wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
Starks has grown into role of leading ball carrier 

Green Bay Packers running back James Starks and his high school football coach, Donald Bass, text each other frequently and talk whenever they can.

This week, Bass was on the phone with Starks and asked him rhetorically, "Do you realize you're one game away from the Super Bowl?"

To which, Starks hesitated before replying: "Yeah. . . . I know."

"That's it," Bass said. "That's all he said. A game like this doesn't get to him. It doesn't faze him. He'll rise to the level of the play around him and then perform at it."

That has been Starks' history anyway.

Thrust into a new role in the first round of the playoffs, Starks responded with a Packers rookie record of 123 yards on 23 carries in a 21-16 victory over Philadelphia. Then the following week he carried 25 times against Atlanta in the divisional round - albeit for a modest 66 yards - giving him 48 carries in two games.

That's 19 more carries than he had the entire regular season.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg," Bass said. "They're going to be talking about him for years to come."

At this point, the Packers would settle for people talking about him for a week to come - or better yet, three weeks to come. Heading into the NFC Championship Game against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Starks stands to be a key figure.

Starks went from inactive for two weeks - he wasn't immersing himself in the offense the way the coaches wanted - to spot player against the Bears in the regular-season finale, and now he has become, for all intents and purposes, the Packers' starting running back.

And that means he may have to come up big against the Bears, a rough-and-tumble bunch who would like nothing more than to plant Starks in the ground and take the ball away from him.

"No. 1 goal is ball security," running backs coach Edgar Bennett said. "That's what these games are about. It's fundamentals and execution."

If you noticed that Bennett said nothing about Starks making sure he sees the hole in front of him, hits it quickly and drives his legs forward it's because he already knows Starks will do all those things.

He can hardly contain himself when he talks about Starks' natural ability.

"Athleticism? Oh yeah, you can see it," Bennett said. "There's certain things you look for: quickness, change of direction, explosiveness. But you're also talking about a natural instinctiveness. He's got very good vision.

"What helps a runner is his footwork, his course, his pace, understanding the blocking scheme. The kid has a tremendous feel for that."

If Bennett or anyone else in the Packers organization had consulted with Bass, they could have confirmed that a long time ago. He saw the athleticism the very first day the freshman walked out on the football field at Niagara Falls (N.Y.) High School.

Bass called the wiry ninth-grader over after a few pre-season drills and told him that if he stayed clean and tended to his studies, he'd have a chance to get a free ride to college.

A few days later, the team was practicing in pads for the first time, and once again Bass called over the quiet teenager in mid-practice. Starks' father was in attendance, and Bass brought them together and told the son, "You were born to do this. If you do the things I ask you to do, you'll be playing on Sundays."

In the years to come, Starks developed into a well-sculpted power runner. His unusual height and NBA-type body (6-foot-2, 218 pounds) belie the power in his hips and legs. As coach Mike McCarthy has pointed out many times, Starks constantly falls forward for extra yards.

To understand how he came to spend those Sundays with the Packers requires some astronomical study because of the way the planets aligned to make it happen.

First, Starks eschewed offers to bigger Division I schools and stayed close to home at the University of Buffalo, where former Packers director of player development Turner Gill had just become head coach. (Gill gave the Packers a glowing recommendation of him.)

Second, Starks ended up rooming at Buffalo with the son of Packers scout Alonzo Highsmith, a running back as well.

Third, Starks missed his senior year with a shoulder injury, and not too many people n the NFL went back and studied his sophomore and junior tapes. (The Packers already were clued in.)

Finally, the Chicago Bears had Starks on the phone on draft day and were about to make him the 12th pick in the sixth round, when they quickly did an about-face and drafted quarterback Dan LeFevour instead. (Twelve picks later, the Packers took Starks.)

"I knew I'd get an opportunity somewhere," Starks said this week. "As long as I was getting an opportunity, I'd be happy. I knew things would fall my way. Now I'm a Green Bay Packer, and I'm loving it."

The athletic bloodlines in the Starks family are rich. Jonny Flynn, a star basketball player at Syracuse and a 2009 first-round draft choice of the Minnesota Timberwolves, is a first cousin.

Flynn and Starks were on a state championship basketball team together - Starks, with his extraordinarily long arms, was the defensive stopper - and to this day Starks feels he could have made a career out of basketball. Despite Flynn's success, Bass said there was never any doubt whom the better athlete was.

