Episode summary
Football is Now 'More Dangerous than Ever,' Says Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton
Bloomberg Surveillance
· · 13 min · Guests: Fran Tarkenton, Chris Nowinski
Summary
Fran Tarkenton argued that professional football has become harder to play and more dangerous than in his era, with quarterback health and overall injuries now shaping the league. He said the gap between teams is smaller, but the game is more volatile because quarterbacks miss games at a high rate and the sport has become a “free for all” compared with the 12-game seasons he played. He also contrasted today’s salaries with his own era, noting that he entered the NFL at $12,500 a year and later became the league’s highest-paid player at $180,000.
Tarkenton said the modern game rewards mobile quarterbacks, but that mobility comes with risk, and he pointed to the physical size of players and the frequency of concussions as major problems. He argued that football today is more dangerous than ever, especially because repeated head trauma is still not being managed well enough.
The conversation also turned to business and entrepreneurship. Tarkenton said he has started 24 companies, built a technology platform for small businesses through Pipe IQ, and views business as a way to help people. He said technology and AI have created the best business environment he has ever seen, especially for small and medium-sized companies.
Key takeaways
- Tarkenton said NFL quarterbacks now miss games at a much higher rate, and injuries have become central to how the league is played.
- He argued that football is “a more dangerous game today than ever before,” with concussions still not handled well enough.
- Tarkenton contrasted his $12,500 rookie salary with today’s $40 million to $50 million quarterback contracts.
- He said he started 24 companies and sees AI and technology as a major opportunity for small businesses.
- He said modern college football has been transformed by NIL and the transfer portal, and the system is still unsettled.
Notable quotes
“injuries have come to be a part of it now. And it's just a free for all right now”
“It's a more dangerous game today than ever before”
“I graduated from Georgia in 1961. I was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. I made $12,500”
“the mission of business is to help people”
How the episode opens
It's amazing how it's changed. Yeah, 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. Mm hmm.
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 were 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.
Right. And injuries have come to be a part of it now. And it's just a free for all right now.
Well, when you played, I think 12 games. We played when I first came. 12 games.
Then we got to 14. Now it's 17 going to eight. I mean, I go they keep the players healthy.
Well, they've said they don't. They don't. And so that that makes that brings everything back.
And the quarterbacks are getting hurt at a higher level. Roger Staubach played every game. I played every game.
Y.A. Tittle played every game. John Unitas played every game.
We never missed a game. I missed five games in 18 years. So interpreting that 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 or tackled another hit, could you play today? Oh, I think you all you you play. Oh, yeah.
I could play the tape. I can 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 did no ice cream.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- cte research
- football safety
- concussion diagnosis
- tau blood test
- dna damage immune response
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Tarkenton
- Concussion Legacy Foundation
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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