 Tarkenton in 2010 | |||||||||||||||||||
| No. 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Position | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1940-02-03)February 3, 1940 (age 85) Richmond, Virginia, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school | Athens (Athens, Georgia) | ||||||||||||||||||
| College | Georgia (1958–1960) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1961: 3rd round, 29th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| AFL draft | 1961: 5th round, 35th overall pick | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
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Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professionalfootballquarterback who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with theMinnesota Vikings. He is widely regarded as the first greatdual-threat quarterback in the NFL.[1][2][3] He playedcollege football for theGeorgia Bulldogs, where he was recognized as a twice first-teamAll-SEC, and was selected by the Vikings in the third round of the1961 NFL draft. After retiring from football, he became a media personality and computer software executive.
Tarkenton's tenure with the Vikings spanned thirteen non-consecutive seasons. He played for Minnesota six seasons from 1961 to 1966 when he was traded to theNew York Giants for five seasons, and then traded back to Minnesota for his last seven seasons from 1972 to 1978. At the time of his retirement, Tarkenton was the all-time NFL career leader in numerous records (including career passing touchdowns, yards, and completions). He was inducted into thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 and theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
In addition to his football career, Tarkenton served as a commentator onMonday Night Football and a co-host ofThat's Incredible!. He also founded Tarkenton Software, a computer-program generator company, and he toured the U.S. promoting CASE (computer-aided software engineering) withAlbert F. Case Jr. of Nastec Corporation. Tarkenton Software later merged withKnowledgeWare (with Tarkenton as president), until selling the company toSterling Software in 1994.
Fran Tarkenton was born on February 3, 1940, inRichmond, Virginia. His father, Dallas Tarkenton, was aMethodist minister.[4][5] Tarkenton went toClarke Central High School inAthens, Georgia, and later attended theUniversity of Georgia, where he was the quarterback on theBulldog football team and a member of theSigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[6]
Under head coachWally Butts and with Tarkenton as quarterback, Georgia won theSoutheastern Conference championship in1959.[7] Tarkenton was a first-team All-SEC selection in both1959 and1960.[8][9]
TheexpansionMinnesota Vikings selected Tarkenton in the third round (29th overall) of the1961 NFL draft, and he was picked in the fifth round of theAFL draft by theBoston Patriots.[10][11] He signed with the Vikings. Tarkenton, 21, played his first NFL game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota against the Dallas Cowboys (and the Vikings' first ever game as an expansion team.) On September 17 against theChicago Bears, he came off the bench to lead the Vikings to a 37–13 victory by passing for 250 yards and four touchdown passes and running for another.[12][13] He was the only player in NFL history to pass for four touchdowns in his first NFL game, until the feat was repeated byMarcus Mariota in theTennessee Titans' 2015 season opener versus theTampa Bay Buccaneers.[14]
He played for the Vikings from1961 through1966. His early years with the team were plagued by the trouble expected for a newly created team, with the Vikings winning a total of 10 games combined in their first three seasons, with Tarkenton winning eight of them.[15][16][17] He threw 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions for 1,997 yards in his first season. He rushed for 308 yards on 56 rushes for five touchdowns.[18] The following year, he threw 22 touchdowns and 25 interceptions for 2,595 yards. He rushed for 361 yards on 41 rushes for two touchdowns.[19]
