Friday's Notebook: Tarkenton Still Making Noise
by Anthony21 on May 29, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
in Favregeddon
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PrintTGIF, ladies and gents...keeping things short and sweet this morning since Tarkenton's comments seem to be the only thing in the news at the moment I'm writing this...welcome back, Gonzo!...anyone want to be Kevin Seifert's friend on Facebook?...can't believe I'm linking to TMZ, but they were the first to the punch in photographing Michael Vick, now under house arrest...Plaxico Burress is reportedly "deathly afraid" of going to jail...Maurice Clarett would like to play again...too bad he'll be in jail for another 10 months, at minimum...Ryan Hoag is a finalist to be named "One Man Minneapolis," an award for the gentleman who "represents the best of the Twin Cities from the perspectives of community involvement, personality, intelligence, and fitness”...yeah, I don't care either.
With a hat tip to Shooter, I was interested to find out that the seemingly spontaneous controversy surrounding Fran Tarkenton's comments on Favre might not have been quite as spontaneous as it initially seemed. As it turns out, Fran has a new book coming out in a couple months called "Every Day Is Game Day." Say what you want about his opinion on Favre, but the man's been making a solid business move by getting his name out in the media this week -- could drive up those book sales a bit.
But even beyond that, you can tell Fran's simply having some fun with this dust-up. If you need any evidence of that, look at this tidbit from Judd Zulgad's interview with Tarkenton:
As he spoke, Tarkenton was hitting refresh on a poll on the Fox Sports website that asked if people thought Tarkenton was right in his views on Favre. Tarkenton frequently gave updates on the vote total and how many people favored his view.
Bunch of newspaper columnists weighed in on the Tarkenton drama yesterday, but I found Tom Powers' take to be most interesting -- mainly because he made a point that has gone unexplored thus far:
Dear Mr. Fran Tarkenton:
Who knew you were so passionate about the Minnesota Vikings? As far as I can tell, you don't attend many — if any — alumni functions, and we never see you during the football season.
Do you folks think Powers is making a valid point? Tarkenton claims to be basing his opinion of the Favre saga on the fact that he'll always consider himself a Viking (he told Zulgad, "I retired a Viking and I will die a Viking...but [the Packers] are the enemy, are they not?"). I dunno...I think Fran's being sincere in using his allegiance to the Vikings as reason for the Favre criticism, but given his absence over the years, it wouldn't be entirely unreasonable to wonder what Powers is wondering. Interested to hear some thoughts on this because it's a tricky question.
And finally, I should have made note of this in yesterday's article about Fran's interview with Paul Allen of KFAN, but he made a solid point in that interview about one of the more uncomfortable aspects of the Favre speculation:
"I think they've disrespected the two quarterbacks they have," Tarkenton said. "... Here we are, the First of June almost, and they're saying, 'Ahh, I'm not sure we believe in you. We want you to be our leaders, but we may go in another direction with a broken-shoulder, 39-year-old quarterback.' I think it disrespects the two quarterbacks."
You know, regardless of your opinion on Tarkenton or Favre, that point is pretty damn difficult to argue. I may be one of the folks who feels Brett would be the best option at quarterback for the Vikings next season, but that doesn't mean I haven't felt terrible for Rosenfels and Jackson throughout all this. If the Favre scenario falls through and one of them becomes the 2009 starter, whichever guy wins the training camp battle will be entering the season with this ordeal in the back of his mind. That ain't a good thing, even if T-Jack and Rosenfels have both been very professional about this neverending soap opera.
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Did Tarkenton feel bad for the QBs he “disrespected” when he was traded back to us from the Giants? Kind of doubt it. It’s a business. It’s no offense to Jackson and Sage, Favre is just a better QB, 39-years old or not, at this point. That’s how it is. Teams should always try and put the best option out on the field. Fran should know that.
I agree!
It’s obvious the NFL is a business. T-Jack and Rosencopter should not let their “feelings” get hurt over this. I’m sure they both realize that a team is gonna do whetever they think is best for the team. If they bring in a guy who is better than you, suck it up, and realize you aren’t as good as the guy they brought in. I get so tired of hearing about pro athletes having their feelings hurt!
by shift47_brada on May 29, 2009 12:58 PM CDT up reply actions
Here's a riddle. how were Brett Favres backups able to play at pro bowl level through the years?
because they were able to see the good and the bad. They saw the good decisions and the stupid decisions.
Just something to ponder.
Think With Your Dipstick Jimmy!
by ifuwannacrownem on May 29, 2009 2:25 PM CDT up reply actions
Whatever Quarterback
The one thing that I have noticed missing in all this Farve talk is simple. No one has mentioned the fact that all this quarterback is going to have to do is hand the ball off to Peterson and Taylor. Oh well they may need to make about 10 to 15 passes a game to get the defense to back up a little. My personal opinion from what I saw last year when Rosenfels filled in at houston was he looked pretty good. Yeah he made a few mistakes but what QB doesn’t. With the backfield he would have in Minnesota he should do a real good job. I mean what defense is going to be able to ignore Petersons threat with the ball. That gives an acurate QB a tremendous advantage does it not.
by Mighty Norseman on May 29, 2009 8:04 AM CDT reply actions
I don't think Sage wins this battle....
