NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton Talks Football & Entrepreneurial Endeavors

Summary

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Podcast Summary

Podcast: Bloomberg Talks
Episode: NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton Talks Football & Entrepreneurial Endeavors
Host: Bloomberg
Guest: Fran Tarkenton
Date: December 3, 2025

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Episode Theme & Purpose

This episode features a wide-ranging conversation with NFL Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton. The discussion focuses on the evolution of football, challenges in both college and professional sports, Tarkenton’s unique playing style and career, and his extensive entrepreneurship journey post-NFL. The episode also delves into Tarkenton’s philosophy, his family background, and his views on the modern business environment, particularly for small businesses and the use of technology.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The State of Modern Football

• Evolution of the Game:

  • Tarkenton reflects on how football has changed, particularly regarding player health, quarterback roles, and team dynamics.
  • “There’s not much difference between [the teams]. … The quarterback position, which I happen to play, … Half the quarterbacks or more this year have missed games. They don’t stay healthy…” (01:02)

• Injury Prevalence:

  • Increasing game schedules and more intense play have led to more injuries, especially among quarterbacks.
  • “Quarterbacks are getting hurt at a higher rate. … Roger Staubach played every game. I played every game. … We never miss games. I missed five games in 18 years.” (01:55)

• Playing Style – The Scrambler:

  • Tarkenton was a pioneering scrambling quarterback; he recounts not realizing he was “different” for moving out of the pocket and improvising on the field.
  • “When I came into pro football, nobody ran, nobody scrambled. So I was this crazed, different person that would never make it.” (02:42)

The Business Side and Athlete Compensation

• Then vs. Now – Player Salaries:

  • Insightful contrast between earnings in his era and now.
  • “1961, I was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. I made $12,500. … I was the highest paid [eventually] in all of football, and I made $180,000 a year. … Now they’re making 40 million, 50 million a year.” (03:58)

• Television’s Role in the Sport:

  • Tarkenton credits TV for fueling the astronomical growth of player and media salaries in the NFL:
    “Television has made all that work.” (04:32)

College Football: NIL & Transfer Era

• Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL):
  • Tarkenton comments on the dramatic change in college sports, with players now earning significant income.
  • “They’re paying these players 3 million to 5 million now a year. … It’s all changed and they haven’t got a grasp on it right now.” (06:42)

Family, Upbringing, and Philosophy

• Influence of His Parents:

  • Tarkenton’s father was a Pentecostal Holiness preacher, shaping his work ethic and approach to life.
  • “We couldn’t do any work on Sundays. Somehow they allowed me to come to Minnesota to play for the Vikings.” (05:28)

• Humorous Family Anecdote:

  • After an early-career win, his mother surprised him in Minnesota. When asked, “Mom, how many great quarterbacks do you think there really are in the world?” she replied:
    • “One less than you think, my son.” (06:15)

Post-Playing Career & Entrepreneurship

• Continuous Activity and Staying Young:

  • Tarkenton attributes his longevity and mental sharpness to always staying busy—work from childhood through adulthood.
  • “I have stayed active all my life. … I started the insurance company when I was…” (07:18)
  • “I’ve started 24 companies in my life … I’m keeping active because the mission of business is to help people.” (08:12, 08:39)

• Latest Ventures – PIP IQ & Technology for SMBs:

  • PIP IQ is a tech and AI-driven business platform targeting small and midsize business productivity and privacy.
  • “It’s all about AI. … We have built our IQ and we’re making that available to small businesses at a price they can afford.” (07:47-08:12)

• The Evolving Business Landscape:

  • “The technology has changed at all. This is the greatest time I’ve ever had in business. You can do more today than ever before.” (08:45)

NFL and College Game Dynamics

• Challenges Facing Teams Like the Giants and Vikings:

  • Analysis of quarterback decisions and the difficult climate for team owners.
  • “I wouldn’t want to be in pro football now as a coach or an owner because it’s very difficult to win.” (09:36)

• Quarterback Skills Requirement:

  • “You cannot win today without a quarterback that can run.” (10:32)

• Player Safety, Rule Changes, and Physical Evolution:

  • Comments on larger, stronger players and injury risk, especially concussions and long-term health.
  • “These guys are bigger than their body should be. … The big ones were 230 to 240. Today they’re 340, 350.” (11:37)
  • “Football players especially get hit hard by big guys … more dangerous game today than ever before. … So many of my teammates are gone because we didn’t understand [concussions].” (12:52)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Innovation in Playing Style:

  • “I was this crazed, different person that would never make it. … Six years later, I had Gino Marchetti introduce me as player of the Year.” (02:42-03:40)

