Dave Krieg

I was talking to a non-Hawk friend of mine today and Dave Kriegs name came up. He didn't remember a ton about his career but I reminded him of Dave's long and pretty damn successful run. He had asked me what an past or present Dave reminded me of and I had a hard time coming up with an answer. Just curious if anyone out there has a good comparison?

Kinda reminds me of Eli Manning minus the super bowl rings. Then take Eli's interception problems and equate that into Dave Krieg's fumble problems cause he had a lot of those. But they both have pretty good arms. I would say to me he kind of reminds me of Eli.

seabowl":3g3saqn5 said:

I was talking to a non-Hawk friend of mine today and Dave Kriegs name came up. He didn't remember a ton about his career but I reminded him of Dave's long and pretty damn successful run. He had asked me what an past or present Dave reminded me of and I had a hard time coming up with an answer. Just curious if anyone out there has a good comparison?

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Krieg had some pretty successful short runs, but they never lasted more than a few games. He was maddeningly inconsistent. He could run off 25 straight completions then fumble when there wasn't a soul near him. I heard later that he had pixie hands, which obviously contributed to his propensity to fumble.

If I had to pick a quarterback to compare his career to, it would be Don Meredith, but most of you probably don't remember Dandy Don. Meredith turned the ball over more than his fair share of the time just like Krieg did and could never get his team quite over the hump....again, just like Krieg. A good arm but not a cannon, mobile but not Fran Tarkenton mobile.

Eli Manning is a good choice. Esp. since we had a few runs there we almost got to the SB.

What I remember:

Good QB, fun to watch, great arm. Turnovers (I think both INT and fumbles). Longevity because no matter how frustrating he could be, there weren't really better choices out there either and he was definitely fun to watch. For some reason I almost think of him like Zorn but less scrambling and more pocket passing, memory is a bit fuzzy there. Definitely good arm.

Not to mention he did take us to some good playoff runs too. He helped us survive the Ground Chuck => Air Knox era in Curt Warner's 2nd year when he tore his ACL the first game. I think many of us thought things were doomed and Krieg still pulled out another playoff season with his arm

Of course it helped having Largent. And then Brian Blades. And John L. Kenny Easley. Eugene Robinson. Dave Brown

Oh man, that was a fun team 1980's baby.

When he was on their was no one better. When he was off he could be pretty bad. Reminds me of a streaky 3 point shooter.

I think he is more of a Ken Stabler resemblence, tough guy, elevated his team, could go on wild streaks, remember he was very close to Marinos records when he retired, his fumbles due to having smallish hands. Fiery guy as well.

Dave used to own the record for most fumbles. IIRC he was surpassed by Moon?

Found it:

Dave Krieg 1980 - 1998 Total 153 Fumbles

Warren Moon 1984 - 2000 Total 161 Fumbles

Brett Favre 1991 - 2012 Total 166 Fumbles

I loved Dave Krieg, he could be so accurate, and was tough as nails. Even though Derrick Thomas set the single game sack record againsT Krieg, Dave stood in there and passed us to a win. That was an amazing game to watch.

Living in Alaska it was tough to get Seahawk games but I was fortunate enough to see that one, and to see Steve Largent catch his 100th touchdown pass. "I'm glad to get it, and I'm glad that Dave Krieg threw it."

He said that because everyone was so down on Krieg and Steve wanted his friend to get some recognition.

Your semi athletic next door neighbor.

The story of Krieg to me is more the story of the "every man" that got his shot and somehow succeeded. Paraphrasing something his brother said about him... "When you stepped on the field with him, even on the playground, you just knew. Knew it in your gut... that Dave was no better than you were."

The guy played for Milton College, for crying out loud. A school of 400 that I don't think even existed anymore by his 4th season in the NFL. There's no way this guy gets a shot at the bigs. A fortunate acquaintance, a good workout, and next thing you know, the guy has an 18 year career with career numbers comparable to a lot of guys in the HOF.

As for who to really compare him to? I don't know. But even with his fumbles and foibles, he was an easy guy to root for. And took us a nearly a decade and a lot of draft capital to find anyone even remotely as good.

Like some one said,when on nobody was better.When off he was like a bad Matt Stafford.Loved having him after going through the Zorny years.The year they made it to the AFC title game.That was Dave Krieg at his best.In the title game that was Dave Stafford.

ivotuk":12tp1ybo said:

Dave used to own the record for most fumbles. IIRC he was surpassed by Moon?

Found it:

Dave Krieg 1980 - 1998 Total 153 Fumbles

Warren Moon 1984 - 2000 Total 161 Fumbles

Brett Favre 1991 - 2012 Total 166 Fumbles

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Even Dave's fumbles are HOF caliber. ;-) The player whose record Dave broke was Dan Fouts.

Krieg was damn fun to watch. Sometimes Russell Wilson reminds me of all the crazy scrambles Dave did back in those days.

HawkEye":2pq7jsj3 said:

Krieg was damn fun to watch. Sometimes Russell Wilson reminds me of all the crazy scrambles Dave did back in those days.

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The problem with Krieg's scrambles is that all too often he forgot the ball.

But I loved Dave Krieg. He was a fierce competitor and by all accounts a great teammate. A lot like Hass in that regard.

HawkEye":1bvtbdfk said:

Krieg was damn fun to watch. Sometimes Russell Wilson reminds me of all the crazy scrambles Dave did back in those days.

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I was gonna say, thinking back Krieg really kind of reminds me of a less athletic Russell. Best comparison I can think of. Crazy to think about how much the QB position has evolved in the last 20+ years.

Small hands.. the anti Russell hands.


Bigger hands and Dave would have been so much better.

Bobblehead":1xfy15ly said:

Small hands.. the anti Russell hands.


Bigger hands and Dave would have been so much better.

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I always liked to believe that. Unfortunately if Russell plays as long as any of those guys he's on pace to threaten that fumble record. Although Stafford might give him a run for his money.

Mudbone was in a league of his own.. no one comes to mind.

Come to think about it... maybe Billy Kilmer... except Kreig had a better arm.

I watched a lot of DK's games, no one was better when he was "on". He could win any game for you or lose any game for you. 19 years in the NFL. Bobby Herbert is the guy that kinda comes close, except mudbone had a much longer career.


TDS - 261
INT- 199
YDS- 38,147
RTG - 81.5

Tony Romo - Looks better than Brady one game, then throws four INTs the next. I'd have taken Krieg over Montana or Marino when he was having a good game. When he was having a bad game...ugh.

It's hard to say whose game today is most like Krieg's. Eli's not too bad a comparison.

But it's interesting to look at the list of names of "similar careers" at football reference. It pretty much reads like every pretty damn good but not quite great QB out there, from his day up until today: Jim Hart, Craig Morton, Jim Everett, Ron Jaworski, Bobby Hebert, Drew Bledsoe, Tommy Kramer, Jim Harbaugh, Ken O'Brien and on and on...

I don't remember Dave Krieg being an accomplished scrambler at all.