Joe Kapp obit

Former NFL quarterback Joe Kapp dead at 85

 

He was not on the list.

Joe Kapp, a quarterback who led the Vikings to the Super Bowl in 1970 and once threw seven touchdowns in a game, has died at 85, according to reports.

He had battled Alzheimer’s disease, according to Yahoo! Sports.

Kapp remains the only quarterback to play in the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl and the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup.

He was known for his ferocious and aggressive style of play.

“Some form of challenge is necessary on every play that you play and if you don’t come up to that line of scrimmage as the quarterback ready to challenge that defense, they’re going to eat you up,” Kapp once told NFL Films.

Center Mick Tingelhoff told NFL Films of the time Kapp was particularly upset with an opposing linebacker.

“So Joe gets under center and he goes, ‘Set. Hut one. Hut two. F–k you, 58,” Tinglehoff said, laughing. “Joe was fun to play with.”

Kapp played for the University of California Bears, leading the team to the Pacific Coast Conference title in 1958 and the Rose Bowl in 1959, which resulted in a loss to Iowa.

After playing two seasons with the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders, he was traded to the BC Lions, where he led the team to a 1963 Grey Cup appearance and the 1964 Grey Cup championship.

In 1967, Kapp moved to the NFL, joining the Minnesota Vikings.

The team made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history in 1968.

The team made the Super Bowl the following year after a sterling 12-2 regular season.

In the storybook run, Kapp tied an NFL record with seven touchdowns in an early season game against the Colts.

After the Vikings were upset in Super Bowl IV by the Chiefs, Kapp went unsigned for the 1970 season.

He later joined the Boston Patriots but the team struggled, finishing 2-12.

Kapp then decided to end his 4-year NFL career, but didn’t turn away from football completely

In 1982, he returned to Cal to coach the Bears, going 20-34-1 in five seasons.

Kapp was on the sidelines for the famous 25-20 win over Stanford in 1982, when Cal returned a kickoff to end the game with several laterals despite the band coming onto the field during the play.

The 6’2″, 215-pound quarterback also appeared in a number of movies and TV shows, including “The Longest Yard,” “The Six Million Dollar Man” and “The Frisco Kid.”

Kapp was selected in the 18th round of the 1959 NFL Draft by the Washington Redskins, who owned his rights to play professional football in the United States. After the draft, Washington did not contact him, so his only choice was to accept the offer from Jim Finks, the general manager of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Kapp joined the Calgary Stampeders of the CFL for his rookie season in 1959. The following year, Kapp led Calgary to their first playoff appearance in years. The season was a difficult one, because he injured his knee against the Toronto Argonauts early in the season, but did not miss any games, because he played heavily taped.

In 1961, the BC Lions, then the CFL's newest franchise, traded four starting players to the Calgary Stampeders for Joe Kapp. The move paid off for the Lions when Kapp led the team to a Grey Cup appearance in 1963. The following season, Kapp led the Lions to their first Grey Cup victory in 1964. However, the Lions proved unable to defend their championship in 1965.

By that time, Kapp had proven he was an elite quarterback, and also developed the reputation of being a tough player and a great leader. While most quarterbacks dislike being hit, Kapp was the opposite. He loved to hit and when he took off on a run he'd try to run over defenders.

Before the 1967 CFL season, Kapp made the decision to return to the U.S. to play pro football. The AFL's Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and Houston Oilers were heavily pursuing him.

Kapp ended up signing with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings in a multi-player "trade" between the CFL and NFL teams, one of the very few transactions to ever occur between the two leagues.

The Minnesota Vikings in 1965 had drafted running back Jim Young out of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He had spent the 1965 and 1966 seasons with the Vikings, but wanted to return to Canada. The BC Lions were very interested in acquiring Young, but the Toronto Argonauts had his CFL rights.

The Minnesota Vikings general manager was Jim Finks, who had brought Kapp to Canada in 1959, and their head coach was Bud Grant, who had faced Kapp while coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both Finks and Grant thought Joe Kapp would be the best replacement for Fran Tarkenton, who had been traded to the New York Giants. To make this transaction possible, the BC Lions traded all-star defensive lineman Dick Fouts, and future Canadian Football Hall of Fame running back Bill Symons to Toronto for the CFL rights to future Canadian Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jim Young. They then managed to get Kapp waived out of the CFL. The Vikings managed to get Jim Young waived out of the NFL, which allowed the BC Lions to sign him. The expansion New Orleans Saints wanted Young and it took some work from Finks to keep them from claiming Young. Kapp, now waived from the CFL, was free to sign with the Vikings, who had previously claimed his NFL playing rights from Washington.

