Son: Bart Starr making slow, steady recovery

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) Bart Starr, one of the Green Bay Packers most beloved quarterbacks, is making slow, but steady progress after recently suffering two strokes, a heart attack and seizures, his son says.

Bart Starr Jr. stood in for his father at a Rawhide charity fundraising event near Green Bay on Monday and was eager to tell the crowd about a text he had received just hours earlier while traveling to Wisconsin. His dad had taken his first steps in about three months since suffering two strokes, a heart attack and seizures in Alabama.

''This process,'' Starr Jr. said, ''it's not linear. You have to make a little progress, then you struggle a little bit, then you make a little progress and so forth. But when you do have one of those steps, it's something to celebrate.''

Starr Jr. says he's cautiously optimistic his father, who turns 81 next month, will be able to return to the Rawhide event next year and also make an appearance at Lambeau Field. But, that the first weeks after the health setbacks were full of uncertainty.

''The first problem is there's only so much you can take and the issue is whether you're going to survive at all,'' he said. ''After that, it's how much you can recover? This is a big, big deal in terms of recovery so we can get him back to this event and Packers games.''

Starr Jr. said his father wants to return to Green Bay when Brett Favre's jersey is retired. Starr was scheduled to appear with Favre when the Packers hosted the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9, but his health issues postponed the event. Favre also appeared at the Rawhide event in Ashwaubenon Monday.

Starr, who played for the Packers from 1956 to 1971, led the Packers to five NFL championships as well as the first two Super Bowls.