Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion team in 1960. They compete in the North Division of the National Football Conference (NFC), previously the Western Conference Central Division and the NFC Central Division.

The Vikings have played their home games at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis since 1982. Prior to 1982, the team had called Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington home since their inaugural season of 1961. The Vikings conducted summer training camp at Bemidji State University from 1961–65; in 1966, they moved their training camp to Minnesota State University in Mankato, where it has been ever since.

Throughout the Vikings' history, they have had one of the highest winning percentages in the NFL. They are also one of only five NFL teams to win 15 games during the regular season. The Vikings have won one NFL championship, in 1969, prior to the league's merger with the American Football League (AFL). Since the merger, they have made the playoffs 24 times, third most in the league. The team currently has ten members in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Fran Tarkenton, Alan Page, Bud Grant, Jim Finks, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Carl Eller, Gary Zimmerman, Randall McDaniel, and John Randle.

Franchise history
Professional football in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul area (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 Minneapolis businessmen Bill Boyer, H. P. Skoglund, and Max Winter were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League (AFL). Five months later in January 1960, after significant pressure from the NFL, 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. Coincidentally or not, the teams from Ole Haugsrud's high school, Central High School in Superior, WI, were also called the Vikings and their school colors were similarly purple and yellow.

1960s
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. The search for the first head coach had the team court then-Northwestern University 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. 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 on January 18, 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 George Shaw and Hugh McElhenny. The Vikings won their first regular season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37–13 on Opening Day. 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. The losing continued throughout much of the 60s as the Vikings had a combined record of 32 wins, 59 losses, and 7 ties in their first 7 seasons with only one winning season (8-5-1 in 1964).

On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a 1st and 2nd-round draft 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 10, the Vikings hired new head coach Bud Grant to replace Van Brocklin, who had resigned on February 11, 1967. 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, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division Title and their first playoff berth.

In the Vikings went 12–2, the best record in the NFL, and had 12 straight regular season victories, after a season-opening loss to the New York Giants, which was the longest single-season winning streak in 35 years. The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns, 27–7, in the last 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.

1970s
The team continued to dominate in and, reaching the playoffs due to the effort of a stubborn defense that gave the team the nickname "The Purple People Eaters." The defensive line consisted of Alan Page, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Gary Larsen. In 1971, Alan Page won the NFL Most Valuable Player Award given by the Associated Press. He was the first defensive player to win the award.

On January 27, 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 Fran Tarkenton. 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 9 games of 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 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, 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 and 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. A Corby's Whiskey bottle struck game official, Armen Terzian, 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, 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, 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 after having lost in their previous four playoff matchups (in 1969, '74, '76 and '77). 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 was broken for construction of the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis.

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 to 1987. The Vikings played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on December 20 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 Louisiana 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. Redskins cornerback Darrell Green broke up a pass at the goal line from Wade Wilson intended for Darrin Nelson to end the Vikings' hopes of a Super Bowl.

On October 12, 1989, the Vikings acquired Herschel Walker from Dallas. The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, third-round choice Mike Jones, fifth-round choice Reggie Thornton and tenth-round choice Pat Newman in 1990 and a third-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, 1st and 2nd-round choices 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 three seasons with the Vikings, while the Cowboys rode their draft picks to three Super Bowl victories in the early to mid 1990s.

1990s
On December 3, 1991, Jerry Burns announced his retirement effective at the end of the 1991 season. In six seasons as Head Coach of the Vikings, Burns compiled a career record of 52–43 (.547). He also led Minnesota to three playoff appearances, including a division title and an NFC Championship Game. Dennis Green was later named the fifth 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. With over 100 wins counting playoffs. The Vikings therefore had the fifth highest winning percentage during the regular season in the 1990s.

1998
1998 was a year to remember for the franchise. With a spectacular offense led by quarterback Randall Cunningham (who replaced an injured Brad Johnson), running back Robert Smith, veteran wide receiver Cris Carter, and explosive rookie Randy Moss, the Vikings set a then-NFL record by scoring a total of 556 points, never scoring fewer than 24 in a game. The record was later broken by the 2007 New England Patriots, with 589 points. The Vikings finished the season 15–1, their only loss was to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 27-24 in Week 9. 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, which lost only one game more than the Vikings, at 14–2. After kicker Gary Anderson, who had just completed the first perfect regular season in NFL history (not missing a single extra point or field goal attempt the entire year), missed a 38-yard field goal attempt with less than 2 minutes remaining, the Falcon's ensuing drive tied the game. This led to a controversial decision by head coach Dennis Green to run out the clock and let the game go onto overtime. Though the Vikings won the coin toss, Atlanta went on to win it 30–27 in overtime on Morten Andersen's 38-yard field goal. The Vikings became the first 15–1 team to fail to reach the Super Bowl. The Falcons lost Super Bowl XXXIII to John Elway and the Denver Broncos.

