Joe Kapp

Team Number:	11
Birth Date:	01/01/1938
Height:	6'3''
Weight:	216lbs.
Position:	Quarterback

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Joe Kapp was an outstanding quarterback who set passing records for the Minnesota Vikings from 1967 through 1969. He was born in 1938 in Sante Fe, New Mexico and grew up the son of a laborer. He was a multi-sport athlete at William S. Hart High School where he played basketball and football. He earned a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley where he played both basketball and football. He played on Pete Newell's NCAA championship basketball team and was both the quarterback and the kickoff returner on the football team. He led the Golden Bears to the 1957 PAC-Eight title and a berth in the Rose Bowl, where Cal lost to Iowa, 38-12.

Disappointed by his 12th round selection by the Washington Redskins in the 1959 NFL draft, Joe Kapp decided to play for the Canadian Football League. He earned the CFL MVP award in 1963 and won the 1964 championship Grey Cup. In eight CFL seasons, Joe Kapp threw for 22,725 yards and 137 touchdowns.

In 1967, Joe Kapp accepted an offer to play for the Minnesota Vikings. He quickly rose to the challenge of playing in the NFL. When he faced the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome" unit for the first time, Joe Kapp looked at Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen and growled, "All right, let's see how tough you sons of b’s are." In his first season, Joe Kapp led the Vikings in passing with 214 attempts and 102 completions.

Minnesota teammates and fans nicknamed Joe Kapp, "Injun Joe,” despite the fact his heritage was a mix of Mexican and German blood. "I liked Joe," coach Bud Grant once said. "In this business, you play the people who get the job done, and Joe did that." Unlike his contemporaries, Joe Kapp was not what you would call a classic quarterback. He would stagger back seven steps, do a slogging, half-roll left or right, then float a pass that had more wobble than whistle. Sometimes, "Injun" Joe simply reared back and threw, with the arm motion of a javelin thrower, particularly when the Vikings ran their number one passing play, a fly pattern to split end Gene Washington.

"Ruptured ducks" was how Detroit Lion defensive tackle Alex Karras once described Joe Kapp's passes, which in their fluttering state seemed to challenge the theory that a football is aerodynamically sound. "Injun" Joe couldn't have cared less. The tough-talking, tequila-swilling Kapp relished his rough image. At 6-3, 216 pounds, Joe Kapp was bigger than three-fourths of his backfield.

Joe Kapp’s dark, Chicano features sported a jaw line scar courtesy of a Canadian beer bottle. He was a definite rebel, cut from the same roguish cloth that produced Bobby Layne and Jim McMahon. When a reporter told Kapp his quarterbacking style was "crude," Kapp shot back, "They pay a quarterback to win, not on how pretty he looks."

In 1968, Joe Kapp led the Vikings to their first-ever divisional title and playoff game. The Vikings lost to the Baltimore Colts 24-14 and Joe finished the season with 248 attempts and 129 completions. In 1969, the brawling, charismatic Kapp led a free-wheeling Viking offense that posted an NFL-high 379 points and three times scored more than 50 points in a game. Joe was out for revenge against the Colts when he threw 7 touchdown passes setting an all-time game record that still stands today. The Vikings defeated the Colts 52-14. That year Joe solidified a Viking team torn apart by cliques and coined the phrase "40 for 60" meaning 40 players going all out for 60 minutes.

Joe also led his 12-2 team to the playoffs that year and a berth in their first ever Super Bowl. While the Minnesota defense of Jim Marshall, Alan Page, Carl Eller, and Gary Larsen gained recognition as the "Purple People Eaters," it was "Injun" Joe who remained the fiery ring-leader of the Purple Gang.

Two days after Christmas, the Vikings hosted the Rams in their playoff opener in snow-ringed Metropolitan Stadium. Played under gray skies and before a rowdy crowd of 47,900, the game offered a classic matchup of the NFL's two heavyweight teams. Sports Illustrated senior football writer Tex Maule, who had covered the NFL's biggest games for over a decade, called it one of the best games he had seen. Minnesota trailed 17-7 at halftime, but Kapp rallied his team for a Vikings' 23-20 win.

Joe Kapp and the Vikings were both willing and wanting the following weekend, when they hosted the Cleveland Browns in eight-degree cold at the old Met Stadium for the NFL championship. Joe Kapp scored the Vikings' first touchdown when he collided with fullback Bill Brown on a botched handoff, then spun around and battered his way through the middle of the Cleveland defense for an early score. Kapp further intimidated the Browns when he took on 250-pound linebacker Jim Houston in the open field, and knocked the Cleveland star cold with a knee to the helmet. The Vikings won the game 27-7.

The Minnesota Vikings lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City 23-7, with Kapp getting knocked out of the game by Kansas City defensive end Aaron Brown late in the fourth quarter. Kapp finished the game on the bench, gritting his teeth from the pain of a separated shoulder.

A contract dispute forced Joe Kapp to be traded to the Boston Patriots in 1970 where he was the highest paid player in the league. Unfortunately, he played very poorly that season, leading the Patriots to the league's worst record, and one year later he retired from pro football. Joe Kapp is the only player to quarterback in an NFL Super Bowl, CFL Grey Cup and NCAA Rose Bowl games.

On July 20, 1970, Sports Illustrated dubbed Joe Kapp "The Toughest Chicano" on the cover of its weekly magazine. In 1982 after a short acting career in such movies as the Longest Yard, Two Minute Warning and Semi Tough, Joe was hired as the head football coach at his alma mater, The University of California, Berkeley. In his first year as head coach, Joe was voted the Pac 10 Coach of the year. Today, Joe lives in California and makes himself available as a guest speaker. He owns Kapp's Pizza Bar & Grill in Mountain View, CA.

Joe Kapp led one of pro football’s most colorful teams when he led the Minnesota Vikings to their first ever Super Bowl. His unique character and rough touting playing abilities make him a name not to be forgotten.