For people who are too young to remember Kramer, the best description I can give is Brett Favre with a weaker arm.
Good Ol’ southern boy whose teammates loved him, played with a lot of passion, had the substance abuse issues, wasn’t afraid to throw into coverage, could just as easily throw 4 INTs or 4 TDs.
The thing with Kramer is you never felt like you were out of a game. And if you had the ball with a minute left, needing to get a a score, you really felt he was going to do it. He was his best in those situations.
His era adjusted stats are rough - but he played on some pretty average teams. When he became the starter, the team was definitely on the downswing. He kept them 7-9 to 9-7 for a few years, but he was the best player on that offense and the defense was below average (he never had an above average defense until 1986, and that was the year he made first team All-Pro). They never got him a strong running game either.
Had Kramer had the infrastructure thy Cousins has had, they would have had a better win-loss record.
Appreciate the perspective. That is one of the reasons that scrutiny has always been high for Cousins: He’s had a very, very good team to work with. This is why going purely on box score stats doesn’t always tell the story.
I’ve never talked to anyone who watched Kramer that didn’t enjoy the way he played the game
Not sure the Tommy Kramer love is justified, honestly, though you are certainly welcome to your opinion.
I became a fan of Vikings in mid-1970s, and the team really went downhill during the Kramer era. You can say he had worse skill position players, but he played with Chuck Foreman, Darrin Nelson, Ted Brown, Ahmad Rashad, Sammy White, Anthony Carter and Steve Jordan over the years. While modern Vikings' fans may not remember all of those players, many were really, really good. And with Coller's love of fullbacks, look up Ted Brown -- that guy was a great FB.
Kramer also had decent offensive lines for most of his era. Kramer was very much an average QB; some really good games here or there, but a lot of pedestrian and bad games, too. I am not looking at the stats, but I remember more Tommy Kramer costly INTs at key moments than I remember him being the hero.
The thing I remember most about the Kramer era? He just was a much worse QB than his predecessor and couldn't keep Vikings at Super Bowl level.
For people who are too young to remember Kramer, the best description I can give is Brett Favre with a weaker arm.
Good Ol’ southern boy whose teammates loved him, played with a lot of passion, had the substance abuse issues, wasn’t afraid to throw into coverage, could just as easily throw 4 INTs or 4 TDs.
The thing with Kramer is you never felt like you were out of a game. And if you had the ball with a minute left, needing to get a a score, you really felt he was going to do it. He was his best in those situations.
His era adjusted stats are rough - but he played on some pretty average teams. When he became the starter, the team was definitely on the downswing. He kept them 7-9 to 9-7 for a few years, but he was the best player on that offense and the defense was below average (he never had an above average defense until 1986, and that was the year he made first team All-Pro). They never got him a strong running game either.
Had Kramer had the infrastructure thy Cousins has had, they would have had a better win-loss record.
Appreciate the perspective. That is one of the reasons that scrutiny has always been high for Cousins: He’s had a very, very good team to work with. This is why going purely on box score stats doesn’t always tell the story.
I’ve never talked to anyone who watched Kramer that didn’t enjoy the way he played the game
If you DM me on Twitter (same handle) I will give you a good Kramer story.
Not sure the Tommy Kramer love is justified, honestly, though you are certainly welcome to your opinion.
I became a fan of Vikings in mid-1970s, and the team really went downhill during the Kramer era. You can say he had worse skill position players, but he played with Chuck Foreman, Darrin Nelson, Ted Brown, Ahmad Rashad, Sammy White, Anthony Carter and Steve Jordan over the years. While modern Vikings' fans may not remember all of those players, many were really, really good. And with Coller's love of fullbacks, look up Ted Brown -- that guy was a great FB.
Kramer also had decent offensive lines for most of his era. Kramer was very much an average QB; some really good games here or there, but a lot of pedestrian and bad games, too. I am not looking at the stats, but I remember more Tommy Kramer costly INTs at key moments than I remember him being the hero.
The thing I remember most about the Kramer era? He just was a much worse QB than his predecessor and couldn't keep Vikings at Super Bowl level.