Joseph Robert Garcia Kapp (March 19, 1938 – May 8, 2023) was an American football quarterback, coach, and executive who played professionally for 12 seasons. Kapp spent the majority of his career with the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He is the only quarterback to start in the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Grey Cup.
Kapp played college football for the California Golden Bears, winning the Voit and Pop Warner trophies and earning first-team All-American honors in 1958 en route to an appearance in the 1959 Rose Bowl. He began his professional career with the Calgary Stampeders, where he spent two seasons before joining the Lions. During his six seasons with the Lions, he led the team to their first championship title in the 52nd Grey Cup while receiving the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy and two All-Star selections. Kapp joined the Vikings in 1967, earning Pro Bowl honors two years later en route to a victory in the 1969 NFL Championship and the team's Super Bowl debut in Super Bowl IV. He signed with the Boston Patriots the following year, where he played his last season.
After retiring as a player, Kapp returned to the Golden Bears as head coach, serving from 1982 to 1986 and winning Pac-10 Coach of the Year in his first season. He later returned to the Lions as general manager in 1990. Kapp was inducted to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1984 and the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004.
Kapp was born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Florence García, of Mexican-American heritage, and Robert Kapp, of German descent. Kapp He was raised in California, in the San Fernando Valley and Salinas, where he played quarterback for Hart High School in Newhall, now a part of Santa Clarita.
Kapp played college football at the University of California, Berkeley, where he led the California Golden Bears to a Pacific Coast Conference championship in 1958 and the Rose Bowl, where they lost to Iowa. This remains California's most recent Rose Bowl appearance. Kapp was named an All-American, and was also awarded the W. J. Voit Memorial Trophy in 1958 as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast. A two-sport athlete and fraternity member of Kappa Alpha Order in college, he also played on the basketball team and was a member of the 1956–57 and 1957–58 squads that won the Pacific Coast Conference championships. He earned a bachelor's degree in physical education from the university in 1959. Kapp held the UC Berkeley record for most rushing yards by a quarterback until Chase Garbers broke it in 2021.
The Washington Redskins selected Kapp in the 18th round of the 1959 NFL draft, giving them his rights to play professional football in the United States. However, Washington never contacted him after the draft, so his only choice was to accept an offer from Jim Finks, the general manager of the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Kapp joined the Stampeders for his rookie season in 1959. The following year, Kapp led Calgary to their second playoff appearance since the start of the modern era of Canadian football. The season was a difficult one due to a knee injury against the Toronto Argonauts early in the season, but did not miss any games, because he played heavily taped.
In 1961, the BC Lions, then the CFL's newest franchise, traded four starting players to the Calgary Stampeders for Kapp. The move paid off for the Lions when Kapp led the team to a Grey Cup appearance in 1963. The following season, Kapp led the Lions to their first Grey Cup victory in 1964. However, the Lions proved unable to defend their championship in 1965.
By that time, Kapp had developed a reputation as a tough player and a great leader. According to Randy Ambosie, Kapp loved to hit and when he took off on a run he'd try to run over defenders, unlike most quarterbacks.
Before the 1967 CFL season, Kapp made the decision to return to the U.S. to play pro football. The AFL's Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, and Houston Oilers heavily pursued him.
Kapp ended up signing with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings in a multi-player "trade" between the CFL and NFL teams, one of the very few transactions to ever occur between the two leagues.
The Minnesota Vikings in 1965 had drafted running back Jim Young out of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He had spent the 1965 and 1966 seasons with the Vikings, but wanted to return to Canada. The BC Lions were very interested in acquiring Young, but the Toronto Argonauts had his CFL rights.
The Minnesota Vikings general manager was Jim Finks, who had brought Kapp to Canada in 1959, and their head coach was Bud Grant, who had faced Kapp while coaching the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Both Finks and Grant thought Joe Kapp would be the best replacement for Fran Tarkenton, who had been traded to the New York Giants. To make this transaction possible, the BC Lions traded all-star defensive lineman Dick Fouts, and future Canadian Football Hall of Fame running back Bill Symons to Toronto for the CFL rights to future Canadian Football Hall of Fame wide receiver Jim Young. They then managed to get Kapp waived out of the CFL. The Vikings managed to waive Jim Young out of the NFL, which allowed the BC Lions to sign him. The expanding New Orleans Saints wanted Young and it took some work from Finks to keep them from claiming Young. Kapp, now waived from the CFL, was free to sign with the Vikings, who had previously claimed his NFL playing rights from Washington.
In 1967, Kapp's first season in the NFL, he started 11 of 14 games for the Vikings, compiling an unusual record of 3 wins, 5 losses and 3 ties. Kapp completed only 47 percent of his pass attempts with 8 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Kapp also scored two rushing touchdowns. Of note, the team was winless without Kapp starting at quarterback. The Green Bay Packers won the division (and the Super Bowl).
In 1968, Kapp led Minnesota to their first ever playoff appearance, losing to the favored Baltimore Colts, 24–14. The Colts were upset a few weeks later by the New York Jets in Super Bowl III.
Early in the 1969 season, Kapp tied an all-time record when he threw for seven touchdown passes against the defending NFL champion Colts on September 28. He is tied with seven other players (Sid Luckman, Adrian Burk, George Blanda, Y. A. Tittle, Nick Foles, Peyton Manning, and Drew Brees). Kapp led the Vikings to a 12–2 record, and a berth in Super Bowl IV after defeating the Los Angeles Rams 23–20 in the Western Conference championship game, and the Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the last non-Super Bowl NFL Championship game. However, he was unable to lead the team to victory in the Super Bowl, as the Vikings lost 23–7 to the Kansas City Chiefs. On July 20, 1970, Sports Illustrated dubbed Kapp "The Toughest Chicano" on the cover of its weekly magazine. He received the team MVP, but refused the team MVP award, saying, "There is no one most valuable Viking. There are 40 most valuable Vikings."
Prior to the 1969 season, the Vikings had exercised the option clause of his contract, so Kapp had played the entire season without a new contract. It was unusual for teams to use the team's option and not to offer a new contract prior to a season. This dispute made him a free agent for the 1970 season.
Despite Kapp being a Super Bowl quarterback, no team in the NFL made contact with him until after the start of the 1970 regular season, when the Boston Patriots (1–1) signed him on October 2 to a four-year contract, making him the highest paid player in the league. The Patriots gave up defensive back John Charles and a 1972 first-round draft pick (which was used to select linebacker Jeff Siemon) as compensation to the Vikings. His first appearance for Boston was on October 11 at Kansas City, relieving starter Mike Taliaferro in the third quarter of a 23–10 loss.