Fred Carr, former Green Bay Packers, Phoenix College, Phoenix Union standout, dies at 71

Fred Carr, one of the greatest athletes ever to come out of Arizona and one of the best players in Green Bay Packers history, died on Monday. He was 71.

He had been suffering from dementia and prostate cancer, his daughter, Karsetta Carr, said.

Carr starred in three sports at Phoenix Union High in the 1960s, before helping lead Phoenix College to a national championship his freshman year.

JAN. 30, 1968:Fred Carr is surprise pick by Packers

He went on to play football and basketball at Texas Western (now UTEP) before playing linebacker for the Packers for nine seasons, starting in 1968.

"Just a couple of weekends ago, my dad's name came up, and some older men said, 'I played football because of your dad,' '' said Karsetta Carr, one of Fred's six children.

Carr's nephews, Brian and Terry Fair, were two of South Mountain's best athletes, as well. Brian Fair played basketball at UConn; Terry Fair played football at Tennessee and in the NFL.

RELATED:Carr 1st Arizona high school football player to go in 1st round of NFL draft

Craig Liston, a quarterback who was a year ahead of Carr and played at Phoenix Central High, teamed up with Carr on Phoenix College's 1964 national championship team, throwing a touchdown pass to Carr, while he was lined up at tight end.

"I've been running from him ever since," Liston said jokingly of playing quarterback in high school and being chased down by Carr in football games. "(Vince) Lombardi called him the greatest athlete he ever had. He was 6-5, 245 pounds and ran like a gazelle."

Carr was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1983. He played from 1968-77 for the Packers. Lombardi drafted Carr as general manager of the Packers in 1968.

Liston said the Carr name is a household one in south Phoenix to this day.

"If you said, 'Freddie,' everyone knew who you were talking about," Liston said. "Everyone knew Freddie Carr. He was always caring. He was the life of the party. Everybody wanted to be around Freddie. His personality was bigger than himself."

Karsetta Carr said that funeral services will be held March 3 but the time and place hasn't been established yet.

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