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There is nothing that Fran Tarkenton does better than whining about how bad Brett Favre is as a quarterback and how spoiled NFL players are today. Yep, Tarkenton is at it again! All season long (after torching him in the pre-season), Tarkenton praised Favre and the Vikings for playing great but it turned for the worse after Sunday’s loss to the Saints. Needless to say, he was not happy with how the game ended and I don’t really blame him. Yes, Favre did throw an interception late in the game, but had it not been for him they wouldn’t have had that chance to win it after all of the fumbles that were lost during the game.
Tarkenton played during an era where you had to be tough to play quarterback. Today’s game is quarterback-driven and I think Tarkenton is just jealous of all the notoriety the quarterbacks get and how much money the players make today compared to when he played, for what seems like, over a century ago. It doesn’t help that Tarkenton was a Viking himself so it had to hit home when he witnessed the “Purple People Eaters” go out like that when they were clearly the best team. Fran, please tone it down a notch because you sound like a grumpy old man! Fran Tarkenton joined 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia to talk about his opinion on the Saints vs. Vikings game and Brett Favre throwing the interception at the end, his thoughts on Favre, and who he thinks the top-five quarterbacks are of all-time.
His opinion on the Saints vs. Vikings game and Brett Favre throwing the interception at the end:
“Well before that I think the Vikings were clearly the best team. They held this New Orleans offense to under 300 yards. They made Drew Brees look ordinary. He didn’t even throw for 200 yards. The guys have been throwing for 400, 500 yards. They were the better team. Their offense turned the ball over five times, the Viking offense. But still if he didn’t make that stupid play at the end of the game they would have won the game. Now you are in Philadelphia, remember a few years ago when Green Bay played you guys for the, I thin it was a championship game…I think you guys went to overtime. I mean he throws the ball straight up in the air, freefalls. Do you remember that? I have never seen any quarterback much less, well he is going to be a Hall of Fame quarterback, make plays like that at a critical time. He has done the same thing in the Giants game. He plays at home ,has the better team and plays against Eli. He was a young kid right? And he throws the pick… and then he does what he did the other night which was just shameful because great quarterbacks, and he is a great quarterback, they don’t do that. You don’t see Peyton Manning do that.”
His thoughts on Brett Favre and how it seems that he is down on his abilities:
“No, I think he has been a great, great player. I am not a great fan of Brett Favre’s because he goes out and all I heard them talk about is Brett Favre and he is tough, he is getting hit. You know Peyton Manning gets hit. I have played with a torn ACL. Donovan McNabb gets hit. We all get hit but he is flapping around and jumping around and he is getting hit and he talks in the soft voice. I would rather it be about the team and not Brett Favre. I get the idea that it is more about Brett Favre than the team. A quarterback is to make his teammates better but he is not about that. Now as a player, he has been a great player. No question about it. Also great players, my gosh, I have never seen great quarterbacks make that many bad plays in a critical moment in a playoff game.”
On the significance of Brett Favre throwing for over 70,000 yards and 500 touchdowns:
“Yeah it is and he has done great and Peyton Manning is going to go by his records because you play 16 games today, it is a quarterbacks league, they changed the rules in 1979 where you couldn’t hit the receiver past five yards. That changed the whole offense. Now most anybody can throw for 300 yards. Back in our day if you throw for 300 yards that was a huge thing. Now these records are going to continually be broken because of the nature of the game and Peyton will beat Favre. Favre has been a great, great player. No question about it. One of the greats of all-time. I am just not a great Brett Favre fan.”
On the host’s top-five quarterbacks of all-time: Elway. Montana, Favre, manning, Marino:
“Now who was first? (Host: Elway.) Now I don’t know how you go there. You are rating modern-day quarterbacks. (Host: No, I have got Johnny Unitas in there and you.) You can’t compare quarterbacks forty years ago like we were. It is just impossible. The game has changed and the memories have changed and all of the stuff that has been there. It is just impossible. First of all it is impossible to say who the greatest quarterback is of all-time because that is impossible in itself. You can not be a great quarterback without being on great teams. If you are top-five, I wouldn’t put Elway number one. He was a great player. I would probably take Marino… You know what? Joe Montana didn’t win any championships either. His team won the championships. You can not win without all of the pieces. He happens to hit San Francisco… He was a great player but he was there with Bill Walsh, a great offense, a great defense, a great scheme, the whole thing. When he left how many championships did he win in Kansas City? None. You have got to be lucky enough as a quarterback. When I played my first years I was on an expansion team. I go to New York they were 1-12-1. I was 7-7 the first year I was in New York. They were 1-12-1 the year before with Earl Morrall the quarterback and they traded three number one draft choices and two number two’s to get me and that was the best year that I ever had in football. I did more for my team then than ever before. I go back to Minnesota we were in three of five Super Bowls. Could have been in five of five Super Bowls but I was on a team that had the capability of getting there. If you don’t have that team then you can not get there. I don’t care who you are.”
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