Fran Tarkenton

Around this time, Tarkenton began to lay the groundwork for a career outside football. In 1972 he founded Behavioral Systems Inc., a motivational business. Drawing perhaps on some of the evangelical fervor of his childhood as the son of a minister, Tarkenton had always believed that almost anything could be accomplished by someone with the right combination of dogged determination and sufficient inspiration. Thousands of Americans paid handsome fees to hear Tarkenton deliver his messages of inspiration. Back at the helm of the Vikings for the 1972 season, Tarkenton threw for 2,651 yards and eighteen touchdowns, winning All-NFC honors from the Sporting News and United Press International. In 1973, his second season back with the Vikings, he threw for 2,113 yards and fifteen touchdowns, leading the team from the Twin Cities to an NFC Championship and the Super Bowl, where the Vikings fell to the Miami Dolphins, 24-7.

Once again in 1974, Tarkenton led the Vikings to an NFC championship, but the team's luck was no better in Super Bowl IX, where it lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-6. Although Tarkenton was selected for the Pro Bowl, he did not play. In 1975, his 15th season in the NFL, he compiled a sizzling pass completion rate of 64.7 percent, the best of his career, throwing for 2,994 yards and 25 touchdowns. Tarkenton's performance powered the Vikings to another championship in the NFC's Central Division. The sports media heaped praise on Tarkenton for his brilliant year. He was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by Associated Press, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Pro Football Weekly, and Sporting News. Additionally, Sporting News named him NFC Player of the Year; Pro Football Weekly dubbed him NFL Offensive Player of the Year; and both Associated Press and United Press International named him All-NFC.

In the 1976 season Tarkenton threw for 2,961 yards and seventeen touchdowns, winning the Vikings a return trip to the Super Bowl in January 1977. It was to be Tarkenton's final Super Bowl game, and, like the first two, it ended in defeat. In Super Bowl XI, the Oakland Raiders bested the Vikings, 32-14, although Tarkenton completed seventeen of thirty-five passes for 205 yards and a touchdown. At the end of the regular season, Tarkenton was named All-NFC by United Press International. In 1977, he suffered a broken leg in the Vikings' November 13 game against the Cincinnati Bengals, which kept him out of the final five games of the regular season as well as two playoff games. For the season as a whole, he threw for a total of 1,734 yards and nine touchdowns. In 1978, his final season, Tarkenton threw for 3,468 yards and twenty-five touchdowns, leading the Vikings to another NFC Central Division championship.