Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 11 - Joe Kapp, From Grey Cup to Super Bowl

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

11. JOE KAPP

Years at Cal: 1955 to 1959

Sport: Football

Pro teams: Calgary Stampeders (CFL), BC Lions (CFL), Minnesota Vikings (NFL)

Age: Died May 8, 2023 at the age of 85

Hometown: Santa Fe, NM

Why we ranked him here: Kapp’s football resume includes this unique accomplishment — he is the only quarterback to lead teams to the Rose Bowl, Canadian Grey Cup and Super Bowl. Selected in the 18th round of the 1959 NFL draft by the Washington Redskins, the 6-foot-2, 215-pounder never played for Washington. Instead, he spent eight seasons in the Canadian Football League — the Calgary Stampeders (1959-60) and the BC Lions (1961-66). Kapp led the Lions to a Grey Cup appearance in 1963 and a victory in the game a year later. In eight CFL seasons, he passed for 22,925 yards with 136 touchdowns. He threw a career-high 6 TDs vs. the Edmonton Eskimos and he led the CFL in passing four years in a row (1962 to ’65). Kapp was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in 1967 and was their starting QB for four seasons through 1970. Playing without a contract in 1969, he led the team to a 12-1 regular-season record, passing for an NFL career-best 1,796 yards with 19 touchdowns. He threw seven of those TDs to tie an NFL single-game record against the Baltimore Colts in 1969. Sports Illustrated did a cover story, calling him “The Toughest Chicano.” Kapp and the Vikings made it to Super Bowl IV, where they lost 23-7 to Kansas City. In 1972, Kapp successfully sued the NFL for violating antitrust laws protecting player rights. He won no compensation but the precedent helped lead to free agency for NFL players. Kapp has been inducted into the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the BC Lions Wall of Fame.

Joe Kapp at Cal | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

At Cal: Born in Santa Fe, NM, and raised in Salinas in the California Central Valley, then southern California, Kapp came to Cal to play football but also found place on basketball coach Pete Newell’s bench for a time. By his senior year in the fall of 1958, he powered the football team — just 1-9 the year before — to a 7-4 record and to the Pacific Coast Conference title. With wins over USC, UCLA and Stanford, the Bears landed a berth in the Rose Bowl, where they lost 38-12 to No. 2 Iowa. Kapp earned All-America honors after rushing for 616 yards and five touchdowns and passing for 775 yards and three TDs. He was fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. Kapp held Cal’s career quarterback rushing record until Chase Garbers broke it in 2021. He returned to Cal as head coach in 1982 and led the Bears to a 7-4 record that included the nearly fictional 25-20 stunner vs. Stanford in the Big Game, highlighted by The Play, the five-lateral kickoff return greeted by the Stanford band rushing the field. Afterward, Kapp famously quipped, “The Bear will not quit, the Bear will not die.” But after five seasons and a 20-34-1 record, Kapp was fired. He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame and the Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Joe Kapp as Cal coach | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Other: Beyond his exploits as a player and coach, Kapp forged a successful acting career. His Internet Movie Database (IMDB) file shows 27 movie and TV credits, including roles in The Longest Yard, Semi-Tough, Adam-12 and The Six Million Dollar Man.

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