Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury " Fran " Tarkenton ( born February 3 , 1940 ) is a former professional football player , TV personality , and computer software executive . He is best known for playing with the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants , as well as serving as a commentator on " Monday Night Football " and a co - host of " That ' s Incredible ! " . At the time of his retirement he owned every major quarterback record . Tarkenton also founded Tarkenton Software , a computer - program generator company , and he toured the U . S . promoting CASE ( computer - aided software engineering ) with Albert F . Case , Jr . of Nastec Corporation . Tarkenton Software later merged with KnowledgeWare ( with Tarkenton as president ) , until selling the company to Sterling Software in 1994 . Biography . Early life . Fran Tarkenton was born in Richmond , Virginia . His father , Dallas Tarkenton , Sr . , was a Pentecostal minister . Fran Tarkenton went to in Athens , Georgia , and later attended the University of Georgia , where he was the quarterback on the Bulldog football team . He led Georgia to the 1959 Southeastern Conference championship under Coach Wally Butts . He is a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity . Also , in Tarkenton ' s early years he was a member of the Masonic Youth Group . Tarkenton ' s first marriage was to Anna Elaine Merrell of Decatur , Georgia . They wed on December 22 , 1960 , at First Baptist Church in Decatur . Tarkenton , his second wife Linda Sebastian Tarkenton ( a former Eastern Airlines flight attendant ) , and four children and ten grandchildren currently reside in Atlanta , Georgia . They spend time at their mountain home located on the shores of Lake Burton in Rabun County , Georgia , and play golf at Waterfall Country Club , which overlooks Lake Burton and the surrounding mountains . They also spend part of their summer in Pebble Beach golfing . Professional football career . The Minnesota Vikings drafted Tarkenton in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft , and he was picked in the fifth round of the 1961 AFL draft by the Boston Patriots . He signed with the Vikings . Tarkenton , 21 , played his first National Football League game ( and the Vikings ' first game ) on September 17 against the Chicago Bears and led the Vikings to a victory by passing for 250 yards and four touchdown passes and ran for another as the upstarts stunned the Bears 37 – 13 . He is the only player in NFL history to pass for four touchdowns in his first NFL game . He played for the Vikings from 1961 to 1966 , during which time he frequently locked horns with head coach Norm Van Brocklin , who disdained the idea of a mobile quarterback , a concept that Tarkenton dramatically advanced in the NFL . Tarkenton was given the nicknames " The Mad Scrambler , " " Frantic Fran , " and " Scramblin ' Fran " because he frequently ran around in the backfield to avoid being sacked by the opposition ( among his other nicknames : " Sir Francis , " used occasionally by Howard Cosell of ABC Sports ) . Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants in 1967 ( for two first round , and two second round draft picks ) and played there for five seasons . His efforts helped the Giants rally from the NFL ' s basement ( a 1 - 12 - 1 record in 1966 ) to better times . In the first game of the 1969 season , Tarkenton ' s Giants played the Vikings . After trailing 23 - 10 in the fourth quarter , Tarkenton threw two touchdown passes to secure a 24 - 23 comeback victory over his former team . The 24 points allowed by Minnesota ' s defense would be a season - worst for the unit that would finish # 1 in dominant fashion . Tarkenton was traded back to Minnesota in 1972 , for three players plus a first and second round draft choice . He led the Vikings to three Super Bowl s in the 1970s , but lost all of them . In Tarkenton ' s first Super Bowl appearance they lost to the Miami Dolphins 24 – 7 in Houston , they lost the second to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a defensive struggle 16 - 6 in New Orleans , and in the last Super Bowl Tarkenton would ever play , the Vikings were blown out by the Oakland Raiders 32 - 14 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena . Tarkenton won the NFL ' s MVP award after the 1975 season , capturing All - Pro honors in the process . Tarkenton was also second Team All - Pro in 1973 and earned All - NFC selection in 1972 and 1976 . He was named second Team All - NFC in 1970 and 1974 . Tarkenton was selected to play in nine Pro Bowl s . In his 18 NFL seasons , Tarkenton completed 3 , 686 of 6 , 467 passes for 47 , 003 yards and 342 touchdowns , with 266 interceptions . Tarkenton ' s 47 , 003 career passing yards rank him 6th all time , while his 342 career passing touchdowns is 4th all time in NFL history . He also is fifth on the all - time list of wins by a starting quarterback with 124 regular season victories . He also used his impressive scrambling ability to rack up 3 , 674 rushing yards and 32 touchdowns on 675 carries . During his career , Tarkenton ran for a touchdown in 15 different seasons , an NFL record among quarterbacks . He ranks fourth in career rushing yards among quarterbacks , behind Randall Cunningham , Steve Young and Michael Vick . He is also one of two NFL quarterbacks ever to rush for at least 300 yards in seven different seasons ; the other is Tobin Rote . Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 . Vikings head coach Bud Grant flatly called Tarkenton " the greatest quarterback who ' s ever played . " When he retired , Tarkenton held NFL career records in pass attempts , completions , yardage , and touchdowns ; rushing yards by a quarterback ; and wins by a starting quarterback . However , Tarkenton ' s poor performance in three Super Bowls and his inability to win a championship ring in 18 seasons prevents some people from considering him as great as other quarterbacks . Despite not winning a Super Bowl , he won six playoff games , and in 1999 he was ranked number 59 on " The Sporting News " list of the 100 Greatest Football Players . He was also known to heave the ball deep on third and long with no regard to an interception . He stated this was due to the great defense his teams had . One of the more difficult losses of Tarkenton ' s career occurred during the 1975 NFC Divisional Playoffs . With what was considered by some observers to be the best team of their Purple People Eater era , the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys 17 - 14 on a hail Mary touchdown pass from Dallas quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson . The play so incensed the crowd that one fan fired a whiskey bottle from the stands , striking official Armen Terzian in the head . This was partly responsible for the banning of glass bottles at arenas around the country . Common Vikings folklore blames this incident for many future calls that referees made against the Vikings , and has been termed " Terzian ' s Revenge " . Tarkenton also lost his father , who died while he was watching the game ; it had been rumored that the " Hail Mary Pass " caused the cardiac arrest , but in fact Mr . Tarkenton died during the middle of the third quarter . It was a disappointing end to a spectacular season for the Vikings . They had finished the season with an NFC best 12 - 2 record and Tarkenton had won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award , and the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award . Post - football life . Tarkenton was inducted into the Georgia Sports Hall of Fame in 1977 , the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986 , the College Football Hall of Fame in 1987 , and the Athens ( GA ) Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000 . Tarkenton later appeared on the television show " That ' s Incredible ! " and also worked part - time on " Monday Night Football " . He also guest - hosted " Saturday Night Live " on January 29 , 1977 . A biography of Tarkenton titled " Better Scramble than Lose " was published in 1969 . This followed Tarkenton ' s 1967 autobiography " No Time for Losing " and preceded by several years his 1977 autobiography " Tarkenton " co - written with Jim Klobuchar . The autobiographies chronicle not only his football career but also his personal evolution from his early football days as a preacher ' s son . Tarkenton wrote a book titled " Broken Patterns : The Education of a Quarterback " , as told to Brock Yates . It is a chronicle of the 1969 New York Giants season . In 1986 Tarkenton , with author Herb Resincow , wrote a novel titled " Murder at the Super Bowl " , the whodunit story of a football coach killed just before his team is to participate in the championship game . Tarkenton wrote the self - help , motivational books " Playing to Win " in 1984 , and " How to Motivate People : The Team Strategy for Success " in 1986 . He also wrote the motivational self - help business book titled " What Losing Taught Me About Winning " , and " Every Day is Game Day . " In 1987 , Tarkenton hosted a " Think and Grow Rich " TV infomercial that sold the book with an audio cassette version ( the audio cassettes contained an introduction and conclusion by Tarkenton ) . Tarkenton was also a pioneer in computer software , and founder of Tarkenton Software , a program generator company . He toured the United States promoting CASE or " computer - aided software engineering " with Albert F . Case , Jr . of Nastec Corporation , but ultimately merged his software firm with ' s KnowledgeWare , of which Tarkenton was president until selling the company to Sterling Software in 1994 . Since then , Tarkenton has been seen promoting various products and services including Tony Robbins and 1 - 800 - BAR - NONE . He also founded GoSmallBiz . com , a small business consulting website , which is sold exclusively through Pre - Paid Legal Services , Inc . His most current company is an annuity marketing firm called Tarkenton Financial . In 2009 , Tarkenton made national news for his harsh criticism of Brett Favre ' s indecision on whether or not to come out of retirement to play for the Minnesota Vikings . Tarkenton , however , himself was similarly indecisive on his retirement during the last seven years of his playing career . Ironically , Tarkenton forced the Vikings to trade him away in 1967 , even though head coach Norm Van Brocklin , with whom he had had much unhappiness , had already resigned . Tarkenton ' s departure caused the Vikings to go on a five - year search for a starting quarterback ( Joe Kapp , Gary Cuozzo , Ron Vander Kelen , Norm Snead , and Bob Lee were all Vikings ' starters between 1967 and 1971 ) , before Tarkenton badgered the Giants into trading him back to the Vikings in 1972 . In February 2012 , Tarkenton began hosting his own weekly call - in radio show on Sirius XM .