"He easily was the best athlete this school has ever had," Bass said.

Starks decided to go to Buffalo because Gill told him he could play quarterback, but soon after he got there, he was moved to running back. It wasn't much of a transition. He rushed for 704 yards as a freshman and then topped the 1,000-yard mark each of the next two years.

"The kid is so long," said Allen Mogridge, Stark's first running backs coach at Buffalo and now an assistant with North Carolina. "And he's powerful. He's lean and tall. I think it blew people away to see someone like that.

"His freshman year, before games when guys were walking around the field, I remember looking at people's faces and they'd start at his feet and go to his head and be amazed someone could be so long."

Starks came from a poverty-stricken area in Niagara Falls, but through the guidance and hard work of his mother, he developed an even-mannered disposition, which included a smile wider than the spectacle for which his hometown was named.

Said Mogridge: "For him to come as far as he has is a testament to his dedication and focus. He knows where he came from. He takes pride in how far he has come but would never say that. He's as humble of a dude as there is."

Starks' injury problems prior to this season have been well documented. A hamstring injury kept Starks out of off-season workouts, and when he strained it again in training camp, he was left on the physically unable to perform list.

It took until Week 11 before he was finally activated to the 53-man roster. At one point, Starks told Bass he thought the Packers were going to cut him, but Bass told him there was no chance.

Starks broke out with a 73-yard performance against San Francisco on Dec. 5, but late in the year, coach Mike McCarthy didn't feel he could trust him to carry out every assignment. Starks was put on notice that he needed to study harder. After two weeks of inactivity, he was activated for the second Bears game and was the only running back who had any success carrying the ball that day (five carries for 20 yards).

When Starks broke out against Philadelphia, one of the most noticeable things about him was his smile every time he had a good run. He broke one long run in the game, but the Packers think he has the ability to do it more often.

Some of his teammates could see that potential early on.

"He's strong," injured running back Ryan Grant said. "Physically, he can get it done. I told him he's in the best position to do that because he doesn't have the bumps and bruises of the season. He should be strong and fast. He's put in the work. He's hot right now."

And he's one game away from playing in the Super Bowl.


UserPostedImage
Dulak
14 years ago
here is to the kid that always falls forward 🙂
digsthepack
14 years ago
Would love to see the Packers establish the run early. We run, we win....simple as that as our play-action would be unstoppable. Also, look for screens to Starks and the WRs to slow the pass rush.

Getting giddy.......
State Motto: "Wisconsin, our serial murderers eat their kill!"
Dexter_Sinister
14 years ago
When they drafted him, I didn't know anything about him. I just had to look him up.

I was impressed. I couldn't wait until he got some serious action.
I want to go out like my Grandpa did. Peacefully in his sleep.
Not screaming in terror like his passengers.
Zero2Cool
14 years ago
Starks is gooder
UserPostedImage
wpr
  • wpr
  • Preferred Member Topic Starter
14 years ago

Starks is gooder

"Zero2Cool" wrote:




