The Minnesota Vikings are an American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After initially committing to become one of the founding members of the American Football League (AFL) in 1959, the team joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion franchise and played their first game in 1961, as part of the Western Conference. In 1967, they were placed into the new Central division, which became part of the National Football Conference following the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The divisions were reorganized again in 2002, with the Vikings as part of the NFC North, in which they have played ever since. The Vikings have won their division 20 times and appeared in the playoffs 30 times, leading to four conference championships (in 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1976) and one NFL title in 1969.
The team has had three home stadiums, all in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area: Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington (1961–1981), and the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1981–2013) and U.S. Bank Stadium (2016–present) in Minneapolis itself; during the construction of U.S. Bank Stadium (2014–2015), they also played at the Minnesota Golden Gophers' Huntington Bank Stadium, also in Minneapolis.
Origins Professional football history in the Twin Cities began in the 1920s; the Minneapolis Marines joined the American Professional Football Association (later to become the National Football League) in 1921, but folded in 1924; they were resurrected as the Minneapolis Red Jackets in 1929 but lasted just two seasons before merging with the Frankford Yellow Jackets. 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. Harry Gustafson is, in-part, credited with providing the "Vikings" name. Gustafson was part of an ownership group for a professional bowling team in the short-lived National Bowling League (NBL) in the early 1960s. Winter was also a part of that ownership group. In a narrative recounted by Winter and later confirmed by Gustafson, the two of them compiled a list of names for the bowling team, and Gustafson, an attorney, filed copyright for two names: "The Twin City Skippers" and the "Minnesota Vikings." The bowling team became the Skippers, but Gustafson retained the legal right to the "Vikings" name, which was used by Winter for the football team. Winter later credited Harry with giving him the name. Under the ownership of Max Winter, the franchise recognized Gustafson in 1989 during a pre-game ceremony at which the team presented Gustafson with a plaque for his "input in establishing the Viking name and the Viking tradition." 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 ownership group, along with Bernard H. Ridder, forfeited its AFL membership (which was subsequently passed onto the Oakland Raiders) and then were awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise on January 28, 1960, with play to begin in 1961.
1961–1966: Early years Bill Boyer served as the team president from 1960 to 1964. Joe Thomas was hired as head scout. Minnesota's first management team was led by general manager Bert Rose, who was appointed as GM on August 5, 1960. In an article on August 6, 1960, in the Minneapolis Tribune, it was reported that the team would use the name "Minnesota" instead of "Minneapolis–Saint Paul". The article also stated that several nicknames were suggested for the team, including "Chippewas", "Miners", "Vikings" and "Voyageurs". 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 40,800-seat capacity of Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. Eventually, the stadium's capacity was increased to 47,900. On January 18, 1961, the Vikings named Norm Van Brocklin as head coach after Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Bud Grant turned down the job.
The Vikings' trademark horned helmet and purple-and-gold uniforms were designed by Los Angeles Examiner cartoonist Karl Hubenthal. Bert Rose and Norm Van Brocklin both knew Hubenthal from their days in Los Angeles—Rose having served as the Rams' public relations director, and Van Brocklin having played as their quarterback. Rose, an alumnus of the University of Washington, instructed Hubenthal to produce a uniform using the same colors as his alma mater. Hubenthal also composed the Vikings' original Norseman logo. The team has retained the basic elements of all those designs to the present day.
The Vikings played their first game, an exhibition game, against the Dallas Cowboys on August 5, 1961. The game was played at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Vikings won their first regular-season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37–13 on the opening day of 1961. Rookie Fran Tarkenton replaced starting quarterback George Shaw to throw four touchdown passes and run for another to lead the upset. The expansion team lost its next seven games on its way to a 3–11 record.
The team's second season in 1962 was the first, and to date, only season in franchise history in which the team failed to win at least three games. It is also the worst season ever by regular season winning percentage in Vikings' history.
