Bart Starr Underwent Stem Cell Treatment for Strokes

This is the kind of stuff we don’t particularly enjoy talking about, but would be remiss if we didn’t.

Bart Starr hasn’t been healthy.

He suffered two strokes and a mild heart attack last September. As some of you will remember, Starr’s health caused him to call off a planned appearance in Green Bay, where Brett Favre planned to use him as a human shield. When Starr decided he wouldn’t be able to attend, Favre ducked out too.

At any rate, this is about the Green Bay Packers greatest quarterback, not their third-greatest.

Although they haven’t really spoken to the what or why, we know Starr has taken part in a stem cell trial. It has been vaguely deemed “therapeutic,” which tells us Bart hasn’t fully recovered from the strokes.

“Following Bart’s strokes, our family began to investigate numerous therapy options,” the family said. “Several months ago we applied for and were accepted into a clinical trial using stem cells.

“Friday we safely returned home from the first of the two treatments.”

These treatments are considered experimental in the U.S. and they’re limited by the Food and Drug Administration. However, they’re more freely available in countries that are not owned by pharmaceutical companies.

They have proven successful in regenerating tissue and in turn allowing injured muscles and joints to function more effectively.

And as this was Bart’s first round of treatment, no one really knows what’s going to happen yet.

Obviously, we’ll be hoping for the best. Bart Starr was not only a great football player. He’s a great human being.