Best Performances By Old Athletes: Fran Tarkenton, 1978

In 2008, Brett Favre, a quarterback in his 18th season in the NFL, threw for 3,472 yards and 22 touchdowns.  His season was impressive enough, especially given his age that he was voted to the Pro Bowl by the fans and his peers.

But 30 years earlier another Hall of Fame quarterback had an 18th season that in some ways was more impressive than Favre in 2008. 

In 1978, Minnesota quarterback Fran Tarkenton was 38 years old, entering his 18th season in the league. After a career playing 12 years for the Vikings and five for the Giants, Tarkenton was already head and shoulders over any quarterback preceding him in terms of passing yards and touchdown passes. 

What makes his achievements even more remarkable is that he played the bulk of his career (1961–1978) in the “dead ball era” when the NFL concentrated more on the rushing game than passing.  

Between 1970 and 1979, the top rushing teams in the league ran for an average of 193 yards per game, compared with 222 yards per game through the air for the top passing teams.

To put these numbers in perspective, the top rushing teams between 1990 and 1999 rushed for 147 yards per game while the top passing teams gained 285 yards per game through the air. 

Furthermore, rule changes since Tarkenton’s time have increased protection for both quarterbacks and receivers, resulting in inflated passer ratings. In an era when even future Hall of Fame quarterbacks had career passer ratings in the '70s, Tarkenton’s passer rating exceeded 80 eleven out of his 18 seasons. 

In spite of his disadvantages compared with modern passers, Tarkenton’s touchdown pass record was not broken until 1995, 20 years after it was set.

In spite of years of consistent production, Tarkenton never led the league in passing yardage for any one season. 1978 changed that.

Although the NFL was in the final throes of the dead ball era, 38-year old Fran Tarkenton threw for league high 3,468 yards and 25 touchdowns, which remains the highest number of touchdown passes by a quarterback in his 18th season. 

His completion percentage of 60.3 percent was better than fellow future Hall of Famers Roger Staubaugh, Terry Bradshaw, and Dan Fouts. As an individual, he accounted for 26 of the Vikings’ 36 total touchdowns for the 1978 regular season.

Unfortunately, he threw 32 interceptions, which led the league and lowered his passer rating for the year to 68.9.

Tarkenton’s 1978 performance may not have earned him a trip to the Pro Bowl, but the Vikings did win their division and make the playoffs.

The highlight of the season for Vikings’ signal caller was a come from behind victory over Ron Jawarski’s Eagles in which Tarkenton threw for four touchdowns including the game winner in the fourth quarter. 

The quarterback’s career came to a disappointing end with a Divisional Playoff loss to the Rams, but one still has to be impressed with the performance of a 38-year old quarterback.