Fran Tarkenton was just a bit b4 my time. Marino , Kelly , and Elway were the stars of my era . But I watch these highlight vids of Fran and I say hell yeah .... I would of been a Tarkenton fan then also ! 👍💪
My dad went to be with Jesus last Christmas. Fran was his favorite Quarterback. He talked about his mobility in the pocket and how great of a passer he was. Great memories!
Allen Paige, Sammy White, Ahmad Rashad, Chuck Forman, and Tarkenton on the offense and Carl Eller on the d-line were my heroes. I still bear the scars from their loss to the Raiders in their last Super Bowl appearance. I'm 55 now and still look forward to the Vikings annual playoff game.
I’ve been waiting for the rightful heir of Tarkenton to come along for the Vikings, but alas it hasn’t come to be. Wade Wilson was the closest we got. This guy Cousins… can’t say much about him.
I was born in 1966 in Los Angeles. I been to the Coleseum to see The Vikings vs Rams back in the early 70's.Fran Tarkenton is the reason I've been part of the PURPLE Family since I was 9 years old. The PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS 💜 / SKOL !!
Tarkenton will always be my quarterback. I fell in love with football Sunday afternoons sitting on my grandfather's lap watching the bears. [We lived in a Chicago market.] One particular Sunday that I will always remember the Bears played a team I hadn't seen having purple uniforms and an exciting quarterback. At my young age I disliked predominantly running teams. I am a Viking's fan today in large part because of Mr. Tarkenton. I so enjoyed those great years! In fact, I'm still awaiting his replacement to this day.
The sport has become a multibillion dollar business. The sporting element has taken a back seat to money making considerations. It's pretty evident things won't be changing anytime soon, so seeing a true sportsman with incredible talent is such a breath of fresh air. Although a Rams fan, Fran you were the man. Thanks.
We all feel your pain Fran. Watching the high lights scrambling around seeing # 53 Mick Tinglehoff make block after block, Those were the days, we all know that you did your best 💜💛
Ohio Vikes fan since '68. I was 7 years old. Remember watching my first football game with my dad who was a Browns fan. Metropolitan stadium with snow everywhere. I can still hear my father asking me at halftime "So who is your favorite football team son"? Looked him in the eye and said "I really like that team with the horns and purple jerseys"! My dad responded "Well then stick with them through thick and thin son"! Never looked back and still pull hard for them to this day. Still hoping for that elusive Super Bowl before I die but if not so be it. Was a heck of a ride trying. Thanks Dad for not being disappointed I chose the Vikings that fateful day. Will see you again some day! R.I.P. 🙏😊
@@SoonerBear Sports teams are not family. Feel free to look at other options when necessary. I had to abandon the Jets decades ago for chronic heartbreak. Why put yourself through torture? Be open-minded.
@@SoonerBear I've been a Cowboys fan sense the Colts left Baltimore in 1984 and they (the Cowboys) have been losers for a quarter of a century. That's a long time but I'm loyal.
That sounds a lot like my story, only I became a fan about four weeks into the incredible 1969 season. I was in fourth or fifth grade at the time and during a visit to the school library I picked up a copy of Sports Illustrated that had the Vikings on front and a headline that read something like, "Start of a Dynasty?" When I saw the purple jerseys and the horns on the helmets I said, "That's my team!" and immediately began to follow them as closely as a ten-year-old could back in 1969. I never realized that first Super Bowl loss would be a foreshadowing of much more disappointment to come, but I'm still a fan and, like you, would like to see a Super Bowl trophy before I die. To this day, I use the names of players from that team, very often Defensive players---Kassulke, Macbee, Sharockman, Warwick--as usernames or passwords for Web sites!
Fran was a bit before my time but... I remember seeing him give an interview once. This was when he was already well up in years, decades removed from his playing days. I remember being enraptured by the way he talked about the game, at the way he closed his eyes and reminisced, and told stories of his career highlights, and funny anecdotes. His energy, his spirit, his heart, and his love of the game was abundantly clear. I got the feeling that if a time machine was ever invented, he'd be the first in line so he could be 21 again, and light up the scoreboards once again.
