Minnesota Vikings
| Minnesota Vikings | |||
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| Established 1961 Play in Minneapolis, Minnesota | |||
| League / conference affiliations | |||
National Football League (1961–present)
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| Uniforms | |||
| Team colors | Purple, Gold, and White | ||
| Fight song | Skol, Vikings | ||
| Mascot | Ragnar | ||
| Personnel | |||
| Owner(s) | Zygi Wilf | ||
| General manager | Rob Brzezinski | ||
| Head coach | Brad Childress | ||
| Team history | |||
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| Team nicknames | |||
| The Vikes, The Purple People Eaters | |||
| Championships | |||
| League championships (1) | |||
Conference championships (4)
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Division championships (16)
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| Home fields | |||
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The Minnesota Vikings is an American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They are currently members of the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL).
The Vikings have won their division 16 times and were the first team to both play in and lose four Super Bowls. Originally, the ownership group was to have a team in the American Football League, but they withdrew from the AFL and agreed to join the NFL as an expansion team in 1961.
The Vikings are currently owned by Zygi Wilf, Mark Wilf, Jeffrey Wilf, Leonard Wilf, David Mandelbaum, Alan Landis and Reggie Fowler. The Vikings have been conducting summer training camp at Minnesota State University, Mankato since 1966. From 1961-65 they held camp at Bemidji State University.
History
1960s
Pro history in the Twin Cities began with the Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets, an NFL team that played intermittently in the 1920s-30s. However, a new professional team in the area did not surface again until August 1959, when three Minneapolis businessmen Bill Boyer, H. P. Skoglund and Max Winter were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League. Five months later in January 1960, the ownership group along with Bernie Ridder forfeited its AFL membership and then was awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise with play to begin in 1961. Ole Haugsrud was added to the NFL team ownership because of an agreement he had with the NFL since the 1920s when he sold his Duluth Eskimos team back to the league. The agreement allowed him 10% of any future Minnesota team.
The team was officially named the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, 1960; the name is partly meant to reflect Minnesota's place as a center of Scandinavian American culture. From the start, the Vikings embraced an energetic marketing program that produced a first-year season ticket sales of nearly 26,000 and an average home attendance of 34,586, about 85 percent of the capacity of 40,800 for Metropolitan Stadium. Eventually Met Stadium capacity was increased to 47,900. Early in 1961, the Vikings named Norm Van Brocklin as head coach, though Bud Grant had been a candidate for job.
The Vikings won their first regular season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37-13 on Opening Day 1961. Rookie Fran Tarkenton came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes and run for another to lead the upset. Reality set in as the expansion team lost its next seven games on their way to a 3-11 record.
On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a 1st and 2nd-round choice in 1967, a 1st-round choice in '68 and a 2nd-round choice in '69. With the picks Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in '67, Ron Yary in '68 and Ed White in '69. During the late 1960s, the Vikings were building a powerful defense known as the Purple People Eaters, led by Alan Page, Carl Eller, Gary Larsen, and Jim Marshall. In 1968, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division Title and their first playoff berth.
In 1969 the Vikings went 12-2, the best record in the NFL. The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns, 27-7, in the NFL Championship Game on Jan. 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. Minnesota became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an NFL Championship Game, and earned them a berth in Super Bowl IV. The heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs 23-7.
1970s
The team continued to shine in 1970 and 1971 as their "Purple People Eater" defense led them back to the playoffs. In 1971 the defense was so impressive that Alan Page became only the third defensive player to win the NFL Most Valuable Player Award (the Colts' Gino Marchetti was the AP MVP in 1958 and the Lions' Joe Schmidt was co MVP in 1960).
In 1972 the Vikings traded Norm Snead, Bob Grim, Vince Clements and a 1st-round choice in '72 and '73 to the New York Giants to reacquire the popular Tarkenton. While the acquisitions of Fran Tarkenton and wide receiver John Gilliam improved the passing attack, the running game was inconsistent and the Vikings finished with a disappointing 7-7 record. The Vikings addressed the problem by drafting running back Chuck Foreman with their first pick in the 1973 draft. Co owner Bill Boyer died in 1972 and was replaced on the team's board of directors by his son in law Jack Steele.
