Thomas Francis Kramer was born on March 7,1955 and is an American former professional football player who played as a quarterback in the National Football League from 1977 to 1990.
23 Facts About Tommy Kramer
2.
Tommy Kramer played college football at Rice University and was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft after being named MVP of the 1977 Senior Bowl.
3.
Tommy Kramer was inducted with the 2012 class into the College Football Hall of Fame.
4.
Tommy Kramer guided the Volunteers to a state title in 1971 and then to the state semi-finals in 1972.
5.
Tommy Kramer passed for 2,588 yards as a senior, then a state record, and completed 149 of 294 passes for 28 touchdowns.
6.
Tommy Kramer led the Owls in passing for four straight years and his career and season marks were the standard at Rice for over 30 years until they were shattered by Chase Clement, another San Antonio signal caller.
7.
Tommy Kramer left Rice with school records in single-season passing yards, career passing yards ; season total offense, career total offense, season touchdown passes, career touchdown passes, season total touchdowns and career total touchdowns.
8.
Tommy Kramer was the 1976 George Martin Award winner as Rice's MVP in 1976 and was elected to the Rice Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984.
9.
Tommy Kramer played in the Senior Bowl and the Blue-Gray Game in 1976 and was named MVP of the Senior Bowl.
10.
Tommy Kramer received the Fort Worth Kiwanis Sportsmanship Award in 1976.
11.
In 2012, Tommy Kramer was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.
12.
Tommy Kramer appeared in five games of his rookie season in 1977, with one start and four mop-up roles as the heir apparent to Fran Tarkenton, although when Tarkenton was hurt late in the season, Bob Lee would be the starter for four of the last five games.
13.
Tommy Kramer earned the nickname "Two-Minute Tommy" for his reputation with comebacks, as he would lead the Vikings to nineteen comebacks, with fifteen in the fourth quarter, with 1980 and 1985 having four from Kramer in each year.
14.
However, Tommy Kramer would be plagued by injuries in his eleven seasons spent with the Vikings, since he started 109 of a possible 152 games for the team over his tenure, and he started each game of a season just twice, beset by knee and shoulder injuries to go alongside concussions.
15.
Tommy Kramer threw 3,397 yards with 23 touchdowns to 24 interceptions while having a 55.7 completion percentage.
16.
Tommy Kramer had his best game to that point, throwing 38-of-49 for 456 yards with four touchdowns.
17.
Tommy Kramer is still the only quarterback for the Vikings to throw for over 450 yards.
18.
Tommy Kramer threw 20-of-34 passes for 253 yards with two touchdowns and one interception to lead the Vikings to the second round of the playoffs.
19.
Tommy Kramer was named to the Pro Bowl for the first and only time.
20.
Tommy Kramer threw four touchdowns to three interceptions in his 81 passes for six game appearances.
21.
Tommy Kramer was signed by the New Orleans Saints in 1990.
22.
Tommy Kramer appeared in only one game for the Saints and retired after the 1990 season.
23.
Tommy Kramer spent the next thirty years in Texas before returning to Minnesota after his third divorce in 2020.