Former Vikings quarterback great Joe Kapp is still having fun

Minneapolis Startribune.com ^ | 4/2/04 | Thomas Speicher

[OneVike]

Having fun is "no laughing matter" to Joe Kapp.

"You've got to work at it," says the bruising quarterback who led the Minnesota Vikings to Super Bowl IV. "Not only in sports but in life and business."

The only man to quarterback teams to the Rose Bowl, Grey Cup and Super Bowl has embodied that credo on and off the field. From his headlining days at the University of California to eight seasons under the NFL radar in Canada to his professional pinnacle with the Vikings to his tumultuous split from the game he loves, Kapp has worked hard to have a lot of fun.

[OneVike]

I was just getting into football when Kapp was QB for the Vikings. I grew up in Duluth Minn, half my friends were Packer fans and half were Viking fans. Being half Norwegian, it was a no brainer as to which team I would follow. I have been bleeding purple since.

I have left a lot of purple blood on the floor in front of the TV through the years.

This last year I left a whole pint.

[Support Free Republic]

The home of the right
Liberty, prosperity
Your support makes us.

[Jhensy]

He'll always remind me of that early Super Bowl vs. the Chiefs in New Orleans.

[Spruce]

My mother had to convince every teacher of mine that my drawer was full of clothes, not just the #10 Viking jersey I wore every day!

[Colonel_Flagg]

Nice picture. Kapp threw the worst spiral in the history of football but he won 12 games in 1969.

[rogueleader]

Joe Kapp was a great one, an extremely tough football player.

Go Vikes!

[OneVike]

Kapp threw the worst spiral in the history of football but he won 12 games in 1969

14 games counting the playoffs, unfortunately he started a bad precedent for my Vikes. They kept loosing the Big ones.

[albertabound]

Growing up , Peanut butter Joe was my hero.

http://www.cfl.ca/CFLHistoryCFLLegends/kapp.html

[Colonel_Flagg]

True enough. They're my Vikes too, by the way. :)

[OneVike]

What part of Minnesota are you from?

[Finalapproach29er]

40 for 60.

No "I" in team.

[stevem]

I don't know if he made this up or simply quoted another player, but Jim Klobuchar (who wrote some fun stuff about the Vikings) once wrote (paraphrase): If you found yourself in a bar room brawl, with bottles and chairs crashing over heads, you would know Joe Kapp was somehow at the bottom of it. You could easily tell which of the combatants was Kapp. He would be the one that was laughing.

There have been stories of quarterbacks with strong arms: You had Elway crosses, and they say Jim Plunkett could throw a ball through a brick wall. I once saw Roman Gabriel lob a ball about seventy yards. I think Kapp had an arm that compared well with the best the NFL ever produced. He could throw one as far as anyone, and I don't think he ever threw a spiral in his life.

[Husker8877]

I remember in 69 or 70, in the Cleveland playoff game that the Vikes won 5-2 (no typo), Joe took off on a run around end and hit the big middle LB for the Browns, dropping him in his tracks.

That was when Joe became one of my favorites!

[dancusa]

I'll never forget the Vikings-Rams game in 1969.Joe Kapp was running down the sidelines when Richie Petibone tried to tackle him low.Kapp hurdled Petibone, barely breaking stride and continued running down the sideline.The play was simply amazing and I'll never forget it.The NFL later passed a no hurdle rule after that season.

[rogueleader]

"No hurdle rule?" Is that a joke on "no huddle rule" or does that really exist? I've seen NFL players leap over other players many times.

[ErnBatavia]

Wifey (who grew up in the St. Cloud area) has a pal who runs a pizza joint in St. Paul....said pal was buddies with all the local cops, so she got privileged on occasion to attend Viking workouts - once, when the team folks had all left the field, she spotted a Vikings warmup cape still on the bench (remember when the Vikes played outside??).

Needless to say, wifey and I both got to try it on - in the back room of the pizza joint!

[Mark17]

I was from Grand Forks, and a life long Vikes fan, though it is an exercise in futility sometimes. I see the Bulldogs are in the frozen four, and my Sioux are not. Grrr.

Regards.