https://www.thesportscol.com/2020/07/joe-kapp-was-no-ordinary-joe Kapp’s tall and lean, limber and agile. But things didn’t turn out in New England the way they had in the Midwest. While researchers emphasize the need to reduce the concussive blows, Kapp also worries about the consequences one big hit can have in football. Rather than run out of bounds, Joe would run straight ahead, often looking for a defender to run over. Shining bright, too. After a successful college career at Cal, Joe Kapp began his professional football career in 1959, playing for the Calgary Stampeders. Ex-Vikings QB Joe Kapp’s son wears 22, but succeeds his own way at Cal Share this: Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) ... Leave me out of this, he said, and focus on Will. It’s the little stuff that flummoxes him. Brawling Joe Kapp was a signal caller who’d run into tacklers instead of away from them. That needs to change.”. There he had an ally–Bud Grant–who had coached against Kapp in Canada. The medical researchers there have reported finding the disease in 90 of the 94 brains of former NFL players they have examined. He was on the sideline for the 85th Big Game involving Cal’s miracle finish known as “The Play.”. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window). © 2012-2013 The Sports Column & Brett Dickinson. Ultimately, he and wife Patricia let Frank make the decision — just like J.J.’s father did when the lawyer was in high school. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS. Kapp takes the medication Aricept, which improves the function of nerve cells in the brain, his wife, Jennifer, said. He never threw for over 2,000 yards in his career and had just 19 touchdown passes in his best season in 1969. The effects of Alzheimer’s disease are holding his mind captive. Then, in 1961, Calgary traded Kapp to the BC Lions. Kapp has suffered from headaches for years but shows no sign of depression, another symptom associated with Alzheimer’s and CTE. meet ings in New York in May. Joe’s son Will Kapp graduated from Cal in 2011 after walking on as a fullback from Los Gatos High. “Every single day I live being forgetful. Although physicians can’t say for sure, it’s obvious to oldest son J.J. Kapp that the bestial way his father played football has contributed to the mental demise. Sullivan said he had been ad vised of the situation regard ing Kapp at the N.F.L. “I know what I want to say, but it won’t come out. Unable to reach agreement on a new contract, he sat out the first few weeks of the 1970 season before being signed by the Patriots. All Access Digital offer for just 99 cents! “I’ve got delusions of dementia,” Kapp said. His body and sense of humor have not betrayed him completely. He then had a brief stint as GM of the BC Lions before transitioning back to coaching as the head man of an Arena League team. Worse yet, Commissioner Pete Rozelle didn’t like his four-year arrangement and demanded that Kapp sign a standard player contract. When he arrived home and found photographers waiting, he held a brief, impromptu news conference. Despite achieving success in Minnesota, Kapp played the entire 1969 season without a new contract. Kapp and the Patriots got off to a very rocky start at 2-12. “The ethic of football is still the same. But by the time he had gone two blocks, the former Cal and Minnesota Vikings quarterback couldn’t remember what he needed. Your email address will not be published. Follow him at Twitter.com/elliottalmond. J.J. Kapp acknowledges the irony of the situation when seeing his father’s decline. He’s in the record books, too–the only QB ever to play in the Rose Bowl, the Grey Cup championship, and in the Super Bowl. He played with cracked ribs, punctured lungs, torn knees and separated shoulders. Kapp can recall those memories with some prodding. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. 49ers offense loses Raheem Mostert again, plus two more starters injured, Raiders consider signing edge rusher who retired because of NFL’s anti-marijuana stance, Bill Belichick still roots for Jimmy Garoppolo — just not this week, Pac-12 sets COVID-19 cancellation policy for games, determines tiebreakers for seven-game season. Now all those powerful blows over more than two decades of tackle football have led Joe to dedicate one chapter of a memoir he is writing to concussions. “The Patriots have been no tified by the commissioner's office that Joe Kapp cannot work out with the club until he signs a standard players’ contract.”. Kapp remains buoyant despite the frustrating decline from a disease that afflicts 5.3 million Americans, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. LOS GATOS — Joe Kapp was walking up the street to a local hardware store recently to buy chicken feed. “We’re afflicted with the football disease,” J.J. Kapp said of a family’s love of the game. Seven of those came in one game against the Baltimore Colts. championship and the Super Bowl while playing out his option with Minnesota. Contact Elliott Almond at 408-920-5865. Unlike most QBs who avoid contact, Kapp relished it. “When I cash in, they will take the brain and study it,” Kapp said. Unable to reach an agreement with the Vikings’ front office, Kapp then signed a four-year deal with the Boston Patriots–a deal that made Kapp the highest-paid player in the League. Minnesota had just traded its starting quarterback Fran Tarkenton to the NY Giants and Grant needed a new man under center. “He’s not a beaten, broken man,” J.J. Kapp said. The struggles of Joe Kapp: A football family…, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Bay Area weather: Red flag warning highlights new fire danger in North Bay, The struggles of Joe Kapp: A football family copes with game’s painful aftermath. Kapp’s larger-than-life persona emerged while playing on the last Cal team to reach the Rose Bowl, in 1959. It took a violent fourth-quarter sack to force Kapp to leave Super Bowl IV when the Chiefs defeated the Vikings 23-7. He ran over Cleveland Browns’ linebacker Jim Houston, knocking him out of the game. He was extra-ordinary. He was visiting Sacramento Concilio HQ (Communications Director Henry Lopez, left) to talk about helping Mexican-Americans. Joe Kapp (l) and Bud Grant in 1969 (photo, Pioneer Press). But if the proud and rebellious quarterback ultimately lost out, the entire class of pro football players won. While a great leader and tough as nails, Kapp had limitations. Even though the team lost in the playoffs to the Colts, the future looked bright with Kapp at quarterback. “I’ve been called one half of a collision looking for the other,” he used to say. See the article in its original context from. Get Morning Report and other email newsletters. Kapp refused, and, just like that, his twelve-year pro career was over. “The smiling part is how you keep tough.”. var _ndnq = _ndnq || []; _ndnq.push([’embed’]); Elliott Almond is a sports reporter for the Bay Area News Group. He did just that in the 1969 NFL Championship game. You play through it. Today at 82-years-old, Kapp lives in Los Gatos, California. Fifty years after he retired, Joe Kapp is still the only QB in history who played in the Rose Bowl, a Grey Cup championship game, and the Super Bowl. It is a progressive, degenerative disorder that results in memory loss and behavioral changes not associated with the natural decline of aging. Just enter your email address and you'll receive an email notification when a new article is published. “It’s as frustrating as hell,” he said.
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