Tarkenton did not get along with team coachNorm Van Brocklin, who did not like his penchant forscrambling. For the week 13 game against Atlanta in 1966, Van Brocklin went as far as benching Tarkenton to put inBob Berry, a QB more to Van Brocklin's preferences (the Vikings proceeded to lose 20–14 to the 1-10 expansion team).[20] Tarkenton soon demanded a trade. In February 1967, Van Brocklin announced his resignation. On March 7, 1967, Tarkenton was traded to theNew York Giants for a first and second round pick in 1967, a first-round pick in 1968 and a second-round pick in 1969.[21][22][23][24][25][26] In his first year with the Giants, Tarkenton passed for a then-career high 3,088 yards and a career high 29 touchdown passes en route to a 7–7 record, a huge improvement for a team that had finished 1-12-1the year before.[27] Tarkenton has stated that his 1967 season remains the highlight of his career. In the 1968 season, he helped lead the team to a 7–7 record. He passed for 2,555 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions to go with 57 carries for 301 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.[28] In the first game of the1969 season, the Giants played theVikings. After trailing 23–10 in the fourth quarter, Tarkenton threw two touchdown passes to secure a 24–23 comeback victory over his former team.[29] The 24 points allowed by Minnesota's defense were a season-worst for the unit, one more point than the Vikings allowed in losingSuper Bowl IV to theKansas City Chiefs in January.[30]
Tarkenton enjoyed his best season with the Giants in1970. They overcame an 0–3 start with nine wins in the next ten games and moved into position to win theNFC East division championship in week 14. However, New York was routed 31–3 by theLos Angeles Rams atYankee Stadium to finish at 9–5, one game behind the division championDallas Cowboys and the wild cardDetroit Lions.[31] The 1970 season was the closest the Giants came to making the playoffs during a 17-year drought, from1964 through1980.[32]
On January 27,1972, Tarkenton was traded back to the Vikings for quarterbackNorm Snead, receiverBob Grim, running backVince Clements, a first rounder in1972 (24th overall:Larry Jacobson, defensive lineman) and a second rounder in1973 (40th overall:Brad Van Pelt, linebacker).[33][34][35] Tarkenton led the Vikings to threeNational Football Conference championships, but the Vikings lost each ensuingSuper Bowl. In the1974 Super Bowl, Minnesota lost to theMiami Dolphins 24–7 inHouston.[36] On October 27, 1974 at home vs. theNew England Patriots, and his Vikings leading 14-10, Tarkenton was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter after an altercation on the sidelines with Patriots cornerbackRon Bolton, who was also ejected simultaneously. The Vikings would be forced to punt on that drive, and the Patriots scored a touchdown with seconds remaining to win 17-14. This marked the first quarterback ejection in NFL history and as of 2025 only one other quarterback (then-Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterbackTrent Dilfer in 1995, coincidentally against the Vikings in Minnesota) in league history has been ejected from a game.
They lost the1975 Super Bowl to thePittsburgh Steelers 16–6 inNew Orleans,[37] and (in Minnesota's last Super Bowl to date) lost the1977 Super Bowl to theOakland Raiders 32–14 at theRose Bowl inPasadena, California.[38]
In his 18 NFL seasons, Tarkenton completed 3,686 of 6,467 passes for 47,003 yards and 342 touchdowns, with 266 interceptions, all of which were NFL records at the time of his retirement. Tarkenton's 47,003 career passing yards rank him 14th all time,[39] while his 342 career passing touchdowns is 13th all time in NFL history.[40] He also is 13th on the all-time list of regular-season wins by a starting quarterback with 124 regular season victories.[41] He used his impressivescrambling 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 eight in career rushing yards among quarterbacks, behindLamar Jackson,Michael Vick,Cam Newton,Russell Wilson,Randall Cunningham,Steve Young, andJosh Allen.[42] When he retired, Tarkenton held NFL career records in pass attempts, completions, yardage, touchdowns, rushing yards by a quarterback, and wins by a starting quarterback.
