George Lawrence Starke (born July 18, 1948) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1972 to 1984.
He played college football for the Columbia Lions and was selected by the Washington Redskins in the 11th round of the 1971 NFL Draft. He appeared with the Redskins in two Super Bowls ( 1982 and 1983), helping them win Super Bowl XVII.
Starke's professional football career lasted 13 years and, at the time of his retirement, Starke had been captain of the Redskins for five years. He was named one of the 70 greatest players in Redskins history.
The 6'5", 255-pound Starke was known by many as the "Head Hog" of "The Hogs," the Redskins' famous offensive line which also included Russ Grimm, Don Warren, Rick Walker, Mark May, Joe Jacoby and Jeff Bostic. The Hogs stayed together with a few other later additions nearly a decade after Starke's retirement in 1984.
Following his retirement from professional football, Starke attended Ford Motors Dealer Operations School and opened "George Starke Ford" in Emmitsburg, Maryland. At the same time, he launched a career in television broadcasting.
In 1997, Starke founded the "Excel Institute" in Washington, D.C., a not-for profit adult education vocational training school for at risk individuals above the age of 16. After graduating over 500 students trained as auto technicians, Starke retired from the Institute on October 1, 2010.
Starke's other endeavors include "Head Hog BBQ" restaurants in Bethesda, Maryland and Rockville, Maryland named after the famous Washington Redskins offensive line of which he was the senior member.
Following his retirement from the institute, Starke started Starke Communications, a communications firm that provides communications, public relations and marketing services to corporate clients.
Early years
Starke grew up in New Rochelle, New York and attended public schools there. His father, George Starke Sr., was a high school principal in Yonkers, New York and his mother, Shirley Starke, was a registered nurse. He has Mohawk ancestry on his mother's side.
Upon graduation from New Rochelle High School, Starke received a series of football awards, including All-Westchester County, All-Metropolitan, All-State and All-American. He was inducted into the New Rochelle and Westchester County Halls of Fame.
College career
Starke decided to attend Columbia College after having traveled much of the United States on a college tour that was sponsored by the many institutions offering him admission and full scholarships. The last college he visited prior to accepting Columbia College was Notre Dame. Had he gone there, he would have teamed with Notre Dame's quarterback Joe Theisman who later teamed with Starke in the Super Bowl victory over the Miami Dolphins.
One last attempt to sidetrack Starke's Columbia decision was made by the University of Virginia, which offered him the opportunity to not only attend their school on full scholarship, but also be the person to desegregate their college. Starke declined this offer.
While at Columbia College in New York City, Starke led his college football team in receptions as a tight end in 1969. At Columbia, Starke majored in physics and, in addition to football, also played center on a Columbia basketball team that featured All-Americans Jim McMillan and Haywood Dotsun. That Columbia basketball team would rise in the collegiate national basketball rankings to number 2 in the United States, just below UCLA. In 1983, Starke received Columbia's highest graduate award, the "John Jay Award" for prestigious graduate achievement.
Pro football
In spite of being drafted by the Redskins, Starke's pro football career had a rough start. Two weeks into Redskins training camp in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Starke was cut by the Redskins and went to Kansas City, Missouri to try out for the Kansas City Chiefs. After spending the remainder of the training camp with the Chiefs and being told he would make the squad, Starke was the last player cut by head coach Hank Stram just before the season began. In July 1972, Starke journeyed to Thousand Oaks, California to try out for the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys trained in the hills 40 miles north of Los Angeles to escape the heat of suburban Dallas, Texas. After six weeks of training camp with the Cowboys, Starke was cut but then the Redskins asked him to return and try again.