1999
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 35–20 in the second half to win 49–37. St. Louis would go on to win Super Bowl XXXIV.

2000s
The Vikings entered the decade by winning the divisional championship and an appearance in the NFC Championship game, but struggled the following season by posting a 5-11 record in 2001. The team made the playoffs again in 2004 but would not win the division again until 2008. Since the merger, the 2000s has been the decade with the fewest playoff berths for the franchise.

2000
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 traveled to New York to face the 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 11–2 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 playoff loss in franchise history. Robert Smith, who ran for a team record (and NFC best) 1521 yards that season, retired at the end of the year after only playing eight NFL seasons.

2001–05
In 2001, after a disappointing 5–11 season, the Vikings bought out the contract of Dennis Green, despite his successful coaching tenure with the team. Mike Tice coached the final game of 2001, losing to the Ravens 19–3. 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 on 4th and 28 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. The Vikings became the second team in football history to miss the playoffs after getting off to a 6–0 start. The first team was the 1978 Washington Redskins.

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 game, 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 (The St. Louis Rams did the same thing only a day earlier). 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. This injury was a very significant part to this Minnesota Vikings team due to the fact they also lost Moss. The dynamic duo from years earlier were now lost and a new leader would eventually emerge. The Vikings finished the 2005 season with a 9–7 record. However, this season would be more notable for off-the-field events. In October, 17 team members were part of a party of about 90 that went out on a pleasure cruise on local Lake Minnetonka. The incident erupted into scandal when media reported that a number of the players had performed sex acts and that prostitutes had been flown in. Four players were ultimately charged with misdemeanors related to the party.

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.

2006–2009
Minnesota began the 2006 season 4–2 (Childress became the first coach in Vikings history to start 2–0 in his first year), but would finish the year at 6–10, receiving the 7th pick in the NFL Draft; with it, the Vikings selected Adrian Peterson out of the University of Oklahoma. He is known as a powerhorse back with extreme speed.

Peterson's first career touchdown was a 60-yard screen pass in his first career game against the Atlanta Falcons. When the Minnesota Vikings played the Chicago Bears in the first of their two games, Peterson broke the record for single game All-Purpose (rushing, receiving, kick returning) yards (361 total yards, 224 rushing). In Week 9 of the 2007 season, Peterson broke the NFL record set by Jamal Lewis in 2003 for most rushing yards in one game by rushing for 296 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, missing the playoffs. In Week 13 of the 2008 season against the Bears, Gus Frerotte hooked up with Bernard Berrian for a 99-yard touchdown pass after a goal line stand by the Vikings defense. This was the longest play in Vikings history. That season, Adrian Peterson led the NFL with 1760 rushing yards, breaking the franchise record for most single season rush yards. The Vikings clinched the NFC North championship for the first time after defeating the New York Giants 20–19 in Week 17, when kicker Ryan Longwell made the game-winning field goal. Adrian Peterson had 19 carries for 109 yards and a touchdown in this game.

On January 4, 2009, the NFC North champion Vikings hosted the Philadelphia Eagles for the Wild Card round, their first home playoff game in eight years. The Vikings held the Eagles 14–16 at halftime, but the Eagles, coming off of a 44–6 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, defeated the Vikings, 26–14. The Eagles would go on to defeat the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants in the Divisional round, only to lose to the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game.

Since 2006, the Vikings have been known especially for their strong run defense(#1 in the NFL in 2006, 2007, and 2008; they are the first NFL team to accomplish this since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970), anchored by the Williams Wall consisting of defensive tackle Kevin Williams and nose tackle Pat Williams (no relation). With the addition of sack-leader Jared Allen in 2008 the dominant front four began being called by several nicknames, including "Thunder and Plunder" and "Shock and AWWE" (an acronym of their surname initials). As well known as the "Great Wall of Purple".

2009–2010 (Brett Favre Era)
On August 18, 2009, after months of speculation and negotiations, twice-retired veteran quarterback Brett Favre, who until 2007 played 16 years for division arch rival Green Bay Packers, signed a two-year, $25 million deal with the Vikings, starting what many Vikings fans refer to as "The Brett Favre Era". Favre is universally acknowledged to be a future Hall of Fame player, holding many NFL career passing records. Coincidentally, in 2007, he broke the record for career touchdown passes (previously held by Dan Marino with 420) in the Metrodome while playing for the Packers.

