Fred Carr, one of the greatest linebackers ever to play for Texas Western who later starred for the Green Bay Packers, died Monday at the age of 71. He had been suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, his daughter Karsetta told azcentral.com.

Carr came to Texas Western from Phoenix College, where he won a national championship as a freshman. With the Miners, Carr was a major part of some of the best Texas Western football teams ever, winning the 1965 and 1967 Sun Bowl. In 1968, the Green Bay Packers drafted him fifth overall.

"There is no question that he is the greatest college football player in the country," Lombardi said on draft day. "Regardless of what our needs are, we had to take him. He was the No. 1 athlete on our books. We just felt we couldn’t pass him up."

As luck would have it, Lombardi resigned as coach of the Packers just two days later. As for Carr, he played on only one playoff team in 10 seasons with Green Bay. He never missed a game during his time with the Packers and Carr made the Pro Bowl three different times during his career. In 1983, he was named to the Packers Hall of Fame.

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