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

Fran Tarkenton

Tarkenton in January 2010 <a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html"> Fran Tarkenton Jersey</a> after a speech by General David Petraeus in Atlanta, Georgia

Tarkenton in January 2010

No. 10

Position:Quarterback

Personal information

Date of birth:February 3, 1940 (age 77)

Place of birth:Richmond, Virginia

Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)

Weight:190 lb (86 kg)

Career information

High school:Athens (GA)

College:Georgia

NFL Draft:1961 / Round: 3 / Pick: 29

AFL draft:1961 / Round: 5 / Pick: 34

Career history

Minnesota Vikings (1961–1966)

New York Giants (1967–1971)

Minnesota Vikings (1972–1978)

Career highlights and awards

9× Pro Bowl (1964, 1966–1970, 1974–1976)

First-team All-Pro (1975)

Second-team All-Pro (1973)

NFL Most Valuable Player (1975)

NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1975)

NFC Player of the Year (1975)

Bert Bell Award (1975)

NFL passing yards leader (1978)

NFL passing touchdowns leader (1975)

Minnesota Vikings No. 10 retired

Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor

Career NFL statistics

Pass attempts:6,467

Pass completions:3,686

Percentage:57.0

TD–INT:342–266

Passing yards:47,003

Passer rating:80.4

Player stats at NFL.com

Pro Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame

Francis Asbury Tarkenton<a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html"> Fran Tarkenton Youth Jersey</a>  (born February 3, 1940) is a former National Football League (NFL) quarterback, television personality, and computer software executive. He played in the NFL for 18 seasons and spent the majority of his career with the Minnesota Vikings.

Tarkenton's tenure with the Vikings spanned 14 non-consecutive seasons, playing with the team for six seasons from 1961 to 1966, and then for seven seasons from 1972 to 1978. In between his years in Minnesota, Tarkenton was a member of the New York Giants for four seasons. At the time of his retirement, Tarkenton owned every major quarterback record. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

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 company, and <a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html">http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html</a> 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] 

1Early life

2Professional football career

3Books

4Business ventures and investments

5Politics

6NFL career statistics

7See also

8References

9External links

Early life[edit]

Fran Tarkenton was born on February 3, 1940, in Richmond, Virginia. His father, Dallas Tarkenton, Sr., was a Methodist minister.[1] Fran Tarkenton went to Athens High School in Athens, Georgia, and later attended the University of <a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html">http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-fran-tarkenton-jersey-c-2_36.html</a> Georgia, where he was the quarterback on the Bulldog football team and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. Under Coach Wally Butts and with Tarkenton as QB, Georgia won the 1959 Southeastern Conference championship.

Professional football career[edit]

The Minnesota Vikings drafted Tarkenton in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft, and he was picked in the fifth round of the 1961 AFL draft by the Boston Patriots. He signed with the Vikings. Tarkenton, 21, played his first National Football League game (and the Vikings' first game) on September 17 against the Chicago Bears coming off the bench to lead the Vikings to a come-from-behind victory by passing for 250 yards and four touchdown passes and running for another[2] as the Vikings defeated the Bears 37–13. 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' 2015 season opener versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[3]

Tarkenton scrambling (1974)

He played for the Vikings from 1961 to 1966.

Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants in 1967, at which time he moved to the New York City suburb of New Rochelle, New York.[4] In the first game of the 1969 season, Tarkenton's 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.[5] The 24 points allowed by Minnesota's defense were a season-worst for the unit.[6]

Tarkenton was traded back to Minnesota in 1972, for three players plus a first and second round draft choice.[7] He led the Vikings to three Super Bowls in the 1970s, but lost all of them. In Tarkenton's first Super Bowl appearance his team lost to the Miami Dolphins 24–7 in Houston. It lost the second to the Pittsburgh<a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-jarius-wright-jersey-c-2_44.html">http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-jarius-wright-jersey-c-2_44.html</a>  Steelers 16–6 in New Orleans, and in the last Super Bowl Tarkenton played (and Minnesota's last Super Bowl to date), the Vikings lost to the Oakland Raiders 32–14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.

In his 18 NFL seasons, Tarkenton completed 3,686 of 6,467 passes for 47,003 yards and 342 touchdowns, with 266 interceptions. Tarkenton's 47,003 career passing yards rank him 8th all time, while his 342 career passing touchdowns is 6th all time in NFL history.[8] He also is 6th on the all-time list of wins by a starting quarterback with 124 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. When he retired, Tarkenton held NFL career records in pass attempts, completions, yardage, and touchdowns; rushing yards by a quarterback; and wins by a starting quarterback.

Tarkenton launching a forward pass (1965)

The Vikings finished the 1975 season with an NFC-best 12–2 record 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. He <a href="http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-joe-berger-jersey-c-2_19.html">http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-joe-berger-jersey-c-2_19.html</a> was also a second-team All-Pro in 1973 and earned All-NFC selections in 1972 and 1976. He was named second-team All-NFC in 1970 and 1974. Tarkenton was selected to play in nine Pro Bowls.[9]

Tarkenton was indecisive on his retirement during the last seven years of his playing career.[10][11]

Despite not winning a Super Bowl, he won six playoff games, and in 1999 he was ranked number 59 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Football Players.

Tarkenton was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977,[12] the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986,[9] the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987,[13] and the Athens, Georgia Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.[14]