Biography fran tarkenton

Fran Tarkenton

American football player (born )

For the episode of Weeds named after this person, see Weeds (season 6).

American football player

Tarkenton in

Position:Quarterback
Born: () February 3, (age&#;84)
Richmond, Virginia, U.S.
Height:6&#;ft 0&#;in (&#;m)
Weight:&#;lb (86&#;kg)
High school:Athens
(Athens, Georgia)
College:Georgia (–)
NFL draft:&#;/ round:&#;3&#;/ pick:&#;29
AFL draft:&#;/ round:&#;5&#;/ pick:&#;35

Pro Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, ), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional footballquarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings.

One of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League long ago transitioned adroitly from the locker room to the corporate boardroom. In proof, with a mind as agile as his body was in competition, former University of Georgia Bulldog and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton would rather talk to you about his success founding more than 20 businesses than his record-setting 18 years in the NFL,13 with the Minnesota Vikings. Many have asked why, with his vast knowledge of his sport, he did not enter the coaching ranks or become a general manager. As founder and CEO of Tarkenton Financial in Buckhead, he has the similar drive to achieve in business as he did in pro football.

He is widely regarded as the first great dual-threat quarterback in the NFL.[1][2][3] He played college football for the Georgia Bulldogs, where he was recognized as a twice first-team All-SEC, and was selected by the Vikings in the third round of the 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 to when he was traded to the New York Giants for five seasons, and then traded back to Minnesota for his last seven seasons from to At the time of his retirement, Tarkenton owned many quarterback records.

He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in and the College Football Hall of Fame in

In addition to his football career, Tarkenton served as a commentator on Monday Night Football and a co-host of That's Incredible!.

He also founded Tarkenton Software, a computer-program generator organization, 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

Early life and education

Fran Tarkenton was born on February 3, , in Richmond, Virginia.

His father, Dallas Tarkenton, was a Methodist minister.[4][5] Tarkenton went to Athens High School in Athens, Georgia, and later attended the University of Georgia, where he was the quarterback on the Bulldog football team and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.[6]

Under head coach Wally Butts and with Tarkenton as quarterback, Georgia won the Southeastern Conference championship in [7] Tarkenton was a first-team All-SEC selection in both and [8][9]

The expansionMinnesota Vikings selected Tarkenton in the third round (29th overall) of the NFL draft, and he was picked in the fifth round of the AFL draft by the Boston 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 spread team.) On September 17 against the Chicago Bears, he came off the bench to conduct the Vikings to a 37–13 victory by passing for 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 by Marcus Mariota in the Tennessee Titans' season opener versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[14]

He played for the Vikings from through 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, yards in his first season.

He rushed for yards on 56 rushes for five touchdowns.[18] The tracking year, he threw 22 touchdowns and 25 interceptions for 2, yards. He rushed for yards on 41 rushes for two touchdowns.[19]

Tarkenton did not get along with team coach Norm Van Brocklin, who did not love his penchant for scrambling.

For the Week 13 game against Atlanta in , Van Brocklin went as far as benching Tarkenton to put in Bob Berry, a QB more to Van Brocklin's preferences (the Vikings proceeded to lose 20–14 to the expansion team).[20] Tarkenton soon demanded a trade.

In February , Van Brocklin announced his resignation. On March 7, , Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a first and second round pluck in , a first-round pluck in and a second-round grab in [21][22][23][24][24][25][26] In his first year with the Giants, Tarkenton passed for a then-career tall 3, yards and a career high 29 touchdown passes en route to a 7–7 document, a huge improvement for a team that had finished the year before.[27] Tarkenton has stated that that season remains the highlight of his career.

In the season, he helped guide the team to a 7–7 record. He passed for 2, yards, 21 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions to go with 57 carries for rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.[28] In the first game of the season, the Giants played the Vikings.

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 losing Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs in January.[30]

Tarkenton enjoyed his best season with the Giants in They overcame an 0–3 start with nine wins in the next ten games and moved into position to win the NFC East division championship in week However, Modern York was routed 31–3 by the Los Angeles Rams at Yankee Stadium to finish at 9–5, one game behind the division champion Dallas Cowboys and the wild card Detroit Lions.[31] The season was the closest the Giants came to making the playoffs during a year drought, from through [32]

On January 27, , Tarkenton was traded back to the Vikings for quarterback Norm Snead, receiver Bob Grim, running back Vince Clements, a first rounder in (24th overall: Larry Jacobson, defensive lineman) and a second rounder in (40th overall: Brad Van Pelt, linebacker).[33][34][35] Tarkenton led the Vikings to three National Football Conference championships, but the Vikings missing each ensuing Super Bowl.