On October 5, 2009, the Vikings hosted the Green Bay Packers as Favre played his former team for the first time. With a 30–23 victory on Monday Night Football, the Vikings moved to a 4–0 record. Favre became the only player in NFL history to defeat all 32 current teams as a starter. The Atlanta Falcons had defeated the Packers in a 1991 game which Favre did not participate. Over 21.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the game, beating the previous record for a cable television program set by a game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys in 2008 (18.6 million viewers).

The Vikings beat the N.Y. Giants, 44-7, in Week 17 to help the Vikings clinch the 2nd seed in the conference and a 1st round-bye with an Eagles loss later that same day. The Vikings ended with a 12-4 record. The Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round on January 17, 2010, and won the game by a score of 34-3, advancing the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, the ninth in franchise history and first since 2001. Minnesota would travel to New Orleans the following week to face the top-seeded Saints in the first conference championship game held at the Superdome. Despite out-gaining the Saints on offense by nearly a twofold margin, the Vikings were severely hindered by five turnovers, including a Favre interception in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter (in Saints territory). They were ousted in overtime, 31-28, on a 40-yard field goal after losing the coin toss.

In the first week of the 2010 NFL regular season, the Vikings played the defending Super Bowl champions, the New Orleans Saints. The Vikings lost 14-9. In week 2, the Vikings played the Miami Dolphins and lost 14-10. The Vikings defeated the Detroit Lions 24-10 in the third week of the season. After a week four bye-week, the Vikings received star wide receiver Randy Moss in a trade with the New England Patriots. Even with the addition of Moss, the Vikings lost to the New York Jets 29-20 in week five. The Vikings won a crucial victory against another struggling team in the form of the Dallas Cowboys 24-21, but in week seven the Vikings lost to arch-rival Green Bay Packers 28-24. In week nine, the Vikings played the Arizona Cardinals at home and won in overtime: 27-24. Favre threw for a career-high 446 passing yards. The Vikings then went on to face their other divisional rival the Chicago Bears but were beaten and then went on to be blown out 31-3 in a rematch with the Packers. The team then proceeded to fire Brad Childress not long after. With Leslie Frazier filling in for the fired Childress, the Vikings won two games in a row against the Washington Redskins on the road, and a blowout win over the Buffalo Bills at home.

After a winter storm dropped nearly 17 inches of snow in the Minneapolis/St Paul area the Saturday prior to the Vikings December 12 home game versus the New York Giants and 30 mph gusts drove snow removers off the dome's roof overnight, several panels were damaged as the weight of the snow caused the roof to collapse. After viewing the damage, Vikings management and the NFL decided to move the game to Monday and play it at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. Because of on-going repairs to the roof of the Metrodome, the Vikings played their December 20 game versus the Chicago Bears at TCF Bank Stadium (the home of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers). The game was played 29 years to the day after the last outdoor game at old Met Stadium. On December 26, the NFL announced that the game versus the Philadelphia Eagles was being postponed to Tuesday, December 28, 2010 because of blizzard conditions. This marks the third consecutive venue or date change for a Vikings game and was the first NFL game played on a Tuesday since 1946. The Vikings proceeded to upset the dynamic Eagles offense, led by a resurgent Michael Vick, 24-14 with rookie Joe Webb at the helm. The Vikings finished the season with a 20-13 loss against the Detroit Lions.

2011–present
The 2010 season was arguably one of the most disappointing for the Vikings. After coming within a few plays of Super Bowl XLIV, Minnesota ended the 2010 season with a 6-10 record and a last place finish in the NFC North. During the season, the Vikings had many distractions, including trading for Randy Moss and then waiving him only a month later, Brett Favre's NFL investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to Jets' employee Jenn Sterger while he was with the team in 2008, the Metrodome's collapse and resulting venue changes, and finally head coach Brad Childress' firing on November 15 following a 31-3 loss at the hands of the rival Green Bay Packers.

After serving as the interim head coach for the final six games of the season (finishing with a 3-3 record), defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was officially named the head coach on January 3, 2011, after signing a 3-year contract. On January 17, Brett Favre retired for the third, and officially last, time, leaving the team in search for a long term replacement at the quarterback position. Wasting no time after being appointed head coach, Frazier began to restructure the team's coaching staff, including letting go of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell and hiring Mike Singletary as linebackers coach and Bill Musgrave as the new offensive coordinator.

The team is currently owned by Zygi Wilf, Mark Wilf, Jeffrey Wilf, Leonard Wilf, David Mandelbaum, Alan Landis and Reggie Fowler.

