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.
10 Fran Tarkenton
53 Mick Tingelhoff
70 Jim Marshall
77 Korey Stringer
80 Cris Carter
88 Alan Page
1 - 1969 (NFL)
4 - 1969 (WFC), 1973 (NFC), 1974 (NFC), 1976 (NFC)
17 - 1968 (NFL Central), 1969 (NFL Central), 1970 (NFC Central), 1971 (NFC Central), 1973 (NFC Central), 1974 (NFC Central), 1975 (NFC Central), 1976 (NFC Central), 1977 (NFC Central), 1978 (NFC Central), 1980 (NFC Central), 1989 (NFC Central), 1992 (NFC Central), 1994 (NFC Central), 1998 (NFC Central), 2000 (NFC Central), 2008 (NFC North), 2009 (NFC North)
25 - 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2008, 2009
2006-Present
Brad Childress 36-28-0
2001-2005
Mike Tice 32-33-0
1992-2001
Denny Green 97-62-0
1986-1991
Jerry Burns 55-46-0
1985
Bud Grant 7-9
1984
Les Steckel 3-13-0
1967-1983
Bud Grant 161-99-5
1961-1966
Norm Van Brocklin 29-51-4
The Minnesota Vikings are based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings
compete in the National Football Conference of the National Football League
(NFL). They have been a member of the North Division since the NFL realigned
in 2002. Prior to the realignment, they had been a member of the Central
Division, also known as the Black & Blue Division. The Vikings have won one
NFL championship (Pre-1970 AFL-NFL Merger) losing 23-7 to the Kansas City
Chiefs in Super Bowl IV and were the first team to both play in and lose
four Super Bowls. The Vikings have won their division 17 times, third most
among teams currently playing in the NFL.
The club was founded in 1961 after the ownership group withdrew membership
to the American Football League and agreed to join the NFL as an expansion
team. The team played home games at Metropolitan Stadium through the 1981
NFL season and have played their home games at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
since 1982.
1960-1969
Pro football 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.[2] The search for the first head coach had
the team court then-Notre Dame head coach Ara Parseghian, who according to
Minneapolis Star writer Jim Klobuchar -- the Vikings' first beat reporter
for that newspaper -- visited team management in the Twin Cities under the
condition that his visit was to be kept secret from his current employer.
His cover was blown by local columnist Sid Hartman who reported the visit
and forced Parseghian to issue denials in South Bend. Philadelphia Eagles
assistant Nick Skorich and a man with Minnesota ties who was working in the
CFL, Bud Grant, were also candidates until a different Eagle, quarterback
Norm Van Brocklin, was hired early in 1961. Van Brocklin had just finished
his career as a player on a high note, having defeated the Green Bay Packers
in the 1960 NFL championship.
With the first overall selection in the 1961 NFL draft, the Vikings selected
running back Tommy Mason of Tulane. They took a young quarterback from the
University of Georgia named Fran Tarkenton in the third round. Notable
veterans acquired in the offseason were Norm Snead and Hugh McElhenny. The
Vikings won their first regular season game, defeating the Chicago Bears
37-13 on Opening Day 1961. 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 1968
and a 2nd-round choice in 1969. With the picks Minnesota selected Clinton
Jones and Bob Grim in 1967, Ron Yary in 1968 and Ed White in 1969. Three
days later on March 10th, the Vikings hired new head coach Bud Grant to
replace Van Brocklin, who resigned following the 1966 NFL season. Grant came
to the Vikings from the Canadian Football League as head coach for the
Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who he led to four Grey Cup Championships in 10
years. 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 team had 12
straight victories, the longest single-season winning streak in 35 years.
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 a
berth in Super Bowl IV. The heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the
Kansas City Chiefs 23-7.
1970-1979
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 impressive
enough that Alan Page won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award given by the
Associated Press. He was only the second defensive player to win the award
(the Lions' Joe Schmidt was co AP MVP in 1960).