In 1967, Kapp's first season in the NFL, he started 11 of 14 games for the Vikings, compiling an unusual record of 3 wins, 5 losses and 3 ties. Kapp completed only 47 percent of his pass attempts with 8 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Kapp also scored two rushing touchdowns. Of note, the team was winless without Kapp starting at quarterback. The Green Bay Packers won the division (and the Super Bowl).

In 1968, Kapp led Minnesota to their first ever playoff appearance, losing to the favored Baltimore Colts, 24–14. The Colts were upset a few weeks later by the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.

Early in the 1969 season, Kapp tied an all-time record when he threw for seven touchdown passes against the defending NFL champion Colts on September 28.[4] He is tied with seven other players (Sid Luckman, Adrian Burk, George Blanda, Y. A. Tittle, Nick Foles, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees). Kapp led the Vikings to a 12–2 record, and a berth in Super Bowl IV after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 23–20 in the Western Conference championship game, and the Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the last non-Super Bowl NFL Championship game. However, he was unable to lead the team to victory in the Super Bowl, as the Vikings lost 23–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs. On July 20, 1970, Sports Illustrated dubbed Kapp "The Toughest Chicano" on the cover of its weekly magazine.[3] He received the team MVP, but refused the team MVP award, saying, "There is no one most valuable Viking. There are 40 most valuable Vikings."

Prior to the 1969 season, the Vikings had exercised the option clause of his contract, so Kapp had played the entire season without a new contract. It was unusual for teams to use the team's option and not to offer a new contract prior to a season. This dispute made him a free agent for the 1970 season, by the NFL's own rules.

Despite Kapp being a Super Bowl quarterback, no team in the NFL made contact with him until after the start of the 1970 regular season,  when the Boston Patriots (1–1) signed him on October 2 to a four-year contract, making him the highest paid player in the league. Pete Rozelle stepped in and forced the Patriots to give up two number-one draft picks as compensation to the Vikings. His first appearance for Boston was on October 11 at Kansas City, relieving starter Mike Taliaferro in the third quarter of a 23–10 loss.

The Patriots of 1970 were a poor-performing team and the late-arriving Kapp played poorly himself that season, leading the team to the 26-team league's worst record at 2–12. When the year ended, Rozelle demanded that Kapp sign a standard player contract. After conferring with his lawyer and the NFL Players Association, Kapp refused to sign.

With the top pick in the 1971 NFL Draft, the Patriots selected quarterback Jim Plunkett of Stanford, the winner of the Heisman Trophy. Kapp reported to the newly-renamed New England Patriots' training camp in 1971, refused to sign a standard contract, and departed. The headlines in the Boston papers read "KAPP QUITS!". After this incident Kapp never played again; his 12-year career as a professional football player was over.

In the 1970s and early 1980s, Kapp appeared in several television programs as well as theatrical film titles. In most cases, the character roles were minor. Programs included Ironside, The Six Million Dollar Man, Adam-12, Emergency!, Police Woman, Captains and the Kings, and Medical Center. Movies included Climb An Angry Mountain (1972), The World's Greatest Athlete (1973), The Longest Yard (1974), Breakheart Pass (1975), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976), Semi-Tough (1977), The Frisco Kid (1979), and Off Sides (Pigs vs. Freaks) (1984).

Kapp and fellow Canadian Football Hall of Fame player Angelo Mosca came to blows at a 2011 Canadian Football League Alumni luncheon. The source of the bad blood between Kapp and Mosca is a hit Mosca made on Kapp's teammate Willie Fleming in the 1963 Grey Cup game. The hit, which Kapp and many others considered dirty, forced Fleming out of the game. Mosca's Tiger-Cats defeated Kapp's Lions 21–10 for the 1963 championship.