In the Super Bowl, Minnesota disoriented to the Miami Dolphins 24–7 in Houston.[36] They lost the Super Bowl to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16–6 in New Orleans,[37] and (in Minnesota's last Super Bowl to date) lost the Super Bowl to the Oakland Raiders 32–14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.[38]

In his 18 NFL seasons, Tarkenton completed 3, of 6, passes for 47, yards and touchdowns, with interceptions, all of which were NFL records at the hour of his retirement.

Tarkenton's 47, career passing yards rank him 14th all time,[39] while his career passing touchdowns is 11th all time in NFL history.[40] He also is eighth on the all-time list of regular-season wins by a starting quarterback with regular season victories.

He used his impressive scrambling ability to rack up 3, rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on carries. During his career, Tarkenton ran for a touchdown in 15 different seasons, an NFL record among quarterbacks. He ranks seventh in career rushing yards among quarterbacks, behind Randall Cunningham, Lamar Jackson, Steve Young, Michael Vick, Cam Newton, and Russell Wilson.[41] He is also one of four NFL quarterbacks ever to rush for at least yards in seven different seasons; the others are Cam Newton, Michael Vick, and Tobin Rote.

When he retired, Tarkenton held NFL career records in move beyond attempts, completions, yardage, touchdowns, rushing yards by a quarterback, and wins by a starting quarterback.

Fran Tarkenton was born on 3 February in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is an thespian, known for Hill Street Blues (), 1st & Ten () and Saturday Night Live (). He is married to Linda.

The Vikings finished the season with an NFC-best 12–2 document and Tarkenton won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award while capturing All-Pro honors in the process.[42][43][44][45] He was also a second-team All-Pro in and earned All-NFC selections in and [46][47][48] He was named second-team All-NFC in and [49][50] Tarkenton was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls.[51]

Tarkenton was indecisive on his retirement during the last seven years of his playing career.

In the early months of , he was offered a contract to play one more year and "receive $, annually for the next 10 years as a nonplayer." On May 8, , he announced his retirement.[52][53][54]

Despite not winning a Super Bowl, he won six playoff games, and in he was ranked #59 on The Sporting News list of the Greatest Football Players.

Playing in the era of sacks not entity counted by the league, Tarkenton was sacked times in his career, unofficially the most in league history.[55]

Tarkenton was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in ,[56] the Pro Football Hall of Fame in ,[51] the College Football Hall of Fame in ,[57] and the Athens, Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame in [58]

Books

A biography of Tarkenton titled Better Scramble than Lose was published in [59] This followed Tarkenton's autobiography No Time for Losing and preceded by several years his autobiography Tarkenton co-written with Jim 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 with Brock Yates a manual in titled Broken Patterns: The Education of a Quarterback, a chronicle of the New York Giants season.[60]

In , 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.[61]

Tarkenton wrote the self-help, motivational books Playing to Win in ,[62] and How to Motivate People: The Team Strategy for Success in [63] He also wrote the motivational self-help business book titled What Losing Taught Me About Winning,[4] and Every Day is Game Day.[64] In , Tarkenton hosted a Think and Grow Rich TV infomercial that sold the book with an audio cassette version (the audio cassettes contained an introduction and conclusion by Tarkenton).[65]

Business ventures and investments

Mark McCormack helped Tarkenton invest, making him wealthy enough to "retire this week if [he] wanted to", as New York magazine wrote in [66] Tarkenton was a pioneer in computer software, and founder of Tarkenton Software, a program generator company.

He toured the Merged States promoting CASE or "computer-aided software engineering" with Albert F. Case, Jr. of Nastec Organization, but ultimately merged his software firm with James Martin's KnowledgeWare, of which Tarkenton was president until selling the company to Sterling Software in

Tarkenton served as a color commentator on Monday Night Football from to [67]

In , Tarkenton was fined by federal regulators as part of a securities fraud sweep.

