To Absent Friends - Tina Turner and Joe Kapp

Yeah, I know.  Tina Turner and Joe Kapp.  What a juxtaposition. 

Tina Turner

1939 - 2023

The death of Tina Turner at the age of 83 last week probably shouldn't have come as a shock, but it was nonetheless, especially since we had just seen her remarkably portrayed at the Benedum Theater earlier this month in the Broadway in Pittsburgh production of "TINA: The Tina Turner Musical."  It brought to life the memories of seeing Ms Turner perform so many times over the years on television, and did anybody embody the glory days of MTV more than Tina Turner?

I can think of no better tribute than sharing this compilation video of Tina Turner doing one of her signature numbers, CCR's "Proud Mary."

Her death also brought to mind memories of a Halloween party that Marilyn and I attended in 1985.   I was Bruce Springsteen in all of his Born in the USA glory, and Marilyn was Tina Turner.  

Get a load of those 

gams on "Tina"

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Back in the early days of what has come to be known as "The Super Bowl Era" in the NFL, the Minnesota Vikings hired Canadian Football League coach Bud Grant to be their head coach, and he brought CFL quarterback Joe Kapp with him.  Grant and Kapp soon had the Vikings playing in the Super Bowl, the IVth one to be exact.  It was a Super Bowl that they would lose to the Kansas City Chiefs, but it marked the beginning of a period where Grant would take the Vikings to four Super Bowls.

Kapp and Grant

Those Vikings were known for tough and hard hitting play - remember the Purple People Eaters defense? - and Kapp was the perfect QB for those teams.  He was hardly a stylish quarterback, even circa 1970, and he probably wouldn't make it in the NFL today.  His long passes resembled a guy throwing a shot put, but he was as tough as they come, challenging defenders when he took off running, hitting them head on rather than running out of bounds.  The Sports Illustrated cover depicts him perfectly.  

Kapp was 85 when he died earlier this month.  In addition to my memories of him that came back to me, I learned a couple of interesting things about him when reading his obits.   One, he became one of the leading advocates for the Chicano/Latinx community throughout his life.  Two, he is the only quarterback to lead his teams to a Rose Bowl, a Super Bowl, and a Gray Cup Championship game. Three, he had a so-so career as a head coach at his alma mater, California at Berkeley (20-34-1 over five seasons) and was the Cal head coach when the Bears defeated Stanford on this game ending kickoff return that ended with the Cal runner plowing into the Stanford band in the end zone.  It is perhaps the most famous play in College Football history, and Joe Kapp was a part of it.  He also fashioned a modest acting career (27 IMDB credits), most notably as a prison guard in Burt Reynolds' 1974 movie, "The Longest Yard."

RIP Tina Turner and Joe Kapp