Fran Tarkenton- I was Patrick Mahomes before there was a Patrick Mahomes

[US Egg]

6 hours ago, Don Otreply said:

Fran was fun to watch, his style was odd looking compared to all the pocket passers back then, most QBs back then were not athletic in that way, Minnesota, like us lost four championships, but not as wonderfully as we did, we did it best, 😁👍

Begs the question, who was a worse SB coach Grant or Levy?
 

…..or simply a case of their CFL head coaching experience coming back to haunt them?

[Beast]

That’s incredible!

[Charles Romes]

Tarkenton had amazing longevity especially for his era, playing until he was almost 39. And he did it as the ultimate running quarterback.  Tarkenton is the argument that running avoids hits in the pocket and leads to a longer career. 

[nedboy7]

I love it.  Some original ***** there. 

[Pete]

12 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Tarkenton didn't even have close to the arm strength Mahomes did...or Allen whose arm is even stronger.

 

Also, he hasn't done anything you haven't Fran? How about win Superbowls?

If anyone should be whining, but they have class, Archie Manning.  Big Arm, Big, Could Scramble, Tough….he played on some of all time worst NFL teams 

[machine gun kelly]

He really is telling the truth for those old enough to remember him.  The difference was back then you basically saw your own team each week, and caught some brief highlights on others.  No cable per say, and maybe once a year, you see another team play on MNF.

[Don Otreply]

7 hours ago, US Egg said:

Begs the question, who was a worse SB coach Grant or Levy?
 

…..or simply a case of their CFL head coaching experience coming back to haunt them?

Exactly, 

[PonyBoy]

10 hours ago, GETTOTHE50 said:

love that hollies song.

 

I lost a trivia contest in the 80's arguing with a DJ at bar because I swore this song was sung by Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR). 

I was so sure 😑👎Lol...

[Billsatlastin2018]

Tarkenton was an excellent QB and fun to watch avoiding the kamikaze type hits of LBs & DEs.

 

All Time, he finished 14th in Total Passing Yards and 12th in Total Passing TDs. BOTH Mahomes (61, 39) & Allen (95, 75) will run him down.
 

Now on to the Running aspect. Tark is #7 All Time. Allen (#8) could surpass him Monday Night with a 19 yard run! 
 

And TDs? Tarkenton is #18. Allen, as we all know is chasing down Cam Newton to be the GOAT of that stat.

 

In summary, Tarkenton should not be comparing himself to Mahomes, who threw a No Hitter in HS and can flip balls from any position forward or backward and who is chasing down Brady as the GOAT.

 

And obviously, he is far inferior to Allen in Rushing abilities, let alone that #17 has a rocket arm and is chasing Mahomes.

 

You simply don’t see old retired QB Superstars mouthing off like this. And you shouldn’t!
 

It diminishes their accomplishments and turns them into an old, doddering, cranky, narcissistic caricature of themselves.

Tarkenton was an excellent QB and fun to watch avoiding the kamikaze type hits of LBs & DEs.

 

Edited September 22 by Billsatlastin2018

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

13 hours ago, boater said:

No great love for Mahomes, but this visual immediately came to my mind.

8 hours ago, Beast said:

That’s incredible!

I see what you did there...😁

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

He was something to watch.  He scrambled to scramble where as guys like Mahomes, Allen more scramble in a much different way.

 

Id also disagree with his comment that the two best scramblers met in the super bowl.  I'd rank the 2 best as Jackson and Allen.  Allen runs more thna Mahomes in past couple of years

[skibum]

And then there's that whole Super Bowl thing. 

[Never NEVER Give-up]

Tarkington, I thought, was overrated. His teams were good, but never got over the hump because he wasn't a great QB.  Oh, he was the best scrambler, but EVERY play doesn't break down and he wasn't a great passer.

[chris heff]

I caught a pass from Fran.

[stuvian]

This is the football equivalent of Al Gore saying he invented the internet

[SoonerBillsFan]

17 hours ago, Draconator said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5766363/2024/09/18/fran-tarkenton-vikings-scrambling/?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwY2xjawFcGTFleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHXKP1N0rGldrqko9CYvZHOet5gncf2wQHo77C3lgbSA3HdJla47Znm07yQ_aem_j2fGY7m39KeJMO38Es2kng

 

“Because the field is spread out more,” Tarkenton said. “I watch Patrick Mahomes. Patrick Mahomes doesn’t do anything I didn’t do. Nothing.”

I was born in 69' and I was really young but caught some of him at the end of his career.  He was a stud, 9x pro bowl, 4x all NFL, and as much as we love Josh, I feel a lot of younger posters would have liked seeing him play.

[Sammy Watkins' Rib]

16 hours ago, Neo said:

Patrick Mahomes is a superb pocket passer who, on top of that, can scramble with outstanding results.

 

 

I don't really agree on this.

 

On a 1 -10 scale I probably put Mahomes as an 8 and Allen as 7 on "pocket passing skill". Now, out of the pocket and secondary reaction both are 10/10. 

[Ralonzo]

14 hours ago, Saxum said:

 

Quite an insult to Tarkenton.

 

Stylistically I mean, the little short-leg running around in circles style of scrambling

[Neo]

1 hour ago, Sammy Watkins' Rib said:

 

I don't really agree on this.

 

On a 1 -10 scale I probably put Mahomes as an 8 and Allen as 7 on "pocket passing skill". Now, out of the pocket and secondary reaction both are 10/10. 

 

I was comparing Tarkenton to Mahomes.

[Sweats]

I saw a documentary on Tarkenton years ago........opposing D's hated playing against him cause he scrambled so much they ran out of breath within 3-4 plays and were totally gassed the entire game. Fran never seemed to slow down or run out of gas......just kept scrambling on every play.