1964 Minnesota Vikings season

1964 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	T-2nd NFL Western
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1964 Minnesota Vikings season was the fourth year of season play for the Minnesota Vikings and the 45th regular season of the National Football League. The Vikings finished with a record of eight wins, five losses, and one tie under head coach Norm Van Brocklin. The eight wins was the most at the time in the franchise's four-year history. To date, this is the only season the Vikings wore white jerseys for their home games.

Offseason

1964 Draft

Main article: 1964 NFL draft

=Pro Bowler = Hall of Famer

1964 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	6	6	Carl Eller	Defensive Tackle	Minnesota
2	5	19	Hal Bedsole	Wide Receiver	USC
3	6	34	George Rose	Running Back	Auburn
4	5	47	Traded to the Chicago Bears[a]
	11	53	Tom Keating	Defensive Tackle	Michigan	from Giants[b]
5	6	62	John Kirby	Linebacker	Nebraska
6	5	75	Bob Lacey	Wide Receiver	North Carolina
7	6	90	Wes Bryant	Defensive Tackle	Arkansas
8	5	103	Bill McWatters	Fullback	North Texas State
9	6	118	Darrell Lester	Fullback	McNeese State
10	5	131	Traded to the Los Angeles Rams[c]
11	6	146	H.O. Estes	Guard	East Central State
12	5	159	Sandy Sands	Wide Receiver	Texas
13	6	174	Russ Vollmer	Running Back	Memphis State
14	5	187	Tom Michel	Running Back	East Carolina
15	6	202	Monte Kiffin	Defensive Tackle	Nebraska
16	5	215	Carlton Oats	Wide Receiver	Florida A&M
17	6	230	Jerry McClurg	Wide Receiver	Colorado
18	5	243	Carl Robinson	Defensive Tackle	Prairie View A&M
19	6	258	Dick Schott	Wide Receiver	Louisville
20	5	271	Milt Sunde	Offensive Tackle	Minnesota

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (47th overall) to Chicago for RB Bill Brown.

^{^[b]} The New York Giants traded their 4th round selection (53rd overall) and 1965 2nd round selection (15th overall) to Minnesota for RB Hugh McElhenny.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 10th round selection (131st overall) to the Los Angeles Rams for RB Tommy Wilson.

Roster

1964 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Fran Tarkenton Running backs (RB) 30 Bill Brown FB 20 Tommy Mason Wide receivers (WR) 85 Paul Flatley 89 Jerry Reichow Tight ends (TE) 87 Gordon Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Grady Alderman T 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen (DL) 70 Jim Marshall DE

Linebackers (LB) 58 Rip Hawkins 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs (DB) 29 Karl Kassulke S 45 Ed Sharockman CB Special teams 14 Fred Cox K

Rookies in italics , 5 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue	Attendance	Record
1	1964-09-13	Baltimore Colts	W 34–24	Metropolitan Stadium	35,563	1–0
2	1964-09-20	Chicago Bears	L 7-28	Metropolitan Stadium	41,387	1–1
3	1964-09-27	at Los Angeles Rams	L 13-22	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	50,009	1–2
4	1964-10-04	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–23	City Stadium	42,327	2–2
5	1964-10-11	Detroit Lions	L 20-24	Metropolitan Stadium	40,840	2–3
6	1964-10-18	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–10	Metropolitan Stadium	39,873	3–3
7	1964-10-25	at San Francisco 49ers	W 27–22	Kezar Stadium	31,845	4–3
8	1964-11-01	Green Bay Packers	L 13-42	Metropolitan Stadium	44,278	4–4
9	1964-11-08	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	Metropolitan Stadium	40,408	5–4
10	1964-11-15	at Baltimore Colts	L 14-17	Memorial Stadium	60,213	5–5
11	1964-11-22	at Detroit Lions	T 23–23	Tiger Stadium	48,291	5–5–1
12	1964-11-29	Los Angeles Rams	W 34–13	Metropolitan Stadium	31,677	6–5–1
13	1964-12-06	at New York Giants	W 30–21	Yankee Stadium	62,802	7–5–1
14	1964-12-13	at Chicago Bears	W 41–14	Wrigley Field	46,486	8–5–1

Game Summaries

Week Seven vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27-22 but not before Jim Marshall made one of the most embarrassing errors in NFL. 49er Billy Kilmer fumbled the ball which was recovered by Marshall and he unknowingly ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone and thinking he scored a touchdown he tossed the ball in the air throwing it out of bounds, resulting in a safety.

Standings

NFL Western Conference
	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	12	2	0	.857	10–2	428	225	W1
Green Bay Packers	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	342	245	T1
Minnesota Vikings	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	355	296	W3
Detroit Lions	7	5	2	.583	6–4–2	280	260	W2
Los Angeles Rams	5	7	2	.417	3–7–2	283	339	T1
Chicago Bears	5	9	0	.357	5–7	260	379	L2
San Francisco 49ers	4	10	0	.286	3–9	236	330	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing Yards	Fran Tarkenton	2,506
Passing Touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	22
Rushing Yards	Bill Brown	866
Rushing Touchdowns	Bill Brown	7
Receiving Yards	Bill Brown	703
Receiving Touchdowns	Bill Brown	9
Points	Fred Cox	103
Kickoff Return Yards	Bill Butler	597
Punt Return Yards	Bill Butler	156
Interceptions	George Rose	6

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 14)
Passing Offense	2,123 Yards	151.6 YPG	11th
Rushing Offense	2,183 Yards	155.9 YPG	2nd
Total Offense	4,306 Yards	307.6 YPG	6th
Passing Defense	2,724 Yards	194.6 YPG	13th
Rushing Defense	1,616 Yards	115.4 YPG	5th
Total Defense	4,340 Yards	310.0 YPG	10th

References

• "1964 Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2007-04-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
• "1964 National Football League". {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help)
• "1964 Minnesota Vikings". DatabaseFootball. Archived from the original on 9 April 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-14. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)