Your line reminds me of when we use to say that Edgar Bennett was a mudder. He seem to do even better on sloppy, rough fields. Let's hope Starks is a mudder too.
UserPostedImage
Fan Shout
dfosterf (19h) : There will be a mini camp practice Thursday.
Zero2Cool (11-Jun) : He's been sporting a ring for a while now. It's probably Madonna.
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : We only do the tea before whoopee, it relaxes me.
wpr (10-Jun) : That's awesome Martha.
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : How's the ayahuasca tea he makes, Martha?
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : Turns out he like older women
Martha Careful (10-Jun) : I wasn't supposed to say anything, but yes the word is out and we are happy 😂😂😂
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : I might be late on this but Aaron Rodgers is now married
Mucky Tundra (10-Jun) : Well he can always ask his brother for pointers
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : Bo Melton taking some reps at CB as well as WR
Zero2Cool (10-Jun) : key transactions coming today at 3pm that will consume more cap in 2025
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jaire played in just 34 of a possible 68 games since the start of the 2021 season
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : reported, but not expected to practice
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : Jenkins has REPORTED for mandatory camp
Zero2Cool (9-Jun) : I really thought he'd play for Packers.
buckeyepackfan (9-Jun) : Packers releasing Jaire Alexander.
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : (Context: he wants his defense to create turnovers)
Mucky Tundra (8-Jun) : Giants DC Shane Bowen tells players to “be a damn pirate."
dfosterf (6-Jun) : Semper fi !
Cheesey (6-Jun) : This is why I have so much respect for those that have gone through battles
Cheesey (6-Jun) : I can't even imagine what that would have been like
wpr (6-Jun) : "Come on, you sons of bitches. Do you want to live forever?"
wpr (6-Jun) : Facing a line of machine guns 2 time medal of Honor recipient, First Sergeant Dan Daly told his men,
wpr (6-Jun) : Another detachment went into the Belleau Wood.
wpr (6-Jun) : On the 6th the Marines took Hill 142 but suffered terrible losses.
wpr (6-Jun) : It’s time to remember dfoster’s Marine brothers in Belleau Wood. The battle went on from June 1-26. Nearly 10,000 casualties.
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : Nick Collins and Morgan Burnett have signed with the PACK
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : he won't be wearing #12, maybe he will wear number two
packerfanoutwest (6-Jun) : He will fail this season, should have retired
Mucky Tundra (5-Jun) : Thus the cycle of Hall of Fame Packer QBs going to the Jets and then the Vikings is broken
bboystyle (5-Jun) : Rodgers to steelers on 1 year contract
Zero2Cool (5-Jun) : It's the cycle of civilizations. Get lazier, lazier, softer, softer and vanish.
Martha Careful (5-Jun) : great point. every aspect of society, including art, culture and sports has degraded.
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Green Bay sweep meant something to society about stopping pure excellence. We have the tush push now
dfosterf (4-Jun) : We old Martha.
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : *front four
Martha Careful (4-Jun) : Re frout four, I wish we had some Green "People Eaters" or a fearsome foursome
dfosterf (4-Jun) : *directions*
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Just don't ask him for driving direct
dfosterf (4-Jun) : Jim Marshall was an all-time great DE for the Purple People Eaters. Didn't like him. That's a compliment. RIP
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : ooppppss
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : “Kenny Clark played all of last season hurt by the way and got surgery to fix it in January”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood How much did the injury affect him last fall? “A lot.”
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : @ByRyanWood Kenny Clark said he had foot surgery in January. Injured his foot in opener against Eagles and played through it all year.
Zero2Cool (3-Jun) : Golden is wearing guardian cap again. I bet he plays with it on too.
Mucky Tundra (3-Jun) : All the stuff I'm reading from Lions fans are pointing at his toe; he more or less has permanent turf toe in one of his big toes
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Kenny played through it, and a shame he gets little credit for that, imo
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Big men. I hope it's not the undoing of Kenny Clark
dfosterf (3-Jun) : Probably his toe. Pretty much a great center. Toe injuries are brutal to bigen
Mucky Tundra (2-Jun) : Lions All-Pro C Frank Ragnow retires
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2025 Packers Schedule
Sunday, Sep 7 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Thursday, Sep 11 @ 7:15 PM
COMMANDERS
Sunday, Sep 21 @ 12:00 PM
Browns
Sunday, Sep 28 @ 7:20 PM
Cowboys
Sunday, Oct 12 @ 3:25 PM
BENGALS
Sunday, Oct 19 @ 3:25 PM
Cardinals
Sunday, Oct 26 @ 7:20 PM
Steelers
Sunday, Nov 2 @ 12:00 PM
PANTHERS
Monday, Nov 10 @ 7:15 PM
EAGLES
Sunday, Nov 16 @ 12:00 PM
Giants
Sunday, Nov 23 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Thursday, Nov 27 @ 12:00 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 7 @ 12:00 PM
BEARS
Sunday, Dec 14 @ 3:25 PM
Broncos
Friday, Dec 19 @ 11:00 PM
Bears
Friday, Dec 26 @ 11:00 PM
RAVENS
Saturday, Jan 3 @ 11:00 PM
Vikings
Recent Topics
18m / Green Bay Packers Talk / greengold

1h / Random Babble / Martha Careful

2h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

2h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

2h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

22h / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

10-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

10-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

7-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / Mucky Tundra

6-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

5-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

5-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

1-Jun / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

29-May / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

27-May / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2025 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.