The Vikings won their first 9 games of 1973 and finished the season with a 12-2 record. The Vikings then advanced to their second Super Bowl in franchise history, Super Bowl VIII, against the Miami Dolphins at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. However, the Dolphins prevailed, 24-7.
The Vikings won the Central Division again in 1974 with a 10-4 record. In the playoffs they built on their cold weather reputation, defeating both the St. Louis Cardinals 30-14 and the Los Angeles Rams 14-10 in frozen Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings played in their second straight Super Bowl, Super Bowl IX (3rd overall), losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-6, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans on January 12, 1975.
In 1975, the Vikings, led by Tarkenton and running back Chuck Foreman, got off to a 10-0 start and easily won another division title. However, the Vikings lost to the Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, 17-14, on a controversial touchdown pass from the Cowboys' quarterback Roger Staubach to wide receiver Drew Pearson that became known as the Hail Mary. The Touchdown was controversial because it was obvious to almost all in the crowd and visible on instant replay that Pearson pushed off and should have been called for offensive interference. About a second after the "interference", someone threw an orange colored ball on the field near the catch, and many in the crowd assumed it was the interence flag, and were stunned to learn that no penalty was called. Play had to be stopped for many minutes after this, as more debri rained down from the crowd.
The Vikings played in Super Bowl XI, their third Super Bowl (4th overall) in 4 years, against the Oakland Raiders at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California,on January 9, 1977. The Vikings, however, couldn't break their bad luck in the Super Bowl. Minnesota lost, 32-14.
In 1977 the Vikings again won the Central Division with a 9-5 record and advanced to their 4th NFC Championship Game in 5 years, but were defeated by to the eventual Super Bowl Champion Cowboys, 23-6, at Texas Stadium. By 1978 age was taking its toll on the Vikings, but they still made the playoffs with an 8-7-1 record. There was no more playoff magic as the Rams finally defeated the Vikings, 34-10 in Los Angeles.
1980s
On May 15, 1981, the Vikings moved into a new facility in suburban Eden Prairie that houses the team's offices, locker room and practice fields. The complex was named "Winter Park" after Max Winter, one of the Vikings founders who served as the team's president from 1965-87. The Vikings played their 1st game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against Seattle on Aug. 21, 1982. Minnesota prevailed, 7-3. The 1st touchdown in the new facility was scored by Joe Senser on an 11-yard pass from Tommy Kramer. The 1st regular-season game in the Metrodome was the 1982 opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated Tampa Bay, 17-10. Rickey Young scored the 1st regular-season touchdown in the facility on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter.
On January 27, 1984, Bud Grant retired as Head Coach of the Vikings. In 17 seasons Grant led Minnesota to 12 playoff appearances, 11 division titles and 4 Super Bowls. His career regular-season record was 151-87-5 (.632). Les Steckel, who was an offensive assistant with the Vikings for 5 seasons, was then named the 3rd head coach in franchise history Steckel, who came to the Vikings in 1979 after working as an assistant with the 49ers, was the youngest head coach in the NFL in 1984 at age 38. However, the Vikings lost a franchise-worst 13 games. After the season, Steckel was fired and on December 18, 1984, Bud Grant was re-hired as the head coach of the Vikings.
On January 6, 1986, following the 1985 season, Bud Grant re-retired as head coach of the Vikings. At the time of his retirement he was the 6th winningest coach in NFL history with 168 career wins, including playoffs. In 18 seasons he led the Vikings to a 158-96-5 regular season record. Longtime Vikings assistant coach Jerry Burns was named the 4th head coach in team history on January 7, 1986. He served as the Vikings offensive coordinator from 1968-85, when the team won 11 division titles and played in 4 Super Bowls. In his first season, the Vikings led by the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Tommy Kramer, went 9-7, their first winning record in 4 years. In his second season, he led the Vikings to the NFC championship game.