• Motherly Wisdom:

  • “Mom, how many great quarterbacks do you think there really are in the world?”
    “One less than you think, my son.” (06:15)

• On Modern Quarterbacks:

  • “Patrick Mahomes is … coming to another level … But if you’re mobile, you go down, you run out of bounds, you fall down and they protect you more today than they did in my time.” (10:47)

• Philosophy of Business:

  • “The mission of business is not to sell. The mission of business is to be able to help people do better.” (08:12)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:02]: Fran Tarkenton discusses how the NFL has changed, with particular focus on injuries and competitiveness.
• [02:42]: Recounts innovating the scrambling quarterback style.
• [03:58]: Salary comparison: then vs. now in the NFL.
• [04:32]: Remarks on TV’s influence on football’s financial growth.
• [06:15]: Humorous mother-son moment after a major win.
• [06:42]: Discussion of major changes in college football—NIL, player pay, and the transfer portal.
• [07:47]: Details on his current company, PIP IQ, and helping small businesses with technology.
• [08:45]: Insight into how business has changed thanks to technology.
• [09:36]: Thoughts on the struggles of the Giants, Vikings, and NFL coaching/ownership today.
• [10:32]: Contemporary quarterback requirements—must be athletic, run-capable.
• [11:37]: Comments on today’s player physique and increasing injury issues.
• [12:52]: Reflections on concussion awareness and increased danger in today’s football.

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Tone & Language

The conversation is candid, reflective, and often laced with humor and humility. Tarkenton’s storytelling is folksy and direct, while the hosts maintain an enthusiastic and engaged tone.

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This summary captures the episode’s essential discussions and provides a clear roadmap for listeners seeking insights on both football and entrepreneurship from one of the NFL’s legendary quarterbacks.

Transcript

[Indiana University Announcer]

Indiana University is proving how higher education can create solutions with industry. We're working side by side with industry partners to fuel economic growth that powers a future ready workforce. Explore IU's impact at iu.edu impact.

[Host]

Bloomberg.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Audio Studios podcasts, radio news out of.

[Host]

Georgia and the religion of his father, Fran Tarkenton changed football. He, he said, no, I'm not going to stay in the pocket. This is a highlight of Bloomberg Surveillance. This goes back to Reggie Jackson and talking about his father and Willie Mays in studio now. Fran Tarkinson, Paul holding well at 79 years old.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Solid.

[Interviewer]

I mean solid. Fran, thanks so much for joining us here.

[Fran Tarkenton]

I am happy to be here. Thank you.

[Interviewer]

Born in Richmond, Virginia.

[Fran Tarkenton]

I love that.

[Interviewer]

Big fan of Richmond. Talk to us about the state of football today. Boy, there's just, it changes so much from when you were playing. How do you view it?

[Fran Tarkenton]

It's amazing how it's changed, but it's 32 teams in the league and there's not much difference between them. The quarterback position, which I happen to play, everybody. Well, you got to have a good quarterback. Half the quarterbacks or more this year have missed games. They don't stay healthy, they don't stay well and everything is, you know, and you look at Kansas City, they're struggling and they're in the super bowl the last couple of years and Philadelphia is struggling. Quarterbacks run back and forth. It's not much difference between the 32nd team and the first team.

[Interviewer]

Right.

[Fran Tarkenton]

And injuries have come up to be a part of it now. And it's just a free for all right now.

[Interviewer]

Well, when you played, I think 12.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Games we played when I first came, 12 games, then we got to 14.

[Interviewer]

And now it's 17 going to eight. I mean, 17. Keep the players healthy.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Well, they don't. They don't. Okay. They don't. And so that, that makes, that brings everything back and the quarterbacks are getting hurt at at a higher rate. Roger Staubach played every game. I played every game. Ya Tittle played every game. John United has played every game. We never miss games. I missed five games in 18 years.

[Host]

Friend Harkins, a question I wanted to ask, and this is for all the parents out there looking at football and saying, do I really want my kid to do this? When you played, players were tackled, now they're hit. Could you play today that you were playing?

[Fran Tarkenton]

Oh, yeah, I could play today. I could play today better than I did the other day. Because when I came into football, from high school to college to pro, I Scrambled, but I didn't know I scrambled.

[Host]

You scratch. You scrambled as a Georgia Bulldog.

