Is Fran Tarkenton The Best Quarterback To Never Win A Super Bowl?
The seemingly obvious answer to the question is no, Fran Tarkenton is not the best quarterback to never win a Super Bowl. That distinction would seem to belong to Dan Marino. However, I am not so sure.
Like Marino in later years, when Fran Tarkenton retired he was at the top of all of the meaningful lists for a quarterback in the NFL. Fran Tarkenton was the all-time leader in touchdown passes and passing yards. While Marino eclipsed Tarkenton’s numbers, Marino did it in a more pass-friendly era of the NFL. Additionally, Fran Tarkenton actually revolutionized the sport. He proved that a scrambling quarterback could have success in the NFL. Were it not for Fran Tarkenton, there may never have been a Randall Cunningham, Steve Young, or Donovan McNabb. All Marino’s style of play proved was that a statute could have a cannon for an arm.
Despite all of this Fran Tarkenton is often cast aside in discussions about the all-time great quarterbacks. Why is this so? Some of it obviously has to do with the Vikings lack of success in the Super Bowl. I believe that it has more to do with the fact that Fran Tarkenton engaged in increasingly embarrassing public behavior after his retirement. He did not engage in the sort of bad behavior (such as getting DUIs or getting into fights in nightclubs) that could be easily categorized as the product of some unfortunate addiction or the consequence of the distorted perspective of a pampered athlete. Rather, he began doing things like co-hosting the old TV show That’s Incredible and hawking self-improvement tapes. It was a combination of sad and disorienting and yet the product of a perfectly rational mind. Eventually, I believe that the sports world began ignoring Fran Tarkenton until most of us have forgotten what he did on the field and for the game.
Read more about Fran Tarkenton and the disappointment that is being a Vikings fan in “My Least Favorite Team is My Favorite Team”