Career history

As a player:

Washington Redskins (1959)*

Calgary Stampeders (1959–1960)

BC Lions (1961–1966)

Minnesota Vikings (1967–1969)

Boston Patriots (1970)

 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only

As a coach:

California (1982–1986)

Sacramento Attack (1992)

As an administrator:

BC Lions (1990) (GM)

 

Career highlights and awards

NFL

NFL champion (1969)

Pro Bowl (1969)

50 Greatest Vikings

CFL

CFL Grey Cup champion (1964)

Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy (1963)

2× CFL All-Star (1963, 1964)

2× CFL West-All-Star (1963, 1964)

BC Lions No. 22 retired

Bob Bourne Memorial Trophy (1963)

NFL record

Most touchdown passes in a game: 7 (tied)

 

Career NFL statistics

TD–INT:            40–64

Passing yards:            5,911

Completion percentage:            48.9%

Passer rating:            55.1

Passing attempts:            918

Passing completions:            449

 

Career CFL statistics

TD–INT:            136–129

Passing yards:            22,725

Passing attempts:            2,709

Passing completions:            1,476

 

Actor

Dynasty (1981)

Dynasty

McAllister

TV Series

1982

1 episode

 

Pigs vs. Freaks (1982)

Pigs vs. Freaks

Pete Bose

TV Movie

1982

 

Pernell Roberts in Trapper John, M.D. (1979)

Trapper John, M.D.

Dr. Turner

TV Series

1981

1 episode

 

Tony Curtis, Robert Urich, Phyllis Davis, and Judy Landers in Vega$ (1978)

Vega$

Donny VincentElija Twoleaf

TV Series

1978–1981

2 episodes

 

The Frisco Kid (1979)

The Frisco Kid

Monterano

1979

 

Robert Forster, David Birney, and Richard E. Kalk in Police Story (1973)

Police Story

Prison Inmate (uncredited)

TV Series

1978

1 episode

 

The Choirboys (1977)

The Choirboys

Hod Carrier

1977

 

Burt Reynolds, Jill Clayburgh, and Kris Kristofferson in Semi-Tough (1977)

Semi-Tough

Hose Manning

1977

 

Angie Dickinson in Police Woman (1974)

Police Woman

PaulVisic

TV Series

1975–1977

2 episodes

 

Lee Majors in The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)

The Six Million Dollar Man

CooperFrank

TV Series

1974–1977

2 episodes

 

Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976)

Smash-Up on Interstate 5

Officer Estevez

TV Movie

1976

 

Two-Minute Warning (1976)

Two-Minute Warning

Charlie Tyler

1976

 

Henry Fonda, Patty Duke, Charles Durning, Richard Jordan, Vic Morrow, and Barbara Parkins in Captains and the Kings (1976)

Captains and the Kings

Bill StricklandStrickland

TV Mini Series

1976

2 episodes

 

Breakheart Pass (1975)

Breakheart Pass

Henry

1975

 

Claude Akins, Frank Converse, and Merle Haggard in Movin' On (1974)

Movin' On

Jackson

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

Emergency! (1972)

Emergency!

Chuck

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

James Brolin, Robert Young, and Elena Verdugo in Marcus Welby, M.D. (1969)

Marcus Welby, M.D.

Frank Gonzalez

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

Burt Reynolds in The Longest Yard (1974)

The Longest Yard

Walking Boss

1974

 

Robert Forster in Nakia (1974)

Nakia

Deputy Hubbell

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

Brian Fong, Michael Richardson, Mitchell Ryan, and Reid Smith in Chase (1973)

Chase

Clint

TV Series

1974

1 episode

 

Kent McCord and Martin Milner in Adam-12 (1968)

Adam-12

Joe MitchellJohnny Bearkiller

TV Series

1973

2 episodes

 

Raymond Burr in Ironside (1967)

Ironside

Dispatcher

TV Series

1973

1 episode

 

The World's Greatest Athlete (1973)

The World's Greatest Athlete

Buzzer Kozak

1973

 

Fess Parker in Climb an Angry Mountain (1972)

Climb an Angry Mountain

Joey Chilko

TV Movie

1972

 

James Daly in Medical Center (1969)

Medical Center

Coach Savalas

TV Series

1972

1 episode

 

Kate Jackson, Georg Stanford Brown, Sam Melville, and Michael Ontkean in The Rookies (1972)

The Rookies

Big John

TV Series

1972

1 episode

 

Robert Duvall, Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman, and Jo Ann Pflug in M*A*S*H (1970)

M*A*S*H

Football Player - 325th Evac. (uncredited)

1970