[Fran Tarkenton]

As a Georgia Bulldog. In my college, in my high school in Athens, Georgia, we won the state championship. I scrambled, and I didn't know what's. What that meant. I just ran because I had that ability. When I came into pro football, nobody ran, nobody scrambled. So I was this crazed, different person that would never make it. And it really was. I would beat the Baltimore coach my rookie year. They had a guy named Gino Marchetti, the best defensive end that's ever been. We later became great friends, and after the game, we beat him. And I was a first, and they were a great team. And he said, and they said to him, hey, Gino, how about this targeting guy? He said, he won't last five years. They'll run him out. Six years later, I had Gino Marchetti introduce me as player of the Year for one of the magazines here in New York. So. So it was, it was a. I didn't know it was different. It's just how I played.

[Interviewer]

Fran, if you were a quarterback Today in the NFL, they'd be paying you 50, 40 million dollars a year for 10 years. Generational wealth. I think it was about your. Talk to us about your early days and, and what they paid you guys and oh, how did that compare with your friends that well graduated From Georgia and.

[Fran Tarkenton]

1961, I was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. I made $12,500. 18 years later, I, I played three of the first 11 Super Bowls. I broke every record there was. I obliterated all those. I was the highest paid player in all of football, and I made $180,000 a year. That was big back then. Now they're making 40 million, 50 million a year. And they paid Brady to do television colors and they paying him 35, 40, 50 million to do that. It's crazy. But television has made all that work.

[Host]

As you know, with us across America today. What a treat for the holidays. Fran Tarkenton is with us. He is with pip IQ. That's what he's been working on recently. Pip IQ, a full service B2B technology strategy for small and medium sized businesses. But forever a Georgia Bulldog. Forever. I have to ask this. In the hall of Fame, which jersey do you wear? Vikings.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Vikings. I'm a Viking.

[Host]

You're a Viking.

[Fran Tarkenton]

I grew up in Washington, D.C. until I was 10 years old. I was a Redskin fan. I was a Maryland football fan. I moved to Athens, Georgia, and I became a Georgia Bulldog fan. And that's Where I played.

[Host]

What did Dallas Tarkington, Reverend Tarkinson, what did he do to you? Because you came out of football and said, I'm not going to retire and do nothing. You're on Saturday Night Live. As a first athlete, you're like a property as well. What did your father give you to make you different than those Giants you just mentioned?

[Fran Tarkenton]

Well, I don't know. I was a Pentecostal holiness. He was a Pentecostal holiness preacher and my mother was a preacher and I. And we couldn't do any work on Sundays. Somehow they allowed me to come to Minnesota to play for the Vikings. And we played on Sundays in my very first game. We played the Chicago Bears and the Monsters of the midway. And George Hallis was the founder of the National Football League. He was the coach of the Bears, he owned the Bears and so forth. And we were 28 point underdogs because we were a new expansion team. And we beat him 37, 14. And I threw for four touchdowns and ran for another. And my mother rode a Greyhound bus from Athens, Georgia to Minnesota to.

Be a surprise for me. And I come out of the dressing room, I see my mom, I said, mom, how many great quarterbacks do you think there really are in the world? She said, one less than you think, my son. There you go, there you go.

[Interviewer]

Hey, friend. We talked about the changes in the professional game, but boy, the changes in the college game are even more pronounced with the name, image, likeness. The transfer portal days of you staying in Georgia for four years and not even thinking about transferring, those are gone.

[Fran Tarkenton]

They've got a real challenge in college. They haven't figured it out yet. They're paying these players 3 million to 5 million now a year.

[Host]

Georgia Bulldogs making 3 million a year?

[Fran Tarkenton]

Oh, sure. Oh yeah, they're paying them 3 and maybe 5. And you. And in those conferences they gotta. And they making a lot of money, no question about it. But it's all, it's all changed and they haven't got a grasp on it right now.

[Host]

Fred Turkerton with this, a special moment here for Bloomberg Surveillance well preserved at 79. Somebody emailed in on this. What's the targeted secret to being of a vintage? I mean, you're doing beyond.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Well, well, you know, I, I have stayed active all my life. I had a paper out in Washington D.C. when I was seven years old. When I was in college I had off season jobs and I started the insurance company when I was.

[Host]

You didn't retire, you just keep going.

[Fran Tarkenton]

I kept going and going and, and I I keep going.

[Host]

Now you're in way too tech. Paul. I don't even understand this PIP IQ helping productivity, privacy and usability. Tell us about your digital model.

[Fran Tarkenton]

It's all about AI. Wow. And I is. And I. And I've helped small business entrepreneurs for the last 30 years. We built programs for them along. And this is going to those people. They can't pay $1 billion to have a. A situation. And so we have built our.

Company and we, we built our.

IQ and we're making that available to small businesses at a price they can afford. And it's done extraordinarily well. I've. I've started 24 companies in my life. Really? Yeah. And I. I'm keeping active because the mission of business is to help people. The mission of business is not to sell. The mission of business is to be able to help people do better. And we help the small business entrepreneur do that.