The Vikings finished the1975 season with an NFC-best 12–2 record and Tarkenton won theNFL Most Valuable Player Award and theNFL Offensive Player of the Year Award while capturingAll-Pro honors in the process.[43][44][45][46] He was also a second-team All-Pro in 1973 and earned All-NFC selections in 1972 and 1976.[47][48][49] He was named second-team All-NFC in 1970 and 1974.[50][51] Tarkenton was selected to play in ninePro Bowls.[52]
Tarkenton was indecisive on his retirement during the last seven years of his playing career. In the early months of 1979, he was offered a contract to play one more year and "receive $100,000 annually for the next 10 years as a nonplayer." On May 8, 1979, he announced his retirement.[53][54][55]
Despite not winning a Super Bowl, he won six playoff games, and in 1999 he was ranked #59 onThe Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players. Playing in the era of sacks not being counted by the league, Tarkenton was sacked 570 times in his career, unofficially the most in league history at the time of his retirement.[56]
Tarkenton was inducted into theGeorgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977,[57] thePro Football Hall of Fame in 1986,[52] theCollege Football Hall of Fame in 1987,[58] and theAthens, Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.[59]
A biography of Tarkenton titledBetter Scramble than Lose was published in 1969.[60] This followed Tarkenton's 1967 autobiographyNo Time for Losing and preceded by several years his 1977 autobiographyTarkenton co-written withJim Klobuchar. The autobiographies chronicle not only his football career but also his personal evolution from his early football days as a preacher's son. Tarkenton co-wrote withBrock Yates a book in 1971 titledBroken Patterns: The Education of a Quarterback, a chronicle of the 1970New York Giants season.[61]
In 1986, Tarkenton, with author Herb Resincow, wrote a novel titledMurder at the Super Bowl, thewhodunit story of a football coach killed just before his team is to participate in the championship game.[62]
Tarkenton wrote the self-help, motivational booksPlaying to Win in 1984,[63] andHow to Motivate People: The Team Strategy for Success in 1986.[64] He also wrote the motivational self-help business book titledWhat Losing Taught Me About Winning,[4] andEvery Day is Game Day.[65] In 1987, Tarkenton hosted aThink and Grow Rich TV infomercial that sold the book with an audio cassette version (the audio cassettes contained an introduction and conclusion by Tarkenton).[66]
Mark McCormack helped Tarkenton invest, making him wealthy enough to "retire this week if [he] wanted to", asNew York magazine wrote in 1971.[67] Tarkenton was 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" withAlbert F. Case, Jr. of Nastec Corporation, but ultimately merged his software firm withJames Martin'sKnowledgeWare, of which Tarkenton was president until selling the company toSterling Software in 1994.
Tarkenton served as a color commentator onMonday Night Football from 1979 to 1982.[68]
In 1999, Tarkenton was fined by federal regulators as part of a securities fraud sweep. According to theL.A. Times, "In Tarkenton's case, the Hall of Fame quarterback and 10 other former executives of his computer software and consulting firm, KnowledgeWare Inc., were accused of inflating by millions of dollars the company's earnings in reports for its fiscal year ended June 30, 1994. The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback agreed to pay a $100,000 fine and $54,187 in restitution. He did not admit any wrongdoing".[69]
Since then, Tarkenton has been promoting various products and services includingTony Robbins and1-800-BAR-NONE. He also founded GoSmallBiz, a small-business consulting website. He also operates anannuity marketing firm called Tarkenton Financial.
