Who else thinks Fran Tarkenton is underrated?

[jsarno]

To answer the question, yes, he was absolutely underrated. I mentioned him in my top 10...I think I had him 9th if I remember correctly.

Well from 61-66, there were only 14 teams in the NFL (actually went to 15 teams in 66), in those years, his defense ranked 14th 3 times (that's dead last), 12th once, 8th once, and 6th once. So only 1 time was the defense better than average, and that was slightly.

From 72-78, only 4 seasons, 73-76 did the D rank well. 2nd twice and 3rd twice. (11th, 13th and 20th in the other seasons)

When he played with the Giants, 67-71, he had no defense either (overall). 67- 13th out of 16, 68- 10th out of 16, 69- 8th out of 16, 70- 15th out of 26, 71- 25th out of 26.

So in short, out of his 18 seasons played, only 4 times did he have a defense worth a damn. A lot of people seem to forget that football is the ULTIMATE team sport, and 1 person can not do it all. For all those that watched Tark, most would put him in their top ten without a doubt.

Why do I point out the defense? Well, defense wins championships folks.