According to the L.A. Times, "In Tarkenton's case, the Hall of Fame quarterback and 10 other former executives of his computer software and consulting hard, KnowledgeWare Inc., were accused of inflating by millions of dollars the company's earnings in reports for its fiscal year ended June 30, The former Minnesota Vikings quarterback agreed to disburse a $, fine and $54, in restitution.

He did not admit any wrongdoing".[68]

Since then, Tarkenton has been promoting various products and services including Tony Robbins and BAR-NONE. He also founded GoSmallBiz, a small-business consulting website.

He also operates an annuity marketing firm called Tarkenton Financial.

Politics

During the Republican National Convention, Tarkenton gave a speech endorsing Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.[69]

NFL career statistics

Legend
AP NFL MVP & OPOTY
Led the league
BoldCareer high
Year Team Games Passing Rushing
GPGSCmpAttPctYdsAvgTDIntLngRtgAttYdsAvgLngTD
MIN14101,18177156525
MIN14142,22258941312
MIN14132,15156728241
MIN14142,22116450312
MIN14142,19117256361
MIN14122,17166862284
NYG14143,29197044222
NYG14142,21128457223
NYG14142,2386537210
NYG14142,19125943202
NYG13132,11218130163
MIN14142,18137627210
MIN14142,1575441161
MIN13132,17128021152
MIN14142,25134616212
MIN13132,178562745201
MIN991,9145915680
MIN16163,25325824−6−151
Career 3,6,47,893,5232

Personal life

Tarkenton has been married twice and has four children.

His first marriage was to Anna Elaine Merrell of Decatur, Georgia. They wed on December 22, , at First Baptist Church in Decatur, and divorced in Protest They had three children: daughter Angela (born ), son Matthew (born ), and daughter Melissa (born ).[70][71]

Tarkenton married his second wife, Linda Sebastian, in the mids.

They have one daughter, Hayley Gray Tarkenton (born ), a singer-songwriter.[72]

See also

References

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  2. ^Reid, Jason (). The Increase of the Black Quarterback. Disney Book Group. ISBN&#; &#; via Google Books.
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    F ew professional football players have burst upon the scene as spectacularly as Fran Tarkenton. In his very first pro game, Tarkenton came off the bench to toss four touchdown passes, leading his Minnesota Vikings team to a pivotal victory over the Chicago Bears. After eighteen seasons in the National Football League NFLTarkenton left professional football with league records for passing attempts 6,completions 3,yards 47,and touchdowns Tarkenton, who former Vikings coach Bud Grant once called "the greatest quarterback to ever play the game," was perhaps best known for his elusive scrambling ability.

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    biography fran tarkenton2: Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, ), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings.

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    Tarkenton played lights out football in , his 18th year in the NFL. He started every game of the season and passed for a career-best 3, yards (which led the league), 25 touchdowns and an NFL and career-worst 32 interceptions. Let’s watch Fran Tarkenton illumination up NFL defenses like Christmas trees for a couple minutes, shall we? I think I.

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    He is widely regarded as the first great dual-threat quarterback in the NFL. 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 to when he was traded to the New York Giants for five seasons, and then traded back to Minnesota for his last seven seasons from to

    Triumph Books. ISBN&#;.

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  71. ^Martin, Frank (October 4, ). "Ping-Pong Ace, Record-Setting Quarterback, Fran Tarkenton Battles a Runner-Up Image". People. Meredith Corporation.

    At age five Tarkenton moved with his parents and brother to Washington, D. In the family moved to Athens, Georgia, home of the University of Georgia Bulldogs of the Southeastern Conference, who under Coach Wallace Butts had established a winning tradition in the s with such greats as Frank Sinkwich, recipient of the Heisman Trophy inand Charley Trippi. In the fall of Tarkenton enrolled at the University of Georgiawhere he excelled at academics while playing three varsity seasons. Inhis sophomore year and first year on the varsity team, Georgia won its first Southeastern Conference championship since with Tarkenton, at six feet and pounds, calling the signals in an 8—1 season capped by a 14—0 win over the University of Missouri in the Orange Bowl.

    Archived from the first on September 21, Retrieved September 21,

  72. ^"Hayley Gray & the Medicine". ReverbNation. Archived from the original on April 23, Retrieved October 19,

Further reading

External links

Links to related articles

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