Alabama alum Bart Starr talks Aggies/Tide, Vince Lombardi and more

Notes from Bart Starr interview

* He follows Alabama football as closely as he can and stays rather busy between keeping up with the Crimson Tide and the Green Bay Packers.

* He has been uniquely impressed with the job that Nick Saban has done with the Alabama football program and has been stunned by what Saban has accomplished so far. Saban is an exceptional coach and a very, very smart person. He has done a great job with the players he has recruited.

* Being an Alabama fan is very exciting, especially in a time like the present where you’re competing for a national championship every single year. The atmosphere surrounding their games right now is very electric and a bunch of fun to be a part of.

* He doesn’t think that he could appropriately recap the comeback over LSU from Saturday night, but the talent that A.J. McCarron had to bring them back was truly unique. The poise and confidence that he showed was contagious to the rest of the team and he deserves a tip of the hat for getting his team going in the right direction.

* He doesn’t know much about Johnny Manziel other than what he has read, but he is obviously quite talented.

* The game this weekend will be great because you have a matchup of a stellar A&M offense against a stellar Alabama defense.

* He’s obviously biased, so he isn’t going to give A&M much of a chance of pulling the upset over Alabama this weekend. However, you still have to be realistic and know that the Tide is going to have to play very strong and effective against the Aggies in order to get the victory, because when a team is that good on the offensive side of the ball, you can’t afford to have any kind of miscues.

* Playing under Vince Lombardi was fabulous. He will always remember their first team meeting when he said, “Gentlemen, we’re going to relentlessly chase perfection, knowing full well that we will not catch it because nothing is perfect. But we’re going to relentlessly chase it, because in the process, we will catch excellence. I’m not remotely interested in being just good.” After hearing that, none of the players needed a chair to sit in for the rest of the day because they were so hyped up for practice.