Following the strike-shortened 1987 season, the 8-7 Vikings --- who had finished 8-4 in regular games but 0-3 using strike-replacement players --- pulled two upsets in the playoffs by beating the two teams with the best regular season records. They beat the 12-3 New Orleans Saints, 44-10, at the Superdome in the Wild Card Playoff game. The following week, in the Divisional Playoff game, they beat the 13-2 San Francisco 49ers, 36-24, at Candlestick Park. During that game Anthony Carter set the all-time record for most receiving yards in a playoff game with 227 yards. The Vikings played the Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game on January 17, 1988, at RFK Stadium. Trailing 17-10, the Vikings drove to the Redskins' 6-yard line with a little over a minute left in the game but failed to get the ball into the end zone. Darren Nelson dropped a pass from Wade Wilson at the goal line to officially end the Vikings' hopes of a Super Bowl.
The Vikings would make what would be considered its biggest personnel blunder in team history. On October 12, 1989, the Vikings acquired Herschel Walker from Dallas. The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, a 3rd round choice Mike Jones, a 5th round choice Reggie Thornton and 10th-round choice Pat Newman in 1990 and a 3rd-round choice in 1991 Jake Reed, while Dallas received Issiac Holt, David Howard, Darrin Nelson, Jesse Solomon, Alex Stewart, a 1st, 2nd and 6th-round choice in 1990, a 1st and 2nd-round choice in 1991 and a 1st, 2nd and 3rd-round choice in 1992. Two of those selections turned into Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson. Herschel's performance fell short of expectations in his 3 seasons with the Vikings, while the Cowboys rode their draft picks to 3 Super Bowl victories in the early to mid 1990s.
1990s
On December 3, 1991, Jerry Burns announced his retirement. In 6 seasons as Head Coach of the Vikings, Burns compiled a career record of 52-43 (.547). He also led Minnesota to 3 playoff appearances, including a division title and an NFC Championship Game. Dennis Green was later named the 5th Head Coach in team history. He came to Minnesota after turning around a struggling Stanford University football program as head coach from 1989-91. In his 10 seasons as the coach of the Vikings, Green won 4 NFC Central division titles, had 8 playoff appearances, 2 NFC Championship game appearances and an all-time record of 97-62.
1998 was a year to remember for the Minnesota Vikings, with a spectacular offense led by quarterback Randall Cunningham, who had his best NFL season ever, running back Robert Smith, veteran wide receiver Cris Carter, and explosive rookie Randy Moss, the Vikings set an NFL record by scoring a total of 556 points, never scoring fewer than 24 in a game. The Vikings finished the season 15-1, their only loss by 3 points to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week nine. In the playoffs, the Vikings rolled past the Arizona Cardinals 41-21, and came into the Metrodome heavily favored for their NFC title showdown with the Atlanta Falcons, who had finished 14-2. However, kicker Gary Anderson, who had gone 35 for 35 in the regular season, missed a 38-yard attempt with less than 2 minutes remaining. That allowed the Falcons to tie the game. The Vikings had one more opportunity to score at the end of regulation, but Head Coach Dennis Green opted to down the ball and go to overtime (even though the Vikings had arguably the most potent offense in NFL history). Atlanta won the toss and went on to win it 30-27 in overtime on Morten Andersen's field goal, which was, coincidentally, also a 38-yarder. The Vikings became the first 15-1 team to fail to reach the Super Bowl.
Cunningham resumed duties again in 1999, but after a lukewarm 2-4 start, Jeff George was given the starting job. He finished the season with an 8-2 record, and led the Vikings into the postseason once again, with an overall team record of 10-6. Minnesota beat Dallas in the Wild card game 27-10, and faced playoff newcomer Kurt Warner and the St. Louis Rams in the Divisional matchup. The game was a shootout which Minnesota led 17-14 at halftime, but the Rams outscored Minnesota 35 to 20 in the second half to win 49-37[1]. St. Louis would go on to win Super Bowl XXXIV.