In 1972 the Vikings traded Norm Snead, Bob Grim, Vince Clements and a
1st-round draft choice in 1972 and 1973 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, which
was a tie for the best record in the conference. 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 many felt that Pearson pushed off on Vikings
defensive back Nate Wright, which is pass interference, a violation of the
rules. As the Metropolitan Stadium crowd was stunned to learn that no
penalty was called, debris was thrown on the field for several minutes. One
bottle struck a game official, rendering him unconscious.
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
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. Quarterback Fran Tarkenton
retired following the season holding league passer records in attempts
(6,467), completions (3,686), yards (47,003), and touchdowns (342).
In December, 1979, ground is broken for construction of the Hubert H.
Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.
1980-1989
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 to 1987. The Vikings
played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on December 20th to conclude
the 1981 NFL season by losing to the Kansas City Chiefs, 10-6.
The Vikings played their first game at the Metrodome in a preseason
matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on August 21, 1982 in a game Minnesota
won, 7-3. The first touchdown in the new facility was scored by Joe Senser
on an 11 yard pass from Tommy Kramer. The first 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 first 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. With a
career regular-season record of 151-87-5 (.632) in 17 seasons with
Minnesota, Grant led the franchise to 12 playoff appearances, 11 division
titles, and four Super Bowls. 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 rehired 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. On August 2, 1986, Fran Tarkenton was the first player who played the
majority of his career with the Vikings, to be inducted into the Pro
Football Hall of Fame.
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' six
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.
1990-1999
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 97-62.2000-Present
In 2000, the Vikings went 11-5. The Vikings were 11-2 after 14 weeks, but
slumped briefly, losing their last three to the Rams, Packers and Colts
while starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper was hampered by injury.
Nonetheless, the Vikings made the playoffs for the fifth straight year.
After easily beating the Saints in the Divisional game 34-16, they went to
New York to face the New York Giants in the NFC Championship Game. Though
they were the road team, the Vikings were actually favored to win the game
(since most considered their 12-2 record with Culpepper more indicative than
their 0-3 record when he was out). But the Vikings were humiliated by the
Giants 41-0, the worst loss in franchise history. Robert Smith, who ran for
a team record (and NFL best) 1521 yards that season, retired at the end of
the year after only playing eight NFL seasons.
In 2001, after a disappointing 5-11 season, the Vikings bought out the
contract of Dennis Green, who had become a polarizing presence 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. Tice was named the
permanent coach after the season, but he would not lead the Vikings back to
the playoffs until 2004.
During the 2003 season, the Vikings came close to getting into the
playoffs. However, the Arizona Cardinals completed a game winning touchdown
with 0:00 left knocking the Vikings out of the playoffs. The moment of
Arizona's touchdown was actually the first moment the entire season in which
the Vikings hadn't led their division. Therefore, the Vikings are the only
team in football history to miss the playoffs after getting off to a 6-0
start.
In 2004, 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. In doing so, the Vikings became 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.
On March 2, 2005, Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss was traded to the Oakland
Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders' first round draft
pick. After struggling to a disappointing 2-5 start to the 2005 season,
Vikings lost quarterback Daunte Culpepper to a season ending knee injury.
The Vikings finished the 2005 season with a 9-7 record, one win away from
the playoffs.
Head Coach Mike Tice was let go after the 2005 season and was replaced by
Brad Childress. This was one of many significant front office moves made by
the new ownership team, led by Zygi Wilf.
Minnesota began the 2006 season 4-2 (and Childress becoming the first coach
in Vikings history to start 2-0 in his first year), but would finish the
year at 6-10, tying for the 7th worst record in the NFL and receiving the
7th pick in the NFL Draft; with it, the Vikings selected Adrian Peterson out
of the University of Oklahoma.
When the Minnesota Vikings played the Chicago Bears in the first of their
two games, Adrian Peterson broke the record for single game All-Purpose
yards (361). In Week 9 of the 2007 season, Peterson would go on to break the
NFL record set by Jamal Lewis in 2003 for most rushing yards in one game
(296 rushing yards against the San Diego Chargers). Despite a strong push in
the middle of the 2007 season winning five straight games, the Vikings lost
their final two games to finish the season at 8-8, barely missing the
playoffs.