View photos of Vikings legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton.
It's officially Super Bowl week, as the Bengals and Rams will play in Super Bowl LVI on Sunday at SoFi Stadium.
Gregg Rosenthal, who writes for NFL.com, continued his annual tradition by ranking all 65 quarterbacks who have started at least once in the big game.
Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton was high on Rosenthal's list, as the Vikings Ring of Honor member led Minnesota to three Super Bowls in a four-year span from 1973-76.
Rosenthal slotted Tarkenton at No. 13, behind Drew Brees (11th) and Bart Starr (12th) and ahead of Ben Roethlisberger at No. 14.
Rosenthal wrote:
Like Brees, Tarkenton was an undersized, undervalued but consistent star with an incredibly long run of statistical dominance.
Tarkenton, the 1975 NFL MVP and a nine-time Pro Bowler, led the league in pass attempts (6,467), completions (3,686), passing yards (47,003) and touchdown passes (342) when he retired after the 1978 season.
The other Vikings quarterback who started in Minnesota's lone other Super Bowl appearance was Joe Kapp, who landed at No. 59 on Rosenthal's list.
He wrote:
Kapp had only one great year and 48 starts, his career ending too soon because of contractual issues.
Kapp was a Pro Bowler in 1969 when he went 12-1 as Minnesota's starter.
Rosenthal's full list can be found here.
Willekes has high school jersey number retired
Kenny Willekes received a major honor on Friday night.
The Vikings defensive end had his football jersey retired by NorthPointe Christian, Willekes' high school that he attended in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
NorthPointe officially raised his No. 35 to the rafters in a ceremony Friday night at the school.
According to FOX 17 News in Michigan, Willekes "led the Mustangs to a 31-5 record in his three seasons on varsity including a pair of division six regional championships."
Willekes also commented on his time at NorthPointe.
"Just the family and the camaraderie," Willekes said about his fondest memories of NPC. "We had a really good community here at this school. I got a lot of good friends that I still talk to. A really good support system, parents, a lot of the teachers, a lot of the coaches, classmates I still reach out to them, I still talk to them frequently just being able to come back and see them and connect with them again is pretty cool."
Willekes, who had 2.5 sacks in six games in 2021, also took to social media to share the news.