As a life long Packers fan I have to say that Fran Tarkenton is one of the best all time players. The Vikings in his era were a force. I hate the Vikings but I cherish Frans autograph! LOL!
I'm so glad this guy is getting some love. I'm not even that old and I can tell you this guy was better than a lot of the quarterbacks we have today if not all of them.
@@jamesanthony5681 different eras..Fran was a tough QB and less pads one bar on helmet….Rodgers..Brady and the QBs today are crybabies the they get tackled
@@johnsobey4261 Yes, Fran played in the 'Kill the Quarterback' era, but those guys could've played back then, and done well. They wouldn't have put up those gaudy passing statistics. however.
@@Bob31415 So you would rather have 10 Superbowl wins with Tom Brady and never had Fran on the Vikings. Not me by a long shot. Superbowl wins are a dime a dozen but it's the men you remember. And the 70s and even the 80s Vikings are the teams and players I will always remember, title or no title. They will always be my guys.
@@donwilcox728 I loved those years of the NFL. I rooted for those Vikings in all four of their Super Bowl appearances (the Vikings are not my team) but yes give me the Lombardy Trophies. Football is a team sport. That's who I root for, the team, not an individual. What does Tom Brady have to do with this?
Just the start of this video brings back memories of Tarkenton in the blizzards of the Met, Tarkenton was my all time favorite QB, I own the mans jersey, Growing up in the 70s I loved the Minnesota Vikings and Tarkenton was the reason.
I’m 56yrs old now , Fran was my hero he was the reason I studied and coached football for 15yrs and why the sport has always been my passion.. Thanks scrambler
Notice a lot of the highlights were against the Rams. I was a Ram fan back then and Fran was a major nemesis in the playoffs against the Rams. The Rams couldn't win in the Championship games and the Vikings went on to lose their Super Bowls. Though they beat the Rams I always rooted for them in the Super Bowl too bad Fran never won it. They just never showed up for the big game. 😕
Sir Francis! My favorite player of all time. He was so fun to watch on Sundays. We seemed to never be out of a game with Tarkenton. Underrated:. A Top 10 QB in my book. Great footage, incredibly well put -together video. A+
I liked him on That's Incredible. My brother and I would always joke that the name of that show meant it was incredible that he lost three Super Bowls. That was before the Buffalo Bills of the 90s. He did his best though.
Tarkenton played the Rams almost every year in the nfc championship in the late 70s. And to my consternation, beat the Rams. I’ll never forget the deluge game in LA
Love the video ! I'm a die hard Steeler fan born and raised in "Da Burgh". But I gotta say, I loved Tarkenton and Archie Manning. If either of those guys would have had better than a high school grade offensive line, they would both have a Super Bowl ring. In my humble estimation. Man, Fran was fun to watch. The only time I rooted against him was in Super Bowl IX, when my Steelers won 16-6
The 70s was the reign of the defensive dynasties. I remember watching Fran and his impossible Houdini madness. He had more misdirectional rushing yards then his entire backfield. And the opponents had to look forward to the "Purple People Eaters" when he was on the bench. There was also the Doomsday Defense, the chiefs I don't recall if they had a moniker but Lynch, Lanier and I forget the 3rd linebacker were lethal. The steel curtain and the rams also had a crushing defense.
I loved Fran and the Vikings growing up in WI, loved the Packers, but Vikings in the Fran era were the best. Loved all the players as well as Bud Grant. Packers my team nowadays. Thanks for the memories.
@@lloydkline1518 I was 14 then. I watched them year after year hoping, hoping for a Superbowl. I am still not over their losses. It drove me crazy. I have lived in Utah all my life and don't know what lured me to the Viking, but as a kid I wanted to wear number 10 and be a quarterback. Even playing baseball I wanted to be number 10. Couldn't get that out of my blood. Fred Cox was also one of my favorites. The whole team fun to watch!!!
