and Giants greats Frank Gifford, Sam Huff, and assistant coaches Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.
The Best Game Ever is a brilliant portrait of how a single game changed the history of American sports.
-
-
What about the other team?
- By Smalls on 11-29-08
By: Mark Bowden
-
The Occasionally Accurate Annals of Football
- The NFL's Greatest Players, Plays, Scandals, and Screw-Ups (Plus Stuff We Totally Made Up)
- By: Dan Patrick, Joel H. Cohen
- Narrated by: Dan Patrick
- Length: 4 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Celebrated sports commentator Dan Patrick and comedy writer Joel H. Cohen team up with some of America’s greatest comedy writers to tell you everything and nothing about America’s sport.
-
-
Could’ve been a great book 
- By 40 yr trucker on 12-09-23
By: Dan Patrick, and others
-
Collision of Wills: Johnny Unitas, Don Shula, and the Rise of the Modern NFL
- By: Jack Gilden
- Narrated by: Kevin F Spalding
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As Don Shula and Johnny Unitas elevated the brutal game of football, the world around them clashed about Vietnam, civil rights, and sex. Collision of Wills looks at the complicated relationship between Don Shula, the league's winningest coach of all time, and his star player Johnny Unitas, and how their secret animosity fueled the Colts in an era when their losses were as memorable as their victories.
-
-
Performance wonderful-Book meanders
- By S. Conner on 11-28-18
By: Jack Gilden
What listeners say about America's Quarterback
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anthony nyman
- 03-30-15
awesome
great read really makes u feel like u know bart n his family its great
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- john ford
- 06-16-19
Doing the right thing
Not just a football book. A great book about dedication and choosing the right things to do in life.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Christopher J. Bscherer
- 10-12-20
What a great leader
can't say enough on what a great guy Bart Start was and a great leader.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- charles wartelle
- 09-05-24
Great biography of a great man.
Good narrator. As a kid in the 60s I revered Bart Starr. Now I know about the difficulties he experienced as a young man, how he overcame them, how he faced every challenge in life, including the tragic loss of his son. His love of his God, family and football carried him through it all.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!