Wednesday, May 27, 2009

TARKENTON CALLS THE KETTLE BLACK - Favre not only one overrated


"Boy could he scramble", my dad use to say over and over about his favorite player of all-time Fran Tarkenton. "But dad could he pass?", "but dad did he ever win a Superbowl?", "but dad didn't he throw 32 interceptions in one season?" "dad don't you think Tarkenton is overrated?" He would pause a moment and then reply, "yeah...but boy could he scramble." Fran Tarkenton was possibly one of the most overrated quarterbacks to play the game, even my dad (who idolized him) could admit that. So when Tarkenton came out and called Brett Farve a bad teammate and an overrated quarterback, I took offense. I agree but I take offense:

"I think he has been a great flamboyant quarterback, but he has made more stupid plays than any great quarterback that I've ever seen. Look at his final game in a Packers uniform. He blew that game against the Giants. He's playing against Eli Manning, I love Eli Manning, but he's still not a great quarterback. He's not Peyton yet, or Tom Brady. He's just a guy. And they're (Packers) are playing at home, and they're in a tight situation, they went to overtime and he (Favre) throws the interception that allows them (the Giants) to come back and win the game. He has done that and driven his coaches crazy all of his career."

Fran Tarkenton


If this isn't calling the kettle black, then I don't know what is. Fran Tarkenton may be one of the most overrated quarterbacks of all-time. Yeah, I know he is 5th on the all-time passing list (only because he played 18 years), made 3 Super bowls (lost them all) and once led the league in passing (he also led the league in interceptions that year). Tarkenton couldn't hold a candle to the games best quarterbacks...Unitas, Montana, or Marino. How dare he attack Farve. Now if Manning or Montana said that same quote then I would say "yeah I agree Farve is overrated" but when an overrated qb calls another qb overrated I got a problem. Tarkenton needs to look in the overrated mirror. Even my dad agrees.

Check for yourself:
Fran Tarkenton's Stats

Top 5 Most Overrated Quarterbacks

1. Joe Namath
Living off his Super bowl victory and his panty hose commercials. Led the league in interceptions 4 times,completed only 50 percent of his passes and threw for over 20 tds in only 1 year of his career. Your good looks got you a long way Broadway Joe.

2. Warren Moon
Only 3 winning seasons as a starting qb and no Superbowl rings come on. He also led the league in interceptions (twice) and run-ins with the police.

3. Troy Aikman
This was a tough one. Aikman won Super bowls and did everything a qb is suppose to do...if a quarterback is suppose to hand off to one of the all-time great running backs every time. Even Jason Garrett or Vinnie Testeverde could have won a Superbowl with Smith carrying the load. Look at his numbers: Aikman averaged less than 14 tds a year, never led the league in any major category and was a lousy FANTASY player (he cost many fantasy fans league titles...lucky for me I was an Elway fan).

4. Dan Fouts
His numbers were great but whose numbers wouldn't be great playing in nice weather every game, with stars all around you (John Jefferson, Lydell Mitchell, Kellen Winslow, Charlie Joiner, Wes Chandler) and with "Air Coryell" at the helm. With all those passing yards you would think that he would at least have gotten a sniff of a Superbowl ring. In fact Fouts had only 3 playoff victories and threw 16 interception compared to only 12 tds in the playoffs.

5. Fran Tarkenton
(See above)

Honorable Mention: Brett Farve, Jim McMahon, Randall Cunningham

1 comment:

  1. I thought those comments were ridiculous too. He called Eli Manning "just a guy" when Eli Manning had an incredible postseason run in 2007.

    Favre has had some boneheaded moments in the playoffs. But the majority of his career he played much better than Tarkenton. Hard to not play better than Tark when Tark was consistently a 50 to 60 QB rating guy in the playoffs.

    Derek Lofland

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