Fran Tarkenton From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. (May 2008) Fran Tarkenton Position(s): Quarterback Jersey #(s): 10,12 Born: February 3, 1940 (1940-02-03) (age 68) Richmond, Virginia Career information Year(s): 1961–1978 NFL Draft: 1961 / Round: 3 / Pick: 29 College: Georgia Professional teams Minnesota Vikings (1961-66) New York Giants (1967-71) Minnesota Vikings (1972-78) Career stats TD-INT 342-266 Yards 47,003 QB Rating 80.4 Stats at NFL.com Career highlights and awards 9x Pro Bowl selection (1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1974, 1975, 1976) 6x All-Pro selection (1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976) 1975 NFL MVP 1975 NFL Offensive Player of the Year 1975 UPI NFC Player of the Year 1975 Bert Bell Award 1964 Pro Bowl MVP Minnesota Vikings #10 Retired Records Vikings Career Passing Yards Leader with 33,098 Vikings Career Passing Touchdowns Leader with 239 Pro Football Hall of Fame College Football Hall of Fame Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is a former professional football player, TV personality, and computer software executive. He is best known for his years with the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants, as well as a commentator on Monday Night Football and a co-host of That's Incredible!. Tarkenton also founded Tarkenton Software, a computer-program generator company, and he toured the U.S. promoting CASE (computer-aided software engineering) with Albert F. Case, Jr. of Nastec Corporation. Tarkenton Software later merged with KnowledgeWare (with Tarkenton as president), until selling the company to Sterling Software in 1994. Contents [hide] 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Professional football career 1.3 Post-football life 2 See also 3 Further reading 4 External links [edit] Biography [edit] Early life Tarkenton was born in Richmond, Virginia. He went to Athens High School (which later became Clarke Central High School) in Athens, Georgia, and later attended the University of Georgia where he was the quarterback on the Bulldog football team, leading Georgia to the 1959 Southeastern Conference championship under coach Wally Butts. Also in Tarkenton's early years he was a member of the Masonic Youth Group DeMolay. [edit] Professional football career The Minnesota Vikings drafted Tarkenton in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft. Tarkenton, 21, came into his first National Football League game (also the first game for the Vikings) against the Chicago Bears and led the Vikings to a victory by passing for 250 yards as the upstarts stunned the Bears 37-13. Tarkenton played for the Vikings from 1961 to 1966, during which time he frequently locked horns with head coach Norm Van Brocklin, who disdained the idea of a mobile quarterback, a concept that Tarkenton dramatically advanced in the NFL. Tarkenton was given the nickname "Scramblin' Fran" because he frequently ran around in the backfield to avoid being sacked by the opposition (among his other nicknames: "Sir Francis," used occasionally by Howard Cosell of ABC Sports). Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants in 1967 and played there for five season, until he was traded back to Minnesota in 1972. He led the Vikings to three Super Bowls in the 1970s, but lost all of them. In

Tarkenton's first Super Bowl apperance they lost to the Miami Dolphins 24-7 in Houston, the second the Vikes also lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a defensive struggle 16-6 in New Orleans, and in the last Super Bowl Tarkenton would ever play in the Vikes were blown out by the Oakland Raiders 32-14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Tarkenton won the NFL's MVP award after the 1975 season, capturing All-Pro honors in the process. Tarkenton was also second Team All-Pro in 1973 and earned All-NFC selection in 1972 and 1976. He was named second Team All-NFC in 1970 and 1974. Tarkenton was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls. In his 18 NFL seasons, Tarkenton completed 3,686 of 6,467 passes for 47,003 yards and 342 touchdowns, with 266 interceptions. He also is fourth on the all-time list of wins by a starting quarterback with 125 regular season victories. He also used his impressive scrambling ability to rack up 3,674 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on 675 carries. During his career, Tarkenton ran for a touchdown in 15 different seasons, an NFL record among quarterbacks. He ranks fourth in career rushing yards among quarterbacks', behind Randall Cunningham, Steve Young and Michael Vick. He is also one of two NFL quarterbacks ever to rush for at least 300 yards in seven different seasons; the other is Tobin Rote. