Fran Tarkenton

1940-

American football player

Few 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 decisive 37-13 victory over the Chicago Bears. After eighteen seasons in the National Football League (NFL), Tarkenton left professional football with league records for passing attempts (6,467), completions (3,686), yards (47,003), and touchdowns (342). 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. Inducted into the Professional Football Hall of Fame in 1986, Tarkenton topped the 1,000-yard passing mark in each of his eighteen seasons with the Vikings. If Tarkenton left the game

Fran Tarkenton

with any regrets at all, it may well have been his failure to win a Super Bowl during his career. He led the Vikings to the Super Bowl in 1974, 1975, and 1977 but lost all three championship games to their American Football Conference (AFC) opponents. Tarkenton's post-football career as a business entrepreneur, which rivaled his football years in its phenomenal success, was marred in the mid-1990s by government charges of financial fraud.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Address: Fran Tarkenton, c/o GoSmallBiz.com, 3340 Peachtree Rd. N.E., Ste. 2570, Atlanta, GA 30326. Email: corp@gosmallbiz.com. Online: http://www.gosmallbiz.com.