Relive an Unreal Moment Between Fran Tarkenton and Mick Tingelhoff
K. Joudry
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Fran Tarkenton and Mick Tingelhoff are both Hall of Famers and all-time Vikings greats. Before getting into that a little further, please indulge me on this momentary detour.
Valued reader, join me on a journey into the imagination. This Sunday, imagine the Vikings are near the goal line. Klint “Lil’Kub” Kubiak happens to take the advice from some dweeb at Purple PTSD, opening up his offense by being more imaginative, explosive, and dynamic. Heck, maybe he even calls an RPO. Stranger things have happened.
The end result involves Kirk keeping the ball as he runs into the end zone. As he crosses the out of bounds marker, a Pesky Packer decides to give him a little nudge. Kirk promptly turns around and throws the football directly at the Packer player (really hard, I hasten to add). A fight ensues. Brian O’Neill goes full WWE by soaring through the air onto the Packer(s) trying to assault his QB. General chaos ensues. Who knows, maybe Ezra Cleveland or Christian Darrisaw join the fun. Pretty wild, right?
Well, that’s not too far off from what happened with Fran Tarkenton and Mick Tingelhoff a little while ago. Watch the video to see for yourself:
I’ll admit that I’m a touch too youthful to remember this one. When this play was occurring, I wasn’t even a thought. Nevertheless, I can appreciate the strong bond between Tarkenton and Tingelhoff. The rugged center had his QB’s back.
Cole Smith – a walking, talking Vikings encyclopedia – wrote about both of these players in The Vikings Gazette‘s Hall of Fame series. Cole explains that it is Fran Tarkenton who gave the speech at the Mick Tingelhoff Hall of Fame induction ceremony:
Finally, in his 32nd year of eligibility, Mick Tingelhoff was rightfully enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, by that time Tingelhoff was suffering from short-term memory loss. At first, the plan was for Tingelhoff to say a few words. But at the last minute, Tarkenton and Mick’s wife, Phyllis Tingelhoff, decided it would be best to take the pressure off of Mick and let Tarkenton say a few words. As the two walked onto the stage, an emotional Tarkenton said, “Mick’s a man of little words, but a lot of action. He’s so proud to be in this Class of 2015. He waited 37 years to get to the hall of fame.”
Enjoy the trip down memory lane, Vikings fans.
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