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986, Tarkenton is widely considered one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Vikings head coach Bud Grant flatly called Tarkenton "the greatest quarterback who's ever played." However, Tarkenton's poor performance in three Super Bowls and his inability to win a championship ring in 18 seasons prevents some people from considering him as great as other quarterbacks. Despite not winning a Super Bowl, he won many playoff games, and in 1999 he was ranked number 59 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. He was also known to heave the ball deep on third and long with no regard to an interception. He stated this was due to the great defense they had. One of the more difficult losses of Tarkenton's career occurred during the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoffs. With what was considered by some observers[citation needed] to be the best team of their Purple People Eater era, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 17-14 on a controversial touchdown pass from Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson. The controversy sprang from the appearance that Pearson interfered with defender Nate Wright while running his route. The call so incensed the crowd that one fan fired a whiskey bottle from the stands, striking official Armen Terzian in the head. This was partly responsible for the banning of glass bottles at arenas around the country. Common Vikings folklore blames this incident for every future bad call that referees make against the Vikings, and has been termed "Terzian's Revenge". Tarkenton also lost his father, who passed away while he was watching that infamous game; it had been rumored that the "Hail Mary Pass" caused the cardiac arrest, but in fact Mr. Tarkenton died during the middle of the fourth quarter. It was a disappointing end to a spectacular season for the Vikings. They had finished the season with an NFC best 12-2 record and Tarkenton had won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award. For more details on this topic, see The Hail Mary (American football game). [edit] Post-football life Tarkenton was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987. Tarkenton later appeared on the television show That's Incredible! and also worked part time on Monday Night Football. He also guest-hosted Saturday Night Live on January 29, 1977. A biography of Tarkenton titled Better Scramble than Lose was published in 1969. Tarkenton wrote a book titled Broken Patterns: The Education of a Quarterback, as told to Brock Yates. It is a chronicle of the 1969 preseason and the 14-game regular season with the NY Giants. In 1986 Tarkenton, with author Herb Resincow, wrote a novel titled Murder at the Super Bowl, the whodunit story of a football coach killed just before his team is to participate in the championship game. It is not widely known that Tarkenton was also a pioneer in computer software, and founder of Tarkenton Software, a program generator company. He toured the United States promoting CASE or "computer-aided software engineering" with Albert F. Case, Jr. of Nastec Corporation, but ultimately merged his software firm with James Martin's KnowledgeWare, of which Tarkenton was president until selling the company to Sterling Software in 1994. In 1999 Tarkenton reached an agreement to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission suit accusing him and ten other executives of the software company of fraudulent activities that led to overstated earnings of $8 million for fiscal 1994. Tarkenton agreed to pay $54,187 in disgorged profits and a fine of $100,000. Since then, Tarkenton has been seen promoting various products and services including Tony Robbins and 1-800-BAR-NONE. He also founded GoSmallBiz.com[1], a small business consulting website, which also offers its services through Pre-paid Legal Services, Inc. His most current company is an annuity marketing firm called Tarkenton Financial.[2] Tarkenton, his wife Linda, and daughter Hayley currently reside in the Buckhead area of Atlanta, Georgia. [edit] See also History of the New York Giants (1925-1978) [edit] Further reading Olsen, Jack (1969). Better Scramble Than Lose. Four Winds Press. Book-length biography of Fran Tarkenton. [edit] External links Fran Tarkenton.com - official web site Pro-Football-Reference.com - career statistics. Fran Tarkenton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Fran Tarkenton at the Internet Movie Database Fran Tarkenton at TV.com College Football Hall of Fame - Fran Tarkenton Georgia Sports Hall of Fame Fran Tarkenton (entry in the New Georgia Encyclopedia) Football card gallery.com - Fran Tarkenton

