The Legendary Fran Tarkenton

One of the most accomplished quarterbacks in the history of the National Football League long ago transitioned adroitly from the locker room to the corporate boardroom.

In fact, with a mind as agile as his body was in competition, former University of Georgia Bulldog and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton would rather talk to you about his success founding more than 20 businesses than his record-setting 18 years in the NFL,13 with the Minnesota Vikings.

Many have asked why, with his vast knowledge of his sport, he did not enter the coaching ranks or become a general manager. “The only way I would be involved with football,” he says, “would be to own a team.”

While he doesn’t have billionaire status that NFL ownership likely would require, he gets as exhilarated over a business deal as he did an NFL game plan. As founder and CEO of Tarkenton Financial in Buckhead, he has the same drive to achieve in business as he did in pro football.

Tarkenton says his corporate success often began with a name on a sheet of paper and later became a viable business entity, turning a sizable profit. Celebrity Net Worth says his net worth is more than $300 million. Not bad for a player who only made $1.2 million in his entire football career.

Walking into his expansive office at Tower Place feels like being ensconced in a sports museum. He is a man of abiding pride in his career, with countless football mementos, but points just as eagerly to framed letters from Sam Walton, the Walmart scion who had a high regard for Tarkenton as a businessman.

Arguably, the fabled No. 10 was the most inventive and creative quarterback ever. He called his own plays and broke many records, including 47,003 career passing yards and 342 touchdowns. He played in nine Pro Bowls and was the league’s most valuable player in 1975.

He often refers to those special moments of his career but also recalls a low point when he separated his shoulder during a high school “head-on” tackling drill. Before that, Tarkenton could throw a football 75 yards. After the injury, he says he relied more on developing a running game and honing his scrambling instincts, which served him well as UGA’s quarterback and later in the NFL.

The only thing missing on Tarkenton’s resume is a Super Bowl ring. It was a source of regret for many years. “I hate it for my teammates,” he says. “After Lombardi [at Green Bay], we dominated the NFL Central, the so called ‘Black and Blue’ Division. We won big games, and we lost a heartbreaker or two. You must enjoy a lot of luck; you have to get a lot of breaks at the right time to win a championship. Unfortunately, Lady Luck did not smile on us in our three trips to the Super Bowl.”

At his Lake Burton retreat, he sees a lot of his neighbor, former Alabama coach Nick Saban, and the two enjoy ruminating about football and sharing meals. Tarkenton also holds the deepest admiration for UGA Head Football Coach Kirby Smart.

“He knows football, he can coach, and he has to be one of the very best college football recruiters. He has no shortcomings. And he has youth on his side,” says Tarkenton.

As the calendar advances, sentimentality is settling in with Tarkenton. No coach could intimidate him, nor could a 6-foot-8-inch, 300-pound NFL defensive lineman. When I asked him the highlight of his career, he recalled the 13-yard touchdown pass to Bill Heron in November 1959 that led Georgia to the SEC championship and an invitation to the Orange Bowl.

When Tarkenton began playing college football between the hedges, few people would have forecast his legendary success, mainly because of his lack of brawn. But he proved it’s not the size of the Dawg in the fight, but the size of the fight in the Dawg. And that never-give-up attitude – that Coach Grant later recognized in him – was the same one that Tarkenton took with him into the corporate world, making him a winner both on and off the field.

Loran Smith is a veteran sportswriter and longtime UGA sidelines reporter.

Photo credit: Fran Tarkenton, Wikipedia.