….TJ’s just too far ahead of him. This will be his fourth year in this offense, he’s developed more chemistry with his receivers than Sage has and he’s more mobile. I’m not saying Sage won’t be the starter at some point this season because if TJ doesn’t start the season strong I think it may be his last chance with the Vikes.
In terms of throwing, I think Sage does win. I mean, obviously Childress likes the guy, he tried two consecutive offseasons to get ahold of him. He had a good completion % the last couple years, against some of the tougher pass rushing Ds. Everyone remembers the Colts game because he wound up blowing it. Which is a shame, because aside from the Rosencopter play, he was leading him team against one of the AFC’s powerhouses.
My money is on TJack
Living in Texas the only thing anyone down here hears is the negative press surrounding T Jack. I have defended him time and time again and if you actually watch him play he has all the tools to be a great QB. I am not ready to give up on him and I still have his back. My good buddy down here from Houston has a been a Texans fan since day one of their inception into the league and he doesn’t have much good to say about Rosenfield, and it’s not like Houston QBs have ever been dominate so I take his comments pretty seriously. (See David Carr… aka throws the ball at people’s feet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yjnk9da-hA
Tarvaris highlights
People are only flaming him now because of the Eagles playoff game. Other than that he was looking pretty sharp towards the end of the season and one can argue he was the only reason wemade it to the playoffs. I didn’t even think he played that bad in that game. The stupidest thing he did was getting bodyslammed into the endzone, but hey, at least it shows heart and the desire to do whatever it takes in a big game like that.
Alot of those plays were preseason. I mean, yeah it’s still football, but defenses aren’t trying as much as they would when the games count. He has shown that he can be a good QB though. I think I saw some clips of the Broncos game on there. That was a pretty good game. Coming back to tie it, down 19 – 3 with a little over 5 mins left. Would’ve been a win if not for Taylor’s pylon fumble.
I only caught the first 30 seconds of the video. the boss was walking up so I just pasted it and went on with my post.
No matter though I still believe he could still manage this team with an open playbook.
If he plays like he did at the end of last year, Eagles game included (I don’t care that he threw the pick 6. He responded with a TD drive right after which is what I want from a QB), then we should be just fine. He only had 2 turn overs. Part of what killed us last year in a few of our losses were Gus’ amazing ammount of Ints. If Jackson can keep those to a minimum, we should be good enough to grind it out with Peterson and let our defense hold down opposing offenses.
I look forward
to seeing you at the Vikings-Texans preseason game this year, Viking Frog. It will be interesting to see how the fans greet Sage.
T Jack has not shown me enough
to be biased either way. There are times when he made some real boneheaded plays, but then he came out and played like a superstar at the end of last year. He wasnt that bad, alot of his picks were from his receivers deflecting them (V. Shank did it like three times) but some were bad decision making. Either way you look at it I don’t think bringing in an aged qb that is now lacking physically and likes to make bonehead plays himself is the right answer. T Jack (who by the way, I think is way OVER criticized and UNDER ranked) knows that there is someone behind him waiting to take his job permanently and I think that will sit in the back of his head now. I say give him this year, if he plays like s*** then drop him for some draft picks and try to get a decent rookie in 2010. Or like I said before after the big contract Anderson got in Cleveland you know it’s only a matter of time before Quinn wants out, and I think he would be a perfect fit. Just wish they would do something, this teams not getting any younger!
Tjack and the Eagle playoff loss
I dont know about anyone else, but at the half of the Eagle game, I thought we were in great position to win. All we needed to do was put a few points on the board, and force the Eagles to beat us. Instead, they put the points on the board, forcing us to try to beat them, which our QB was unable to do. If we cannot show some kind of passing game in order to have defenses play our receivers honestly, we will NEVER WIN A SUPER BOWL!! Imagine if our backfield only had to face 7 or even 8 in the box on every down,instead of having what seems like 11 in the box because they dont think we can beat them in the air.. I was always a Favre hater, but if he can put the ball in the air and force teams to back off the line, then I am all for signing him (I’ll still hate him, but I’ll root for him to suceed!). As has been noted previously, our window of opportunity is open, but not for long. GO VIKES!!
Old-Timers Chiming In
I think the ‘good old days’ always look better, the more decades they are behind you, and that’s influencing both Fran and Chuck, who are also both probably enjoying a little bit of fresh attention.
One thing that Tark may not understand, however…. T-Jack and Sage have never been full-fledged NFL QBs running their offenses. EVER. Favre has, but Favre’s an old-timer too, really, compared to our studly young bulls. In the way-back when, most 1st string QBs ran the entire offense, they were entrusted to call the plays, to audible their tails off if they decided it was warranted. They were the Captains of the Ship and were accorded a huge amount of respect because of it (Staubach being a notable exception – he got respect even though Landry called most of his plays). For T-Jack and Sage, what they never had, they can’t miss, and neither of them has really earned a starting position yet. So I don’t think respect is as much the issue as is confidence… knowing the coaching staff has confidence in them, supports them all the way… Neither T-Jack nor Sage has ever experienced that, and it appears they won’t get to experience it this year, either.
On the plus side, both of them have behaved with great professionalism and focus, enough that I’m glad they’re both in Purple, and look forward to their future contributions no matter what happens.
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