Preceded by Ken Stabler NFL Most Valuable Player 1975 season Succeeded by Bert Jones Preceded by first quarterback Minnesota Vikings Starting Quarterback 1961-66 Succeeded by Joe Kapp Preceded by Gary Wood New York Giants Starting Quarterback 1967-71 Succeeded by Norm Snead Preceded by Gary Cuozzo Norm Snead Minnesota Vikings Starting Quarterback 1972-78 Succeeded by Tommy Kramer [show]v • d • eNFL MVP Award from the Associated Press 1957: J. Brown · 1958: J. Brown · 1959: Unitas · 1960: Van Brocklin · 1961: Hornung · 1962: J. Taylor · 1963: Tittle · 1964: Unitas · 1965: J. Brown · 1966: Starr · 1967: Unitas · 1968: Morrall · 1969: Gabriel · 1970: Brodie · 1971: Page · 1972: L. Brown · 1973: Simpson · 1974: Stabler · 1975: Tarkenton 1976: Jones · 1977: Payton · 1978: Bradshaw · 1979: Campbell · 1980: Sipe · 1981: Anderson · 1982: Moseley · 1983: Theismann · 1984: Marino · 1985: Allen · 1986: L. Taylor · 1987: Elway · 1988: Esiason · 1989: Montana · 1990: Montana · 1991: Thomas · 1992: Young · 1993: Smith · 1994: Young · 1995: Favre · 1996: Favre · 1997: Favre & Sanders · 1998: Davis · 1999: Warner · 2000: Faulk · 2001: Warner · 2002: Gannon · 2003: Manning & McNair · 2004: Manning · 2005: Alexander · 2006: Tomlinson · 2007: Brady · 2008: Manning [show]v • d • eNFL Offensive Player of the Year Award from the Associated Press 1972: Brown • 1973: Simpson • 1974: Stabler • 1975: Tarkenton • 1976: Jones • 1977: Payton • 1978: Campbell • 1979: Campbell (x2) • 1980: Campbell (x3) • 1981: Anderson • 1982: Fouts • 1983: Theismann • 1984: Marino • 1985: Allen • 1986: Dickerson • 1987: Rice • 1988: Craig • 1989: Montana • 1990: Moon • 1991: Thomas • 1992: Young • 1993: Rice (x2) • 1994: Sanders • 1995: Favre • 1996: Davis • 1997: Sanders (x2) • 1998: Davis (x2) • 1999: Faulk • 2000: Faulk (x2) • 2001: Faulk (x3) • 2002: Holmes • 2003: Lewis • 2004: Manning • 2005: Alexander • 2006: Tomlinson • 2007: Brady • 2008: Brees [show]v • d • eBert Bell Award 1959: Unitas | 1960: Van Brocklin | 1961: Hornung | 1962: Robustelli | 1963: J. Brown | 1964: Unitas | 1965: Retzlaff | 1966: Meredith | 1967: Unitas | 1968: Kelly | 1969: Gabriel | 1970: Blanda | 1971: Staubach | 1972: L. Brown | 1973: Simpson | 1974: Olsen | 1975: Tarkenton | 1976: Stabler | 1977: Griese | 1978: Bradshaw | 1979: Campbell | 1980: Jaworski | 1981: Anderson | 1982: Theismann | 1983: Riggins | 1984: Marino | 1985: Payton | 1986: Taylor | 1987: Rice | 1988: Cunningham | 1989: Montana | 1990: Cunningham | 1991: Sanders | 1992: Young | 1993: Smith | 1994: Young | 1995: Favre | 1996: Favre | 1997: Sanders | 1998: Cunningham | 1999: Warner | 2000: Gannon | 2001: Faulk | 2002: Gannon | 2003: Manning | 2004: Manning | 2005: Alexander | 2006: Tomlinson | 2007: Brady | 2008: Peterson [show]v • d • eMinnesota Vikings starting quarterbacks Tarkenton • Shaw • Kapp • Berry • Cuozzo • Lee • Kramer • Manning • Dils • Wilson • Gannon • McMahon • Moon • Johnson • Cunningham • George • Bouman • Culpepper • Wynn • Frerotte • Jackson • Holcomb • Bollinger [show]v • d • eNew York Giants starting quarterbacks McBride • Newman • Danowski • Miller • Leemans • Nix • Herber • Filchock • Governali • Conerly • Shaw • Tittle • Morrall • Wood • Tarkenton • Johnson • Snead • Morton • Pisarcik • Simms • Brunner • Hostetler • Brown • Kanell • Graham • Collins • Palmer • Warner • Manning [show]v • d • eMinnesota Vikings Retired Numbers #10 Fran Tarkenton • #53 Mick Tingelhoff • #70 Jim Marshall • #77 Korey Stringer • #80 Cris Carter • #88 Alan Page [show]v • d • ePro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1986 Paul Hornung • Ken Houston • Willie Lanier • Fran Tarkenton • Doak Walker Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran_Tarkenton" Categories: 1940 births | American football quarterbacks | American television personalities | College Football Hall of Fame inductees | Eastern Conference Pro Bowl players | Georgia Bulldogs football players | Living people | Minnesota Vikings players | National Conference Pro Bowl players | National Football League announcers | New York Giants players | People from Richmond, Virginia | Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees | Western Conference Pro Bowl players