Scott Hunter
Green Bay Packers
Bart
Starr will be 38 when the 1972 season begins. Zeke Bratkowski will be
40. Scott Hunter will be 24. It's not difficult to understand then why
Green Bay's future and Hunter's are linked.
What those futures might be the pro scouts can't begin to estimate
because those whose files were opened had too little evidence with which
to rate Hunter, who was only a No. 6 draft pick by the Packers.
Obviously he was not considered to be in the Jim Plunkett-Archie
Manning-Dan Pastorini class (first rounders) in the draft. Not even in
the Lynn Dickey-Ken Anderson-Karl Douglas class (third-rounders). But
there might have been a reason- a shoulder injury that hampered his
effectiveness as a senior at Alabama.
What the Packers liked about Hunter- and what may be his biggest assets-
are his ability to run a disciplined-type offense and his Alabama
schooling under Coach Bear Bryant. Starr, it has to be remembered, comes
from the same exact background and ran the same type of offense during
the Packers' championship era.
Hunter has good size at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds (an inch and five pounds
more than Starr with which to stand the pounding), an arm that, while
not thought to be outstanding, is considered capable of firing the bomb
accurately when required and benefited from getting an opportunity to
play during his rookie year.
Hunter, however, did have considerable difficulty calling plays and at
one point during the season Coach Dan Devine felt compelled to do it for
him. But being able to deal with the NFL's complicated defenses is a
problem, as we have seen, for all young quarterbacks.
It also should be remembered that Rome wasn't built in a day. And
neither was Bart Starr.
