CARDS: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Upper Deck College Legends 2011, Panini HoF 2010, Action Packed Whizzer White Award 1991 ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home SENT: 6/6/20 RECEIVED: 6/18/20 (12 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Floyd Little played at Syracuse where from 1964 to 1966, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 TDs.
He’d be the 6th overall pick in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft of the Denver Broncos.
In his first two years in the AFL, Floyd led the league in All-Purpose Yards, with 1626 in 1967 and 1,825 in 1968.
He led the league in yards per game in both 1969 (81.0) and 1971 (80.9).
His best season arguably came in 1971 when Floyd had a career high and league leading 284 carries, 310 touches, 1,133 yards, and 1,388 yards from scrimmage.
Little’s 1,113 rushing yards were the first time a member of the team had broken the 1k rushing barrier.
Floyd led the NFL in TDs in 1973 with 12 TDs.
After starting 105 games, Floyd hung up his cleats in 1976.
A Syracuse great, he returned to the school in 2011 as a special assistant to the athletic director- a position he held until 2016 when he retired to Las Vegas.
Upper Deck Legends 1997, #44Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #34
ACCOLADES:
Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010
College Football Hall of Fame
Broncos Ring of Fame 1984
Hall of Very Good 2005
All Pro 1969
Pro Bowl 1968-’71, ’73
Denver Broncos #44 retired
Syracuse Orange #44 retired
Panini Hall of Fame 2010, #5
NOTES:
Here’s a great example of how trading cards educate us about football history. I wouldn’t have really stumbled onto Floyd if I hadn’t collected the Action Packed Whizzer White set. So I chased a rabbit down the hole learning all I could about him, and then decided to go ahead donate some money to his cancer treatments and ask for his autograph on a few cards. He signed the three I included lightning fast, and included the HoF Panini card as a thank-you.
Floyd is nicknamed ‘The Franchise’ because he was instrumental in the Broncos staying in Denver. The team struggled badly in its initial years and Little helped put the team on the map by signing with them. He also helped champion the building of Mile High Stadium through his Herculaneum efforts every week for the team.
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
1641
6323
3.9
43
80t
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
215
2418
11.2
9
74
KR
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
81
893
11.0
2
81t
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
104
2523
24.3
0
89
EPITAPH:
1/2/2021- Floyd Little’s family announced that he had passed away from cancer after a years’ long battle with the disease, at his home in Las Vegas with them by his side. He was 78.
Fran Tarkenton played college ball at Georgia from 1958-’60.
At QB over 3 years he completed 186 of 317 passes for 2100 yards and 18 TDs to 20 INT.
In 1961 was a 3rd round pick of the then expansion Minnesota Vikings.
Came off the bench in his first game and threw for 4 TDs and rushed for another in a comeback win.
Rushed for a career high 5 TDs his rookie year.
His 89 yard completion in 1962 led the NFL.
Displayed his gift for running out of the pocket early on- becoming one of the first modern hybrid scrambling QBs.
In ’64 passed for 2506 yards and 22 TDs to 11 INT as Tarkenton led the Vikings to an 8-5-1 record.
Traded to Giants in 1967.
Threw for a career high 3,088 yards and 29 TDs that year.
Traded back to the Vikings in 1972.
During the 70s, alongside the Purple People Eaters, led the Vikings to two 12-2 records, and a 10-2-1 record enroute to the 3 Super Bowl appearances,
Led NFL in Attempts in 1975, ’76, ’78, completions in ’75 and ’78 and completion percentage in 1977.
Finished out on top in 1978 with 3468 yards passing and retired after the season- his 18th in the NFL
At the time of his retirement, owned many of the NFL career passing records.
Moved into business, public speaking, commentating, acting, wrote self help books, and an annuity market firm.
ACCOLADES:
Georgia Sports Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
Pro Football Hall of Fame
All Pro 1975
NFL MVP 1975
NFL Offensive Player of the Year 1875
Pro Bowl 1964-’65, 1967-’70, 1974-’76
Minnesota Vikings 25th Anniversary Team
Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary Team
50 Greatest Vikings
Vikings #10 Jersey Retired
Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
NOTES:
Fran Tarkenton with Cathy Lee Crosby on ‘That’s Incredible’ alongside Hopper the Frog
Fran Tarkenton was a very comfortable voice during my childhood, in which I wasn’t really familiar with him from football post retirement but from his stint as a host on the show ‘That’s Incredible’. It only lasted one season in the 80’s but the format, some of the segments, the hosts and the theme music stuck with me over the years.