10 best Georgia alumni in NFL history

1. Fran Tarkenton

For quite a spell, he was the NFL’s all-time career leader when it came to passing. Elusive Fran Tarkenton amassed 47,003 passing yards and 342 aerial scores in 18 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, then the New York Giants and then a second stop in the Twin Cities. Those passing yards currently rank 14th in NFL annals, while only 10 players have thrown more touchdown passes in league history than the scrambler extraordinaire.

Fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino was the first to surpass “Sir Francis” on these all-time lists and more. As time wore on and the passing game became a bigger factor in the league, others began to amass big numbers. So take nothing away from the nine-time Pro Bowler and 1975 NFL MVP and All-Pro.

Unfortunately for Tarkenton and the Vikings in general, Super Sunday was not kind to the team. He led the team to three Super Bowl appearances in a four-year span (1973-76). The Vikings not only lost, the club failed to score a point in the first half of any of those games. It’s worth noting that those Minnesota teams ran into some juggernauts in the 1970s in the form of the Miami Dolphins, Pittsburgh Steelers and Oakland Raiders.