[Interviewer]

How. How has business changed? I mean you've been going through 20 some odd companies. You mentioned. How's this changed?

[Fran Tarkenton]

The technology has changed at all. This is the greatest time I've ever had in business. You can do more today than ever before and you just got to go do it and. But it's changed for the better. Business is doing good in America especially.

[Host]

I think we got to finish up with two questions. One, I want to get to the really important one first. Let's do the secondary one. I said okay, good. I didn't know that. Thank you. Sigh so so much. Can you explain why the great city of New York, one of world's metropolises. I watched seven minutes of the jets this weekend. Mohamed El Erian said you got to watch it. I know they did like a group off in the fourth quarter with two minutes to go. And then there's your New York Giants. What do you say to the Mara family to straighten out the train wreck known as the New York Football Giants?

[Fran Tarkenton]

It's. It's pretty bad. And even my Minnesota Vikings now. Yeah, it's pretty bad because we got rid of two really good quarterbacks. One at 14 and three. And we drafted a guy from Michigan. He's going to be the. He hadn't played any. He did play last year as a rookie. Played a little bit this year. Not playing well. It's a game that we all love to watch. But I wouldn't want to be in pro football now as a coach or an owner because it's very difficult to win.

[Interviewer]

Well, the New York Giants. A lot of people look at Jackson Dart, the quarterback of The New York. And they think of you because this is a kid who runs all over the place. Not afraid to take a hit, maybe to a fault because he's had concussions and he had that crazy hit in the football game last Sunday.

If you're a football team in the NFL, you have to have a great quarterback, don't you?

[Fran Tarkenton]

Well, your quarterback today has to do more than throw. You cannot win today without a quarterback that can run.

[Host]

Well, let me rephrase that. You cannot win today without being a quarterback like Fran Tarkenton.

[Fran Tarkenton]

No. Patrick Mahomes is of coming to another level that. Because he's mobile in the corner and. But here's what happens if, if you're mobile, you, but you go down, you run out of bounds, you fall down and they protect you more today than it did in my, in my time. But I didn't take many hits because I either ran out of bounds or I fell down on the field and they couldn't touch me. So I missed five games in 18 years.

[Host]

So what about the officiating today? I'm the non football guy here.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Yeah.

[Host]

I see massive clutchy grabby on the receivers and I see the quarterbacks. You can't get near them. If you, if you look at a quarterback, it's 10 yards, right?

[Fran Tarkenton]

Yeah, I wish they'd have done that. They didn't do that in my time. Yeah, they protect the quarterback from that and. But the.

Injuries in pro football have gotten out of control.

[FedEx Sponsor Announcer]

Yeah.

[Fran Tarkenton]

And I can't tell you how that happened. But these guys are bigger than their body should be. You in my era, the offensive linemen were. The big ones were 230 to 40. Today the 343 50, they're bigger than they're supposed to be.

[Interviewer]

So friend success all throughout your life through athletics. Talk to us about just how you viewed your post playing career, getting into business.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Well, I worked all my life. I worked in high school, I worked in college in pro football. I was the only guy that had a job and I started building businesses at 25 years old. And because I, I don't know, I like to do that. It wasn't just that I wasn't making any money playing football. I wanted to go out and do something and make something happen for the rest of my life and I've been able to do that.

[Host]

I want to get this in for Lisa Mateo. I want to get this in for the hockey moms and dads of Boston, the football moms and dads of Georgia. In Texas, America's become a jackocracy. When you played, we couldn't. We could tell you weren't just another dumb jock. Have we gone too far with a 24? 7 focus on sports?

[Fran Tarkenton]

I don't know about. It's popular. I watch it like crazy. But it's gotten to be pretty, pretty tough right now. Football players especially get hit hard by big guys that are bigger than I played against in my time. It's a more dangerous game today than ever before. And they've tried to fix the helmets and do this, but it doesn't work. And what happens? You get so many concussions and then you go back and play and so many of my, my teammates are gone because we didn't understand if you have a concussion, you got to make him sit down for a week or two weeks. And they're trying, but it's a tough deal right now and the injuries are like nothing I've ever seen in my life. Worse than ever.

[Host]

In support of Tarkenton Financial and Pip IQ Friend, Tarkenton with us. Thank you so much.

[Fran Tarkenton]

Thank you. Nice being here, Bloomberg.

[Host]

This is good. And on your way out, would you leave me a message on how you stay 79 forever? I just love how you're doing that. Fran Tarkaden Forever with the Minnesota Vikings.

[Indiana University Announcer]

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