1977 I'm 11 years old in the basement with the little 12 inch black and white TV I believe it was the Vikings vs the Cardinals only way I could identify which team was which was that crazy scrambling quarterback that got all of my attention at such a young age I owe you a debt of gratitude Fran Tarkington you help set the foundation for me personally God bless number 10
THE UNSTOPPABLE MAN FRAN TARKINGTON AND THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATERS. EVERY GAME WAS MAGICAL FROM FROM BEGINNING TO END. COULDN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT GAME DAY JUST TO WATCH THEM PLAY REAL FUN FOOTBALL
Fran lived next door at Paces West to us. I believe his daughter went to UGA in the 80s, Angela? Both were friendly kind folks who help make early Buckhead what it was when it was fun and we ruled it…….he spoke with my grandmother once and charmed her. Class act, that guy.
I was young during this era...but he was and Jerry Sherk DT Cleveland were my 2 favorite players...Sherk...because I lived near Cleveland..Fran just because he was so small but exciting.
I was a qb in pee wee football in the 70's and one year I got number 10 because Fran was my mother's favorite player but I did end up switching to 12 the next year for my favorite Staubach.
As a former Los Angeles Rams fan, this guy gave me fits to no end. He didn't launch 60+ yard bombs, but always seemed to scramble and throw short passes.
I’m still waiting for that first super bowl win. I used to live across from the old Metro Stadium in Bloomington. Still got my old throwback jersey and the number, you guessed it, #10.
best quaterback ever he changed the game with his scrambling and is the most underrated qbs in the NFL....just because you dont win a big game doesnt mean you arent a great qb
I remember watching him play when I was a kid I always loved how he scrambled lol and even remember crying when they lost in the Superbowl to the Oakland Raiders!
i sure remember in one of the years the vikings made a super bowl appearance not sure which one for sure but the headline on the front of the Star Tribune newspaper Here in Minneapolis said it all in just one big headline grabbing word, it said " FRANTASTIC " !!!! with his picture, they didn't have to say anything else it described him perfectly.
Just to show my appreciation for Fran, Reddit had a poll of best qb to start and yet never won a Super Bowl, Fran was my choice. The poster of the poll chose Dan Marino. I defended Fran ,saying that from 1973-77 Vikes had one of the best teams in NFC and Fran deserves recognition for their ability to win enough to be in the Super Bowl 3 times. He was remarkable and will not be forgotten. Bud Grant never seemed to have them prepared for the Big Dance, though. Dolphins, Steelers and Raiders hammered their run defense, ad-nauseum!Fran certainly deserved the Lombardi Trophy.
I think Bud Grant said that ole Fran was the best leader he ever had, and no doubt that Fran deserved a Superbowl trophy. The Vikings had a great coach in Bud Grant and other tremendous players on the team.
The good ol' days. When football players were real men. The days of the old NFC Central Division. Minnesota, Green Bay, Chicago, and Detroit. The Black and Blue Division.
I remember him in his last year or two. If a tackler got near him he fell to the ground . He avoided pain at all costs. Saying that I loved watching him play. Wish he could have pulled out a SB win
Tarkenton, Gilliam, Foreman, those names bring back memories...most of them BAD! I'm a Lions fan though so that explains it. And don't get me started on Paige and Eller! Seriously though, I stopped by because even though he kicked our butt on a regular basis, I always liked watching Tark play. It was like backyard football. I always got the feeling he was in huddle saying, "Okay, you're the bottlecap, and you're the stick. This one is going to the pebble but be ready stick because if he's covered I'm coming to you." It was just fun watching that guy run around the way he did. Yeah, he lost on the biggest stage a few times but hey, there's always Jim Kelly Fran. Cool video. Thanks for the memories of a time when football was played a bit differently (and better in my mind but that is subjective and hey, I'm a Lions fan so how bright can I be). One thing I will say though, he sure ain't no Kirk Cousins. 🤡
