Fran Tarkenton

Shortly after the end of the 1978 season, Tarkenton announced his decision to retire from professional football. By this time, his business career was already well established. Between the early 1970s and the beginning of the new millennium, Tarkenton launched a dozen different businesses, and he's always had a passion for small business. It was when he ventured into business on a grander scale that Tarkenton eventually ran into trouble. His involvement with Knowledge Ware, an Atlanta-based software company selling customized applications to business mainframe operators around the world, started off on a positive note. But over time technology changed the face of business computer operations, replacing the mainframe with networked personal computers. Unfortunately Knowledge Ware didn't keep pace with these technological changes, and by mid-1994 the company was in deep trouble financially. By the end of 1994, Tarkenton, chairman and chief executive officer of Knowledge Ware, was forced to sell the company at a significant loss. The debacle not only cost Tarkenton money but some longtime business associates and friends. To make matters worse, the government eventually charged Tarkenton with carrying out a financial fraud scheme as CEO of Knowledge Ware. The former quarterback and six other former Knowledge Ware executives agreed in September 1999 to an agreement settling the case. They paid a fine of $100,000 and repaid more than $50,000 in incentive compensation. Under the terms of the settlement, they neither admitted or denied the charges.

Today Tarkenton is CEO of GoSmallBiz.com, an organization designed to help entrepreneurs run and grow their businesses. But he will forever be remembered as the Scrambler, one of professional football's most brilliant quarterbacks in history. Through eighteen seasons in the NFL, Tarkenton compiled a winning record, throwing for a total of 47,003 yards and 342 touchdowns, with a career pass completion rate of 57 percent.