2000s
In 2000, led by first-year starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper, the Vikings had a season in which Robert Smith ran for a team record 1,521 yards and 7 touchdowns. The Vikings were 11-2 after 14 weeks, but slumped briefly, losing their last three to the Rams, Packers and Colts while Culpepper was hampered by injury. However, they would return to the playoffs again for the fifth straight year. After easily beating the Saints in the Divisional game 34-16, they were humiliated 41-0 by the New York Giants in the Conference Championship[2], and to top that, Robert Smith retired at the end of the year, after only playing eight NFL seasons.[3]
After a disappointing 5-11 season in 2001, the Vikings bought out the contract of Dennis Green, who had become a polarizing force in the Viking fan base despite his successful coaching tenure with the team. Mike Tice coached the final game of 2001, losing to the Ravens.[4]
Tice was named the permanent head coach after the 2001 season, but the Vikings were unable to return to the playoffs until 2004. During that year, Daunte Culpepper amassed MVP-like statistics, throwing for 4,717 passing yards (leading the NFL), 39 passing touchdowns (a Viking record), and 5,123 total yards (an NFL record). In the wild card matchup, the Vikings defeated the rival Green Bay Packers in their first ever playoff meeting, 31-17[5], becoming the second team in NFL history to have a .500 record (8-8) in the regular season and win a playoff game. In the divisional round, the Vikings were defeated by the eventual NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles, ending their season in a game noted for Viking penalties, turnovers, and other miscues[6].
Tice was let go after the 2005 season and was replaced by Brad Childress.
Logo and uniforms
From the team's debut in 1961 to 1995, the Vikings' logos and uniforms essentially remained the same. One of the team's two primary logos consists of a profile of a blond norseman, while the other consists of a white Viking horn.
The team's helmet is purple with the Viking horn logo on each side. The uniform design consists of white pants, gold trim, and either purple or white jerseys. In a design that is unique among American football teams, the white jerseys have a completely different stripe pattern, which is over the shoulders, than the purple ones, which are around the sleeve cuff. There have also been minor changes to the uniform design throughout the years, such as changing the color of the facemask from gray to white (1980), and then to purple (1985); and adding the Norseman logo to the sleeves (1996). The shoulder stripes on the white jerseys did not appear until 1969, the year they went to their first Super Bowl. And from 1961 to 1964, the Vikings wore purple pants with their white jerseys. The Vikings wore black shoes until Les Steckel became the coach in 1984.
During the 1964 season, the Vikings along with several other NFL teams wore their white jerseys for home games to allow their fans to see what the other teams primary jerseys looked like. The Lions played at Met Stadium on October 11. The Lions only brought their white jerseys. The Vikings had also brought their white jerseys to the stadium. The team practiced at Midway Stadium in St. Paul and that is where they stored their equipment. Both teams started the game in their white jerseys. By the second quarter the Vikings had been able to get their purple jerseys to Met Stadium. The team changed jerseys on the sidelines and finished the game in purple jerseys and purple pants.
The team's uniforms were redesigned in 2006, the first significant change in the franchise's 46-year history. Although the team colors remained the same, trim lines were added to the outside shoulders and sleeves, and the sides of the jerseys and pants. In addition the horn on the helmet was slightly more defined. Included in the new design are both white and purple pants. The team will also return to black shoes for first time since the 1983 season.[7] [8]
The team wore black armbands for the last four games in 1978 in memory of Jacko Nelson an assistant coach who died during the season. In 1985 the team wore a 25 years patch on their jerseys. In 1989, they wore a "40 for 60" patch honoring the 1969 NFL championship team. They wore a 35 years patch in 1995, 40 years in 2000 and 45 years in 2005. They also wore patches in 1999 for assistant coach Chip Myer who died in the offseason and in 2001 for Korey Stringer. The Vikings like the other teams wore NFL 50 and 75 year patches in 1969 and 1994.
