Post by Purple Pain on Jun 16, 2019 16:01:15 GMT -6
How Fran Tarkenton Changed the Quarterback Position by Michael Travis Rose
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More at the link:
fansourcenetwork.com/how-fran-tarkenton-changed-the-quarterback-position/
“Tarkenton was a pain in the ass.”
In football years long gone by, quarterbacks were expected to stand in the pocket and only in the pocket, and if their protection broke down, they were supposed to just crumple to the ground and accept the sack. It was an unwritten rule.
Fran Tarkenton changed that expectation and rewrote the unwritten rule. In doing so, he forever changed the game of football and the quarterback position.
Tarkenton’s scrambling abilities were borne out of necessity rather than by design. Drafted out of Georgia by the expansion Minnesota Vikings in 1961, Tarkenton’s offensive line mostly consisted of a group of ragtag misfits and has-beens that other, more established, NFL teams had given up on.
Also known as “The Mad Scrambler,” “Frantic Fran,” and “Scramblin’ Fran,” Tarkenton’s unorthodox behavior on the field drew the ire of huge opposing defensive lineman. One such lineman mused that Tarkenton would be lucky to last two years if he kept the scrambling up.
It seems that opposing defensive lineman were hardly Tarkenton fans.
“I always hated Tarkenton. I really did,” Los Angeles Rams Hall-of-Famer Merlin Olsen would claim years later.
“I mean that little wimp would run around out there for hours and hours and hours and we had to chase him. Wherever he went. Sometimes he’d run 40 yards back and forth and up and down the field. And, um, at the end of a game against Tarkenton your tongue was right on the ground.”
Olsen’s teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer, Deacon Jones, still seems bitter years later.
“Tarkenton was a pain in the ass. He’d gamble. He’d run anywhere. I mean he’d be up into the stands if he had to. He’s one man that we tried desperately to end his career. We tried, and I must say that in this day and age, we tried desperately to get rid of him. Because on a hot day in the Coliseum, chasing Fran Tarkenton was not what you wanted to do,” Jones said.
Tarkenton’s coach, Norm Van Brocklin, was not a fan of the “Mad Scrambler’s” frantic attempts to make plays, either, often accusing the QB of selfishness and showboating. Van Brocklin, known as “The Dutchman,” was a former NFL quarterback himself, with stints with the Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles in his 12-year career. However, Van Brocklin was purely a pocket passer and expected his young QB follow suit.
Tarkenton’s penchant for scrambling combined with the mercurial Van Brocklin’s ego would prove disastrous for the Vikings, culminating in Tarkenton demanding to be released and ultimately traded to the New York Giants in 1967. Van Brocklin surprisingly resigned soon after the trade. He would later go on to coach the Atlanta Falcons.
Tarkenton defended his scrambling, “I scramble because I’m good at it, because I can twist and dodge those big pass rushers better than most guys and we get a lot of touchdowns that way.”
He further elaborated, “I made up my mind when I got to pro football, that I was not going to give up on a play. Ever!”
In football years long gone by, quarterbacks were expected to stand in the pocket and only in the pocket, and if their protection broke down, they were supposed to just crumple to the ground and accept the sack. It was an unwritten rule.
Fran Tarkenton changed that expectation and rewrote the unwritten rule. In doing so, he forever changed the game of football and the quarterback position.
Tarkenton’s scrambling abilities were borne out of necessity rather than by design. Drafted out of Georgia by the expansion Minnesota Vikings in 1961, Tarkenton’s offensive line mostly consisted of a group of ragtag misfits and has-beens that other, more established, NFL teams had given up on.
Also known as “The Mad Scrambler,” “Frantic Fran,” and “Scramblin’ Fran,” Tarkenton’s unorthodox behavior on the field drew the ire of huge opposing defensive lineman. One such lineman mused that Tarkenton would be lucky to last two years if he kept the scrambling up.
It seems that opposing defensive lineman were hardly Tarkenton fans.
“I always hated Tarkenton. I really did,” Los Angeles Rams Hall-of-Famer Merlin Olsen would claim years later.
“I mean that little wimp would run around out there for hours and hours and hours and we had to chase him. Wherever he went. Sometimes he’d run 40 yards back and forth and up and down the field. And, um, at the end of a game against Tarkenton your tongue was right on the ground.”
Olsen’s teammate and fellow Hall-of-Famer, Deacon Jones, still seems bitter years later.
“Tarkenton was a pain in the ass. He’d gamble. He’d run anywhere. I mean he’d be up into the stands if he had to. He’s one man that we tried desperately to end his career. We tried, and I must say that in this day and age, we tried desperately to get rid of him. Because on a hot day in the Coliseum, chasing Fran Tarkenton was not what you wanted to do,” Jones said.
Tarkenton’s coach, Norm Van Brocklin, was not a fan of the “Mad Scrambler’s” frantic attempts to make plays, either, often accusing the QB of selfishness and showboating. Van Brocklin, known as “The Dutchman,” was a former NFL quarterback himself, with stints with the Rams and the Philadelphia Eagles in his 12-year career. However, Van Brocklin was purely a pocket passer and expected his young QB follow suit.
Tarkenton’s penchant for scrambling combined with the mercurial Van Brocklin’s ego would prove disastrous for the Vikings, culminating in Tarkenton demanding to be released and ultimately traded to the New York Giants in 1967. Van Brocklin surprisingly resigned soon after the trade. He would later go on to coach the Atlanta Falcons.
Tarkenton defended his scrambling, “I scramble because I’m good at it, because I can twist and dodge those big pass rushers better than most guys and we get a lot of touchdowns that way.”
He further elaborated, “I made up my mind when I got to pro football, that I was not going to give up on a play. Ever!”
Despite his inability to win “the big game,” Tarkenton is the standard by which all NFL quarterbacks are now held. A mobile quarterback is now a mandatory requirement for the position. Quarterbacks like Carolina’s Cam Newton, Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, and Seattle’s slinger Russell Wilson all owe a small debt of gratitude to that Georgia country boy with the gumption to break the norm, tick off huge defensive lineman, and help elevate the position of quarterback to a mix between a well-disciplined orchestra conductor and a scrappy, sandlot scamp.
More at the link:
fansourcenetwork.com/how-fran-tarkenton-changed-the-quarterback-position/
... and neither is this Chris guy.