During the2016 Republican National Convention, Tarkenton gave a speech endorsing Republican presidential nomineeDonald Trump.[70]
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| APNFL MVP &OPOTY | |
| Led the league | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | Games | Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | GS | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Avg | TD | Int | Lng | Rtg | Att | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | ||
| 1961 | MIN | 14 | 10 | 157 | 280 | 56.1 | 1,997 | 7.1 | 18 | 17 | 71 | 74.7 | 56 | 308 | 5.5 | 52 | 5 |
| 1962 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 163 | 329 | 49.5 | 2,595 | 7.9 | 22 | 25 | 89 | 66.9 | 41 | 361 | 8.8 | 31 | 2 |
| 1963 | MIN | 14 | 13 | 170 | 297 | 57.2 | 2,311 | 7.8 | 15 | 15 | 67 | 78.0 | 28 | 162 | 5.8 | 24 | 1 |
| 1964 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 171 | 306 | 55.9 | 2,506 | 8.2 | 22 | 11 | 64 | 91.8 | 50 | 330 | 6.6 | 31 | 2 |
| 1965 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 171 | 329 | 52.0 | 2,609 | 7.9 | 19 | 11 | 72 | 83.8 | 56 | 356 | 6.4 | 36 | 1 |
| 1966 | MIN | 14 | 12 | 192 | 358 | 53.6 | 2,561 | 7.2 | 17 | 16 | 68 | 73.8 | 62 | 376 | 6.1 | 28 | 4 |
| 1967 | NYG | 14 | 14 | 204 | 377 | 54.1 | 3,088 | 8.2 | 29 | 19 | 70 | 85.9 | 44 | 306 | 7.0 | 22 | 2 |
| 1968 | NYG | 14 | 14 | 182 | 337 | 54.0 | 2,555 | 7.6 | 21 | 12 | 84 | 84.6 | 57 | 301 | 5.3 | 22 | 3 |
| 1969 | NYG | 14 | 14 | 220 | 409 | 53.8 | 2,918 | 7.1 | 23 | 8 | 65 | 87.2 | 37 | 172 | 4.6 | 21 | 0 |
| 1970 | NYG | 14 | 14 | 219 | 389 | 56.3 | 2,777 | 7.1 | 19 | 12 | 59 | 82.2 | 43 | 236 | 5.5 | 20 | 2 |
| 1971 | NYG | 13 | 13 | 226 | 386 | 58.5 | 2,567 | 6.7 | 11 | 21 | 81 | 65.4 | 30 | 111 | 3.7 | 16 | 3 |
| 1972 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 215 | 378 | 56.9 | 2,651 | 7.0 | 18 | 13 | 76 | 80.2 | 27 | 180 | 6.7 | 21 | 0 |
| 1973 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 169 | 274 | 61.7 | 2,113 | 7.7 | 15 | 7 | 54 | 93.2 | 41 | 202 | 4.9 | 16 | 1 |
| 1974 | MIN | 13 | 13 | 199 | 351 | 56.7 | 2,598 | 7.4 | 17 | 12 | 80 | 82.1 | 21 | 120 | 5.7 | 15 | 2 |
| 1975 | MIN | 14 | 14 | 273 | 425 | 64.2 | 2,994 | 7.0 | 25 | 13 | 46 | 91.8 | 16 | 108 | 6.8 | 21 | 2 |
| 1976 | MIN | 13 | 13 | 255 | 412 | 61.9 | 2,961 | 7.2 | 17 | 8 | 56 | 89.3 | 27 | 45 | 1.7 | 20 | 1 |
| 1977 | MIN | 9 | 9 | 155 | 258 | 60.1 | 1,734 | 6.7 | 9 | 14 | 59 | 69.2 | 15 | 6 | 0.4 | 8 | 0 |
| 1978 | MIN | 16 | 16 | 345 | 572 | 60.3 | 3,468 | 6.1 | 25 | 32 | 58 | 68.9 | 24 | −6 | −0.3 | 15 | 1 |
| Career | 246 | 239 | 3,686 | 6,467 | 57.0 | 47,003 | 7.3 | 342 | 266 | 89 | 80.4 | 675 | 3,674 | 5.4 | 52 | 32 | |
Tarkenton has been married twice and has four children.
His first marriage was to Anna Elaine Merrell ofDecatur, Georgia. They wed on December 22, 1960, at First Baptist Church in Decatur, and divorced in March 1982. They had three children: daughter Angela (born 1964), son Matthew (born 1968), and daughter Melissa (born 1969).[71][72]
Tarkenton married his second wife, Linda Sebastian, in the mid-1980s. They have one daughter, Hayley Gray Tarkenton (born 1988), a singer-songwriter.[73]
Tarkenton once dated actressAli MacGraw in the 1980s.
Media related toFran Tarkenton at Wikimedia Commons| International | |
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