Joe Kapp, who performed quarterback at Cal and later led the Minnesota Vikings to the Tremendous Bowl, died Monday at age 85.
J.J. Kapp confirmed his father’s loss of life to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying it got here after a “15-year battle with dementia.”
Raised in California, Kapp performed each soccer and basketball at Cal. On the sector, the All-American led the Golden Bears to the Pacific Coast Convention championship in 1958 and on to the Rose Bowl. The Bears misplaced to Iowa within the 1959 sport — the final look within the Rose Bowl for Cal.
Kapp spent eight seasons within the Canadian Soccer League, twice main the British Columbia Lions to the Gray Cup title sport. He moved to the NFL in 1967, main the Vikings to a Tremendous Bowl IV look following a 12-2 season in 1969, although the staff fell brief towards the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs 23-7.
“Males like Joe Kapp are the cornerstones the Minnesota Vikings franchise was constructed upon,” Vikings Proprietor and President Mark Wilf mentioned in a staff assertion Tuesday. “Joe’s toughness and aggressive spirit outlined the Vikings groups of his period, and his tenacity and management had been revered by teammates and opponents alike. We mourn Joe’s loss along with his household, mates and Vikings followers world wide.”
“He was an incredible chief, an incredible good friend and he actually held our staff collectively,” added Professional Soccer Corridor of Famer and former teammate Paul Krause. “He was a man who favored to have enjoyable and win soccer video games, and that is what counted. I revered him for his love of the sport and love for his teammates. We misplaced a very good good friend.”
Kapp is the one quarterback to guide groups to a Rose Bowl, Gray Cup and Tremendous Bowl.
“It was form of like having your individual superhero residing in your own home,” J.J. Kapp mentioned in a telephone interview with The Related Press.
“Together with serving to put the Lions on the map after some lean early years, Joe additionally served as a trailblazer for quarterbacks making a reputation for themselves on either side of the border,” the BC Lions mentioned in a press release on Tuesday.
Kapp spent three seasons with the Vikings and signed with the Boston Patriots in 1970 after Minnesota did not supply him a brand new contract. After the season, commissioner Pete Rozelle intervened and declared the four-year contract Kapp signed with the Patriots was invalid. Rozelle dominated Kapp needed to signal a revised contract to proceed within the NFL, and Kapp by no means performed once more.
He completed his NFL profession with a 24-21-3 file as a starter. He threw for five,911 yards, with 40 touchdowns and 64 interceptions.
He filed an antitrust swimsuit towards the NFL and ultimately gained however wasn’t awarded any damages.
Kapp had small performing roles in movies, together with in “The Longest Yard,” within the Nineteen Seventies. In 1982, he took over as head coach at Cal in his first-ever teaching job. He was the coach of the Bears in the course of the Nov. 20, 1982, sport towards Stanford, when Cal improbably gained with 4 seconds left in a contest marked by the Stanford band prematurely stepping onto the sector.
“Taking part in for and training at Cal meant the world to him,” J.J. Kapp mentioned.
Cal fired Kapp in 1986 after a 20-34-1 file.
In later years, as he lived with dementia, Kapp mentioned in an interview that he feared he had persistent traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a mind illness that impacts many former soccer gamers.
“He used to inform individuals to place your son in piano classes and never allow them to play soccer, however he let me play and he let my brother play,” J.J Kapp mentioned, including: “He by no means regretted enjoying soccer.”
J.J. Kapp mentioned his father’s mind can be studied at UC San Francisco to find out whether or not Kapp had CTE.
Info from Reuters and the Related Press was used on this report.