Rose resigned from his position as GM on June 1, 1964. Jim Finks, then-general manager of the Calgary Stampeders, was named his successor on September 11, 1964. The Vikings had their first winning season in 1964, finishing with 8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. The 1964 season is also remembered by fans for a road game against the San Francisco 49ers in which defensive end Jim Marshall picked up a fumble and ran it to the wrong end zone. He thought he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, but instead had scored a safety for the 49ers. The Vikings did go on to win the game, 27–22. 1964 was also the only season that the Vikings wore white jerseys at home games. This led to confusion when the Detroit Lions came to Bloomington with only their white jerseys. The game started with both teams wearing white jerseys. The Vikings retrieved their purple jerseys from Midway Stadium in Saint Paul. The Vikings changed from white jerseys to purple jerseys on the sidelines. That led to the Vikings wearing all-purple uniforms.
Max Winter became the team president in 1965. The Vikings played their first regular season night game and first regular season non Sunday game, when they played the New York Giants Saturday night October 9, 1965 at Met Stadium. In November of that year, the volatile Van Brocklin quit one day after the team had been eliminated from the postseason in a 41–21 defeat to the Baltimore Colts, but came back 24 hours later. Two months after that brief departure, Van Brocklin signed a new contract that would keep him with the franchise through 1970, but then quit for good, abruptly announcing his departure on February 11, 1967, saying he had lost control of the team, and the Vikings once again pursued the services of Bud Grant, who was still with Winnipeg. This time, Grant accepted the Vikings' offer and became the new Vikings head coach on March 11, 1967.
1967–1978: The Purple People Eaters era
On March 7, 1967, Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for first- and second-round selections in the 1967 draft, a first-round selection in 1968, and a second-round selection in 1969. With these picks, Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in 1967, Ron Yary in 1968, and Ed White in 1969.
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. They lost to Baltimore 24–14 in the Western Conference championship game.
In 1969 the Vikings earned a 12–2 record, the best in the NFL. An opening-game one-point loss to the New York Giants, quarterbacked by former Viking Fran Tarkenton, was followed by 12 consecutive wins. The Vikings played their first regular-season game in Minneapolis, when the October 5 game against the Packers was moved to Memorial Stadium. That game also saw a then-record home crowd of 60,740. The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the NFL Championship Game on January 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. Minnesota became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an NFL Championship Game, which earned the team a berth in Super Bowl IV. The heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23–7, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
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 the first-ever defensive player to win the NFL Most Valuable Player Award (MVP). The first post-merger game was a rematch with Kansas City, which the Vikings won 27–10. However, quarterback Joe Kapp had been traded away during the 1970 offseason, and his replacement, Gary Cuozzo, delivered some quite mediocre performances. Nonetheless, the defense carried the team to a 12–2 regular season record and the top of the newly created NFC Central division. They lost the divisional round of the playoffs to San Francisco, 17–14. Continued strong defense made up for Cuozzo's shortcomings as the Vikings won their division again in 1971 with an 11–3 record. The 1971 season saw the Vikings play their first regular season game on artificial turf, when they played Philadelphia at Veterans Stadium October 10. For the second year in a row, they lost the divisional round at home, this time to Dallas (the score being 20–12) in the first NFL game played on Christmas Day.
During this period, the issue of a new stadium began to surface. Metropolitan Stadium had originally been designed for baseball and was inadequate for an NFL team, seating 48,500 when the league now required a capacity of at least 50,000. Also, the stadium experienced harsh weather conditions late in the season. As the coldest venue in the NFL, it provided a considerable home field advantage to the Vikings, but was miserable for players, staff, and fans after October. However, no replacement was available for the time being.
On January 27, 1972, the Vikings decided to get Fran Tarkenton back. In exchange for him, they traded Norm Snead, Bob Grim, Vince Clements, and a first-round selection in 1972 and 1973 to the New York Giants. While the acquisitions of 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 on February 19, 1973 and was replaced on the team's board of directors by his son-in-law Jack Steele.
The Vikings won their first nine games of 1973 and finished the season with a 12–2 record. In the playoffs, they defeated the Washington Redskins 27–20 and the Dallas Cowboys 27–10. On January 13, 1974, the Vikings played the second Super Bowl in franchise history, Super Bowl VIII, against the Miami Dolphins at Rice Stadium in Houston, Texas. The Dolphins prevailed 24–7.