2 Legendary Vikings QBs Named on Painful List
Anything Super Bowl-related for the Minnesota Vikings usually involves a bad joke, but last week, Fox Sports listed the Top 10 quarterbacks never to win a Super Bowl.
Two big-name Vikings quarterbacks were just identified on a FOX Sports list — for the wrong reasons. It’s a list to avoid.
Naturally, because the Vikings have never won it all, despite owning the NFL’s fourth-best win percentage in the Super Bowl era, a couple of notable purple passers made the cut.
Yes, Warren Moon and Fran Tarkenton represented Minnesota on the dubious list.
Two Vikings Make the Cut on Naughty Super Bowl-less List
Warren Moon and Fran Tarkenton did the honors.
Best QB Without Super Bowl = Warren Moon (No. 6)
Counting down from 10 to one, Fox Sports plopped Moon at No. 6 and detailed: “Moon was one of the game’s most consistent quarterbacks from the late 1980s into the mid-1990s, proving to be a stable force for the Houston Oilers. However, he wasn’t able to reach a conference title game once in his career. The closest he came was when he quarterbacked a 12-4 Oilers squad that lost to a Joe Montana-led Kansas City Chiefs team in the 1993 AFC Divisional Round.”
“Still, Moon was one of the best quarterbacks of his era, leading the league in passing yards on multiple occasions as he was named a Pro Bowler nine times before being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.”
Moon led Minnesota from 1994 to 1996, reaching the postseason twice but securing no victories in the tournament. He would later remain in the league for four seasons with the Seahawks and Chiefs before retiring in 2001.
Best QB Without Super Bowl = Fran Tarkenton (No. 5)
Tarkenton might’ve been snubbed a little bit on the list. He could’ve checked in around the Top 3, and few would’ve batted an eye.
“Tarkenton’s early seasons came before the first Super Bowl, which was played in the 1967 season, but he helped the Minnesota Vikings become a contender during his second stint with the team in the mid-1970s. He led them to three Super Bowls in four seasons, winning MVP in the one season that the Vikings didn’t reach the Super Bowl during that stretch (1975),” an unattributed Fox Sports author wrote.
“Each of the Vikings’ Super Bowl losses was relatively decisive, though, losing by double digits in all three. Still, Tarkenton had a legendary career, being named a Pro Bowler on nine occasions as he’s been widely regarded as the first great dual-threat quarterback in NFL history.”
Tarkenton played for the Vikings in 13 seasons, and when he left the game after the 1978 campaign, he owned nearly every passing record imaginable.
Randall Cunningham Dodged a Bullet
Minnesota employed a man named Randall Cunningham in 1998 and 1999, and he earned an Honorable Mention on the list.
Cunningham performed masterfully for the purple team in 1998, nearly guiding Dennis Green and friends to a Super Bowl appearance against the Denver Broncos. Of course, though, everything went rotten versus the Atlanta Falcons in the 1998 NFC Championship.
J.J. McCarthy Can Fix All This
The cool part? The Vikings’ new signal-caller, J.J. McCarthy, can become the golden boy in the situation.
Minnesota picked McCarthy 10th overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, and following a season mending a torn meniscus, he’s on deck to start in 2025 and beyond.
The Vikings are seriously overdue to win the chip, especially considering their consistent winning percentage, so McCarthy is the one big hope to end the mind-boggling drought. At age 22, McCarthy will have plenty of time to do the thing.
Dan Marino in the Top Spot
Hall of Fame Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino earned the top spot on the Fox Sports list.
The site explained, “For better or worse, Marino has become the Tier 1 example of an all-time great who never won a title. Marino was ahead of his time as a quarterback, throwing for over 5,000 yards in his second season in the league in 1984.”
“He also reached the Super Bowl that year, but the Miami Dolphins’ loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XIX was the only time Marino ever played in a Super Bowl. Marino remained one of the game’s elite quarterbacks for well over a decade after that loss, with no one touching his single-season passing yards record for 20 years.”
Marino appeared in the Super Bowl in 1984, his second year in the NFL, and never returned to the big game.
“He was named a Pro Bowler nine times and won an MVP in his career, leading the Dolphins to the postseason 10 times in his 17 seasons as their starting quarterback. He finished his career as the NFL’s all-time leading passer as well, making him a sure-fire Hall of Famer who never won the big one,” Fox Sports concluded.
Marino nearly joined the Vikings’ roster in 1999 as a free agent.
Beloved Ex-Viking Wants Back In
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