Logo and uniforms


From the team's debut in 1961 to 1995, the Vikings' logos and uniforms essentially remained the same. Reflecting Minnesota's Scandinavian cultural heritage, 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 a Viking horn logo on each side. Each horn is outlined in gold. The horn logo was slightly revised in 2006. The original uniform design consisted of white pants, gold trim, and either purple or white jerseys. From 1962 to 1964, the Vikings wore purple pants with their white jerseys (The Vikings, with their new uniform, still wear, on occasion, purple pants with yellow and white trim). In a design that was unique among American football teams, the white jerseys had a completely different stripe pattern, which was over the shoulders, than the purple ones, which was around the sleeve cuff. These unique shoulder stripes on the white jerseys did not appear until 1969, the year they went to their first Super Bowl. 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 Vikings wore black shoes until Les Steckel became the coach in 1984. In 2006 team returned to black shoes for first time since the 1983 season.

From 1969 through 1973, the Vikings had an alternate purple jersey without stripes for warm-weather games.

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 purple pants have not been regularly used since 2007, but resurfaced twice in 2010.

The team wore black armbands for the last four games in 1978 in memory of Jack "Jocko" 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 Myers 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.

All Purple
In an era where color TVs were rare, the Vikings (along with several other NFL teams) wore white jerseys for home games for the 1964 NFL season. This allowed fans to see the visiting teams' primary colors. In the 1960s the Vikings wore purple pants with road white jerseys. On October 11, 1964 the Vikings played the Detroit Lions at Metropolitan Stadium and the Lions mistakenly only brought their white jerseys to Minnesota. Both teams started the game in white, but by the second quarter the Vikings were able to obtain their purple tops. The Vikings changed jerseys on the sidelines during the 2nd quarter, finishing the game in purple jerseys and purple pants. It wasn't until 43 years later, on December 17, 2007 (a Monday Night Football game versus the Chicago Bears) that the Vikings again donned both purple jerseys and purple pants. Three years later, The Vikings played the November 7, 2010 home game against the Arizona Cardinals in the all-purple uniform.

Current mascots
The current team mascot is Ragnar (played by Joseph Juranitch). Ragnar has been working for the Vikings since 1994 and claims to be the most widely-recognized mascot in the world. Juranitch admits to being somewhat of an eccentric—he holds the current world record for fastest time shaving a beard with an axe, but hasn't shaved his beard since he won the Ragnar job among 3,000 applicants. Ragnar drives onto the field at the beginning of the game dressed in Viking garb, on a motorcycle, while a cheerleader used to ride a snowmobile. Although never one to shy away from confrontations with opposing players, notably Ochocinco, he had a soft spot for Brett Favre while the quarterback started for the rival Green Bay Packers.

After several failed attempts at developing an official team-owned mascot, the Vikings finally introduced Viktor the Viking during the 2007 Vikings' season. Team officials had long indicated that they were after a mascot concept that would primarily appeal to the team's younger fan base. Viktor the Viking, a muscle-bound, blonde-haired and mustachioed character wears a Vikings' #1 jersey and an oversized Vikings' helmet with protruding horns and a small yellow nose guard.

Historic mascots
From 1970 to 1992, Hub Meeds dressed as a Viking and served as the team mascot.

Another mascot associated with the Vikings was "Vikadontis Rex", a purple foam dinosaur. Vikadontis was the official mascot of the Minnesota Vikings Children's Fund and took part in the 1995 Celebrity Mascot Olympics. Vikadontis was retired starting with the 2000 season. The team also had a NFL Huddles mascot in the mid 1980s, (somewhat similar to Viktor the Viking). Krazy George was also employed as a cheerleader from 1982-85.

Fight song
Skol, Vikings is the fight song of the Minnesota Vikings. It was introduced around the time the team was founded in 1961 and is always played whenever the team scores as well as half time and the end of regulation.

Helga hats
Viking fans are known to dress up in "Helga hats", or purple hats with white horns and blonde braids, mimicking the helmets popularly believed to have been worn by Viking warriors. The original Helga Hats are still hand assembled in the Twin Cities area.

Vikings horn
During home games at the Metrodome, the Vikings Gjallarhorn is loudly played and sounds often after the team has made a big play, gets a first down, or scores a touchdown. In addition, a flash cannon fires upon Vikings touchdowns.

Pro Football Hall of Famers
italics = played a portion of career with the Vikings and enshrined representing another team

Radio and television
The Vikings' flagship radio station is KFAN-AM (1130). The games are also heard on the "KFAN Radio Network" in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota, as well as many other outlets. Paul Allen has been the play-by-play announcer since the 2002 NFL season and Pete Bercich is the analyst, who began his first season in 2007.

Telecasts of preseason games not shown on national networks are aired on KARE (Channel 11) in the Twin Cities with Ari Wolfe doing play-by-play.