The 1962 season was the Minnesota Vikings' second in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with a 2–11–1 record that still stands as the franchise's worst season record in terms of winning percentage, both by today's method of calculation (.179) and the method used at the time (.154), in which ties were not counted as games played. The Vikings have won at least three games in every season since.

Offseason

1962 draft

1962 Minnesota Vikings Draft Draft order Player name Position College Round Overall 1 2 Traded to the New York Giants 2 17 Traded to the Cleveland Browns 3 30 Bill Miller Wide receiver Miami (FL)4 45 Roy Winston Guard LSU 5 58 Traded to the New York Giants 6 73 Larry Bowie Offensive tackle Purdue 7 86 Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles 8 101 Paul White Running back Florida 9 114 Marshall Shirk Offensive tackle UCLA 10 129 Traded to the Cleveland Browns 11 142 Traded to the Cleveland Browns 12 157 Gary Fallon Running back Syracuse 13 170 Roger Van Cleef Offensive tackle Southwestern State 14 185 Patrick Russ Offensive tackle Purdue 15 198 Larry Guilford End Pacific 16 213 John Contoulis Offensive tackle Connecticut 17 226 Ron Staley End Wisconsin 18 241 Junior Hawthorne Offensive tackle Kentucky 19 254 Tommy Minter Running back Baylor 20 269 Terry Cagaanan Running back Utah State

Notes

Roster

Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 11 at San Francisco 49ers L 24–30 0–1 Husky Stadium 22,500 2 August 18 at Los Angeles Rams L 24–33 0–2 Multnomah Stadium 23,544 3 August 25 St. Louis Cardinals L 21–24 0–3 Parade Stadium 15,500 4 September 2 Baltimore Colts W 24–13 1–3 Metropolitan Stadium 27,227 5 September 8 Dallas Cowboys W 45–26 2–3 Grady Stadium 12,500

Regular season

Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 16 at Green Bay Packers L 7–34 0–1 City Stadium 38,669 2 September 23 Baltimore Colts L 7–34 0–2 Metropolitan Stadium 30,787 3 September 30 at San Francisco 49ers L 7–21 0–3 Kezar Stadium 38,407 4 October 7 Chicago Bears L 0–13 0–4 Metropolitan Stadium 33,141 5 October 14 Green Bay Packers L 21–48 0–5 Metropolitan Stadium 41,475 6 October 21 at Los Angeles Rams W 38–14 1–5 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 33,071 7 October 28 Philadelphia Eagles W 31–21 2–5 Metropolitan Stadium 30,071 8 November 4 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 31–39 2–6 Forbes Field 14,462 9 November 11 at Chicago Bears L 30–31 2–7 Wrigley Field 46,984 10 November 18 Detroit Lions L 6–17 2–8 Metropolitan Stadium 31,257 11 November 25 Los Angeles Rams T 24–24 2–8–1 Metropolitan Stadium 26,728 12 December 2 San Francisco 49ers L 12–35 2–9–1 Metropolitan Stadium 33,076 13 December 9 at Detroit Lions L 23–37 2–10–1 Tiger Stadium 42,256 14 December 16 at Baltimore Colts L 17–42 2–11–1 Memorial Stadium 53,645 Note: Intra-conference opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Pro Bowl Second-year halfback Tommy Mason was the only Viking voted to the East–West Pro Bowl game, played January 13, 1963, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and won by the East 30–20.

Statistics

Team leaders Category Player(s) Value Passing yards Fran Tarkenton 2,595 Passing touchdowns Fran Tarkenton 22 Rushing yards Tommy Mason 740 Rushing touchdowns Tommy MasonFran TarkentonMel Triplett 2 Receiving yards Tommy Mason 603 Receiving touchdowns Charley FergusonTommy Mason 6 Points Jim Christopherson 61 Kickoff return yards Bill Butler 588 Punt return yards Bill Butler 169 Interceptions Ed Sharockman 6SacksJim Marshall9 Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL

League rankings Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank Passing offense 2,216 158.3 11th Rushing offense 1,864 133.1 6th Total offense 4,080 291.4 12th Passing defense 3,123 223.1 11th Rushing defense 1,978 141.3 10th Total defense 5,101 364.4 12th

References