Peyton Manning’s seven-TD feat resonates north of the border thanks to Joe Kapp connection

The CFL received some unexpected publicity from Thursday night's NFL opener thanks to a remarkable historical feat from Denver Broncos' quarterback Peyton Manning. Manning threw seven touchdown passes in the Broncos' 49-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens, accomplishing something that hadn't been done in that league since 1969. The last man to do it? Former CFL legend Joe Kapp, who went on to play with former CFL coach Bud Grant's Minnesota Vikings after a stint with the B.C. Lions. Amazingly, when asked about his feat afterwards, Manning not only referenced Kapp's career in Canada, but also the infamous brawl he got into with Angelo Mosca at the 2011 Grey Cup, video of which made it around the globe and even hit Monday Night Football. Here's video of Manning's post-game interview with NBC's Michele Tafoya, where he referenced Kapp:

And here's a transcription of Manning's comments, from Sam Farmer of The Los Angeles Times:

Here's the initial Kapp-Mosca fight from 2011:

It's nice to see Manning reference Kapp, as his career is fascinating. Kapp was born in New Mexico and played high school football in North Carolina, but went to Cal to play in college, then was drafted in the the 18th round by the Washington Redskins in 1959 (yes, the NFL draft used to have 30 rounds), but elected to go to Canada instead. He played two years with the Calgary Stampeders before B.C. traded four players for him in 1961. Kapp turned into a star with B.C., leading the Lions to the 1963 Grey Cup game (a Mosca hit in that game on Kapp's teammate Willie Fleming started the bad blood between the two) and winning their first Grey Cup in 1964. In 1967, he was part of a very rare NFL-CFL "trade", where the Lions worked out a deal to get Canadian running back/receiver Jim Young from the Minnesota Vikings in exchange for Kapp. Kapp then led the Vikings to their first playoff appearance in 1968, recorded his seven-TD game during the 1969 season and took Minnesota to a berth in Super Bowl IV in January 1970, where they lost to Kansas City. He wound up with the Boston Patriots in 1970, but was forced out in favour of Jim Plunkett in 1971, leading him to file and win an anti-trust lawsuit that helped to break the NFL's reserve clause and bring in free agency.

It was Kapp's post-playing career that was perhaps even more remarkable, though. He went to Hollywood as an actor, appearing in movies such as The Longest Yard, Semi-Tough and Breakheart Pass and shows like Emergency! and Medical Center. After that, he became the head coach at Cal, where he earned a Pac-10 Coach of the Year nod in his inaugural season, was on the winning side of the most famous college football play ever, and unzipped his pants in front of the media in 1986 (leading to the brilliant "Win One For The Zipper" chant during his final game). The best story about Kapp's Cal tenure is that he promised to give up his favourite drink, tequila, until the Golden Bears reached the Rose Bowl (you can see the locker room video of that here). They still haven't made it there, so he's switched to Mexican beer and California wine, but he has a bottle of tequila from 1986 just waiting for the right moment. Kapp also served as B.C.'s general manager in 1990, and although he was fired 11 games into the season, he managed to bring in Doug Flutie, perhaps the greatest CFL player ever. Any of those moments would be pretty spectacular for an ordinary guy. Joe Kapp did all of them, and that's what makes it so neat to see him recognized by a modern player like Manning.

P.S. Although the seven TDs Kapp and Manning both threw in one game is an NFL record, the CFL record is eight by Joe Zuger. Amazingly enough, that came in his first CFL game: