Excitement for Green Bay Packers Fans: Family of Packers Hall of Fame quarterback Zeke Bratkowski puts Super Bowl rings up for auction
It was an emotional moment for Kathryn Bratkowski in November, when the daughter of former Green Bay Packers quarterback Zeke Bratkowski handed over 20 of her father’s mementos to be auctioned.
His Super Bowl I and II rings. His 1965 NFL Championship ring, the start of what technically is the last three-peat in NFL history. His 1989 Packers Hall of Fame ring.
There were a few items she didn’t even know he had, like his 1954 University of Georgia class ring or the Georgia Circle of Honor ring he was presented with in 2006.
It was time to let them all go.
The money can be used to help speed up her retirement and provide a donation to one of her father’s charities. Her brother, longtime NFL assistant coach Bob Bratkowski, was supportive of the move because it’s a way to help his sister.
“It wasn’t a hard decision, because I want to do it for her,” Bob said. “Bottom line I came down to, what good are they going to be doing anybody if they are sitting in my safe? I figured if I can do some good for her, then so be it.”
Still, it wasn’t a surprise when it came time to part with the items that there might have been a tear or two from his sister.
“I grew up holding my dad’s hand with those rings on,” Kathryn said. “I always, always remember that. He had huge hands on top of it, but the ring always was very special to him.”
Former Green Bay Packers quarterback Zeke Bratkowski’s Super Bowl I ring is among his items being auctioned later this month.
Bob Bratkowski thought the Super Bowl rings were gone
There was a time when Kathryn and Bob believed those Super Bowl rings were gone forever.
Bob built a home in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida, in 2017, only for it to burn down a few years later because of a forest fire. He and his wife, Rebecca, lost virtually everything.
It included the two national championship rings Bob won as the offensive coordinator for the Miami Hurricanes.
And his father’s Super Bowl rings, too?
Not so fast. When he went to close out a safety deposit box, the rings were in there.
“I thought, ‘Oh, my goodness, we lost those,’” Bob said. “I thought I hadn’t put them in my safe, that I had just been lazy and not put them in my safe and I had kept them in my office.
“I was thrilled that they didn’t burn in the fire. It was pretty shocking. I thought we had lost them, because there was nothing left from the fire.”
The rings and other items will be auctioned in Heritage Auctions’ Winter Platinum Night Sports Auction on Feb. 22-23.
The Super Bowl I and II rings each had an estimate of at least $80,000, but both already have topped that figure.
The Super Bowl I ring is at $91,500 — it includes the buyer’s premium — with more than a week remaining, while the Super Bowl II ring is at $88,450.
The highest auction price for a Super Bowl I ring was set in November 2022, when offensive lineman Fuzzy Thurston’s sold for $216,000.
The record for a Super Bowl II ring is believed to be linebacker and Pro Football Hall of Famer Dave Robinson’s, which sold for $174,000 in August 2022.
Some Super Bowl rings have been altered over the years, including new diamonds. Others are a complete replacement after the original was lost or damaged.
All three of Bratkowski’s championship rings are original. Finding original Super Bowl I rings on the open market remains extremely difficult, let alone finding all three championship rings in pristine condition.
“They are some of the best I’ve ever seen,” Heritage consignment director and well-known Packers collector Chris Nerat said about the Bratkowski rings. “I believe this is the first time that all original championship rings from the Packers’ 1965, 1966 and 1967 teams have ever been offered in one auction. We’ve offered a lot in my 15 years at Heritage from those teams, but we have never offered the three in one, and I don’t think any auction house has.”
Bratkowski doesn’t have the same lofty status as someone like Robinson, but he does hold a strong place in team history.
Green Bay Packers quarterbacks Zeke Bratkowski (12) and Bart Starr (15) during a game with the Detroit Lions on Sept. 17, 1967, at Lambeau Field.
He was the backup to his best friend, Bart Starr, during the Packers’ dominating run in the 1960s. Bratkowski’s biggest moment during his seven seasons in Green Bay came in the 1965 playoffs against the Baltimore Colts for the Western Conference title.
Starr was injured on the first play, but Bratkowski helped save the day by throwing for 248 yards to lead the Packers to a 13-10 overtime win.
They followed by beating the Cleveland Browns in the NFL championship to start the run of three straight titles, which included the first two Super Bowls.
Bratkowski played in 43 games and started nine during his Packers career, throwing for 3,147 yards and 21 touchdowns along with 29 interceptions.
He made appearances in both Super Bowls, attempting one pass against the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl I and playing in the final minutes against the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II.
Bratkowski and Starr both died in 2019.
“Neither one of them had unhealthy egos,” said Kathryn, who moved to Florida after her father’s death to live with her mother, Mary Elizabeth, who died in 2021. “They were just regular guys doing their jobs. I remember sitting with my dad in our fancy living room, and he would be watching 8mm tapes of games. He would forward, and reverse, and forward. He would make notes. They were always studying.”
Growing up with an NFL dad and his famous friend, Bart Starr
The friendship between Bratkowski and Starr extended to their families, who every year would share Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners.
Each Friday night when both were still playing, the families would go to Proski’s for fish fry or Sammy’s Pizza and then to a movie.
Green Bay Packers quarterbacks Zeke Bratkowski (12) and Bart Starr (15) celebrate near the end of Super Bowl II against the Oakland Raiders at the Orange Bowl. The Packers defeated the Raiders 33-14.
Kathryn, Bob and their brother, Stephen, were like brothers and sisters to Starr’s two sons, Bret and Bart Jr., their entire childhood.
Both families suffered tragedies years later.
Bret Starr died of a drug overdose in 1988. Stephen Bratkowski was killed in a jet ski accident in 1990.
“I would go over there with Bart Jr. and play ping-pong and pool,” Bob said about his time spent at the Starr house. “It was just normal to me. At that time, I didn’t think twice about it. As I got older, I realized what they both had accomplished and how special that was.”
Bob and Stephen attended the Ice Bowl in 1967. Stephen got frostbite, and Bob is certain he got it in a couple of his toes. To this day, when it gets cold, everything goes numb.
Kathryn didn’t attend the game with her brothers. She and Bret Starr were in the basement of the Starr house, riding around on big wheels while their babysitter listened to the game on the radio.
Horsing around was far more important at the time to them than how their fathers were doing at the game.
“I played with Bret and Bart Jr., my brothers, we all played together,” Kathryn said. “Went out to Oneida Golf & Riding and would go sledding. (Bart and Cherry Starr) were like my second set of parents.
“When my dad retired here in Florida, Bart and Cherry bought a condo not far from us. They would drive down from Alabama and spend a week or two down here with my mom and dad. It was a tight friendship until they died.”
When Bob’s house burned down, Cherry offered to let his family stay at the condo. They did for almost two months.
“The one thing you learn after you have a fire and lose everything, is that you can live without a lot of things you think you couldn’t,” said Bob, who still has pictures of his father and Starr. “I have enough for the memories, and I have the memories themselves. Which are really special.”
Both Kathyrn and Bob know those things are more important than the items the family is auctioning.
“Let somebody else enjoy them, if they are a collector,” Kathyrn said. “I know my dad went to a lot of card signings over the years, and I very often times would meet him there. It was pretty special.”
