Feb

19

Fomer Player Profile of the Week: Tommy Kramer

Posted by The Jazzy One

February 19, 2009 |

Hey Vikings Fans! This offseason we’re going to add a new weekly feature. Besides the offensive and defensive player profiles, we’re also going to do a FORMER player profile. I’m sure there are plenty of long time fans that love to think back to the “good ol’ days”, right?

Vikings fans, meet Tommy Kramer

Kramer

Let’s start this one off with the wikipedia bio before I get into my own thoughts. (Bio found HERE)

Thomas Francis Kramer (born March 7, 1955 in San Antonio, Texas) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the NFL from 1977-1990.

Kramer graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in San Antonio where he guided the Volunteers to a 28-27 1971 UIL 4A State title over Wichita Falls. He played collegiately at Rice University and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round (27th overall) of the 1977 NFL Draft after being named MVP of the 1977 Senior Bowl.

Kramer became the starting quarterback for the Vikings before the 1979 NFL season after Fran Tarkenton retired. He earned the nickname “Two Minute Tommy” for many late game come-from-behind victories. He demonstrated this on December 14, 1980, leading the Vikings to a striking comeback over the Cleveland Browns. With 6 seconds left, he threw a “Hail Mary” pass to Amhad Rashad, who was clustered in a group of Browns defenders, yet managed to catch the ball and land in the end zone. This memorable pass earned the Vikings a playoff berth. Throughout his career with the Vikings, Kramer suffered on the field injuries, resulting in many missed games for the team during the mid 1980s. He was selected to the Pro Bowl following the 1986 season, in which he was the highest rated quarterback in the NFL. Kramer was the first NFL quarterback to throw for over 450 yards in a game twice, and he once threw six touchdowns in a single game versus the Green Bay Packers. He was released by the Vikings after the 1989 season and was signed by the New Orleans Saints in 1990. He appeared in only one game for the Saints and retired after the 1990 season. He also has a daughter named Natalie Kramer

Kramer is actually the first Viking Quarterback that I remember. To be honest, I was a little too young when he played to have a firm grasp on exactly what his game was like, what his skills were, etc, but I do remember the excitement of some late come-from-behind victories from Kramer.

By the time I really was getting into football, though, Kramer had been slowed down by injuries. I’d love to get ahold of some old tapes of Kramer playing some time.

I know a lot of the older Vikings fans, though, get frustrated in the fact that we haven’t had a great 4th quarter QB since Kramer was a Viking.

It’d really be nice to experience that for myself!

Tommy


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