Thursday, February 03, 2011

Happy 71st, Fran

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite all-time athletes, Fran Tarkenton. He is a big reason why I became a Minnesota Vikings fan in my youth. He was the NFL MVP in 1975, led the Vikings to three Super Bowls, and retired as the all-time leader in yards passing, completions and touchdowns. He's also still the only QB in history to throw 4 TDs in his debut, in September 1961, a 37-13 Vikings win over the Bears.

But unfortunately he seems to be forgotten these days when they talk about all-time great quarterbacks. If he could have won just ONE Super Bowl...

Here is a YouTube clip of Fran as the #91 Greatest Player in NFL History:



Today is also a somber day in history, as it was the Day The Music Died, 52 years ago, when a plane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper. It was immortalized in 1971 by Don McLean:

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