Franchise traditions, trends
Viking horn
A two-note clarion call mimicking an authentic warrior horn. Often played over the Metrodome PA system to incite the crowd into a frenzy.
To listen to a sample of the Viking horn go to:Vikings Tailgating
Helga hats
Viking fans are known to dress up in "Helga Hats", or purple hats with white horns and blond braids, mimicking the helmets popularly, (but incorrectly) believed to have been worn by Viking warriors.
Mascot
The current team mascot is Ragnar, possibly the only "human" mascot in professional sports, meaning that he doesn't wear anything over his head. Ragnar (played by Joseph Juranitch) has been working for the Vikings since 1994, and claims to be the most widely-recognized mascot in the world. Jurantich admits to being somewhat of an eccentric—he holds the current world record for fastest time shaving a beard with an axe. Ragnar drives onto the field at the beginning of games on a motorcycle or snowmobile, and during the games on a Segway.
Another mascot associated with the Vikings was "Vikadontis Rex." V.R. was a purple dinosaur and was the official mascot of the Minnesota Vikings Children's Fund. V.R. took part in the 1995 Celebrity Mascot Olympics. Vikadontis was retired starting with the 2000 season.
During the 1970s, 1980s, Hub Meeds dressed as a Viking and served as the team mascot.
Players of note
Current players
Updated Vikings Depth Chart
Template:Minnesota Vikings depth chart
Pro Football Hall of Famers
- 81 Carl Eller DE, 1964-1978
- Jim Finks General Manager, 1964-1973
- Bud Grant Head Coach, 1967-1983, 1985
- 22 Paul Krause S, 1968-1979
- 88 Alan Page DT, 1967-1978
- 10 Fran Tarkenton QB, 1961-1966, 1972-1978
- 73 Ron Yary T, 1968-1981
- 44 Dave Casper TE, 1983
- 58 Jim Langer C, 1980-1981
- 39 Hugh McElhenny RB, 1961-1962
- 1 Warren Moon QB, 1994-1996
- 3 Jan Stenerud K, 1984-1985
- Norm Van Brocklin Head Coach, 1961-1966
Retired numbers
- 10 - Fran Tarkenton
- 53 - Mick Tingelhoff
- 70 - Jim Marshall
- 77 - Korey Stringer
- 80 - Cris Carter
- 88 - Alan Page
Ring of Honor
Fran Tarkenton ( September 9, 1998), Alan Page ( September 20, 1998), Jim Finks (October 18, 1998) Bud Grant (November 8, 1998), Paul Krause (November 15, 1998), Fred Zamberletti (December 20, 1998) Jim Marshall (November 28, 1999), Ron Yary (September 9, 2001), Korey Stringer (November 19, 2001) Mick Tingelhoff (November 25, 2001), Carl Eller (November 10, 2002), Cris Carter (September 14, 2003) Bill Brown (September 26, 2004), Jerry Burns (November 6, 2005), Randall McDaniel (December 17, 2006)
Other notable alumni
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Other notable alumni still active
2006 NFL Draft picks
Re-signed- Status
Additions- Status (Old Team)
Subtractions- Status (New Team)
Last Updated 3/16/07 (DTR) 2007 NFL Draft picks
2007 VIKINGS PLAYER MOVEMENT Re-signed- Status
Additions- Status (Old Team)
Subtractions- Status (New Team)
Last Updated 3/23/07 (DTR) Head Coaches
Current Staff
Last Updated 3/16/07 (DTR) Radio and televisionAs of 2006, the Vikings' flagship radio station is KFAN, 1130AM. The games are also heard on the "KFAN Radio Network" in Minnesota, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as well as many other outlets. Paul Allen is the current play-by-play announcer; he replaced Lee Hamilton during the 2002 preseason after Hamilton resigned unexpectedly. Most preseason games are telecast on KSTP, channel 5, with Ron Franklin doing play-by-play. See alsoReferencesExternal links | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||