Minnesota Vikings - Pro Football Betting, Online Sportsbook Casino
Minnesota
Vikings History
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Minnesota Vikings,
professional football team and one of five teams in the Central
Division of the National Football Conference (NFC) of the National
Football League (NFL). Under the league’s realignment
plan, which will take affect in 2002, the Vikings will move
into the North Division of the NFC. The Vikings play at the
Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and
wear uniforms of purple, gold, and white. The team’s name
refers to the Nordic peoples who were ancestors to Minnesota’s
large population of Scandinavian Americans.
Since the late 1960s, the Vikings have been one of the most
consistently successful franchises in the NFL. During the 1970s
head coach Bud Grant steered the team to four Super Bowls. Quarterback
Fran Tarkenton, who spent much of his career with the Vikings,
became the most prolific passer in NFL history, compiling the
most career yards, completions, and touchdown passes during
his 15 years in the league. (Tarkenton’s records were
broken by Dan Marino of the Miami Dolphins in 1995.) Grant also
assembled one of the fiercest defenses in NFL history. Known
collectively as the Purple People Eaters, players such as linemen
Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Alan Page “devoured”
opposing offenses.
The Vikings joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1961 and
selected Fran Tarkenton in the NFL draft. The franchise got
off to a slow start, producing only one winning record in its
first seven seasons. In 1967 Minnesota traded Tarkenton to the
New York Giants for the rights to four draft picks. These picks
yielded several talented rookies, including Alan Page.
In the 1968 season Bud Grant guided the Vikings to the NFC Central
Division championship. A year later, Minnesota’s defense,
the league’s toughest, powered the Vikings to Super Bowl
IV, where the team lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Vikings’
offensive performance in 1969 was also the league’s best.
Quarterback Joe Kapp directed a balanced unit that relied on
both running and passing.
In the 1970s safety Paul Krause and linemen Page, Carl Eller,
and Jim Marshall anchored the era’s most feared defensive
unit, which ranked first in the NFC five times from 1969 to
1976. Minnesota dominated the NFC Central Division during this
time, and in 1971 Page became the first defensive player to
receive the most valuable player (MVP) award. Tarkenton returned
to the Vikings in 1972 and subsequently piloted the team to
three Super Bowl appearances. Running back Chuck Foreman and
wide receivers John Gilliam and Ahmad Rashad were his favorite
targets. An elusive scrambler, Tarkenton also used his agility
to confound opponents. He was named league MVP in 1975.
Although they were clearly the NFC’s dominant club, the
Vikings repeatedly fell to their American Football Conference
(AFC) opponents in the Super Bowl. Minnesota lost to the Miami
Dolphins 24-7 in 1974, to the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-6 in 1975,
and to the Oakland Raiders 32-14 in 1977.
Many of the star Viking players retired by 1979, and the team
entered a period of decline, but Minnesota soon recovered its
success with a collection of new stars. From the mid-1980s through
the late 1990s, the Vikings consistently recorded winning records,
and the club reached the NFC Championship Game after the 1987
and 1998 seasons. Stars for the Vikings during this time included
quarterbacks Tommy Kramer, Warren Moon, and Wade Wilson, and
wide receiver Anthony Carter, who produced three consecutive
1,000-yard seasons. Safety Joey Browner and linemen Chris Doleman,
Keith Millard, and John Randle were among the league’s
premier defensive players.
1970 Super Bowl IV Lost to Kansas City Chiefs, 23-7
1974 Super Bowl VIII Lost to Miami Dolphins, 24-7
1975 Super Bowl IX Lost to Pittsburgh Steelers, 16-6
1977 Super Bowl XI Lost to Oakland Raiders, 32-14. |
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