Perhaps no franchise in NFL history has been as inept at drafting quarterbacks than the Minnesota Vikings. Since 1970, Minnesota has drafted 16 quarterbacks, including this year’s top draft choice Christian Ponder.
Taking Ponder out of the equation since he hasn’t played a down in the NFL, not one of the 15 QB’s the Vikings have taken in the draft have lead the team to a Super Bowl appearance.
Over the past 41 years, only four of the 15 quarterbacks Minnesota has drafted have lead the Vikings to a playoff victory.
The four Vikings’ quarterbacks who hold that somewhat dubious distinction are Tommy Kramer, Wade Wilson, Brad Johnson and Daunte Culpepper.
Prior to 1970, Fran Tarkenton is the only QB drafted by the Vikings to take the team to a Super Bowl. Tarkenton was drafted by the Vikings in 1961, their first year in existence.
Tarkenton would lead Minnesota to three of their four Super Bowl appearances, beginning with Super Bowl VIII and again the following year in Super Bowl IX.
The Vikings last appearance in the Super Bowl came in 1977 when they lost to the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI. That also turned out to be the last game Tarkenton would play in the NFL.
Other than Tarkenton, Joe Kapp is the only quarterback to take Minnesota to the Super Bowl, but he wasn’t drafted by the Vikings.
Kapp spent the first eight years of his pro football career playing in the CFL before he was signed by the Vikings in 1967.
Kapp would lead Minnesota to the last NFL Championship played before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, but the heavily favored Vikings lost Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs.
It’s hard to believe a franchise that has made 26 playoff appearances over the past 50 years has drafted only one quarterback that ultimately lead the Vikings to the Super Bowl.
To put that into perspective, the Dallas Cowboys first year in existence was in 1960, one year before the Vikings.
The Cowboys have drafted three quarterbacks in franchise history that ultimately led the team to a Super Bowl, beginning with Roger Staubach in 1964 and followed by Craig Morton in 1965.
Troy Aikman was drafted by Dallas in 1989 and would lead the Cowboys to three Super Bowl titles in four years throughout the 1990′s.
If Minnesota makes an unlikely run to the Super Bowl this season, chances are they won’t do it with Ponder.
Last week, the Vikings acquired Donovan McNabb in a trade with the Washington Redskins and he will almost certainly be given the starter’s job while Ponder learns the ropes.
It’s a safe bet that Tarkenton will remain the only quarterback drafted by the Vikings in franchise history to lead them to a Super Bowl.
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