1963 Minnesota Vikings season

1963 Minnesota Vikings season
Head Coach	Norm Van Brocklin
General Manager	Bert Rose
Home Field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	5–8–1
Place	4th NFL Western
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1962	1964

The 1963 season was the Minnesota Vikings' third in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with a 5–8–1 record. Five wins in a season represented the most in the franchise's three-year history. 22-year-old Paul Flatley of Northwestern University was named the NFL's Rookie of the Year, a first for the fledgling franchise.

Offseason

1963 Draft

Main article: 1963 NFL draft

	Pro Bowler
	Hall of Famer

1963 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	3	Jim Dunaway	Defensive tackle	Mississippi
2	16	Bobby Bell	Defensive tackle	Minnesota
3	31	Ray Poage	Running back	Texas
4	44	Paul Flatley	Wide receiver	Northwestern
5	59	Gary Kaltenbach	Offensive tackle	Pittsburgh
6	72	Traded to the Cleveland Browns
7	87	Traded to the New York Giants
8	100	Jim O'Mahoney	Linebacker	Miami (FL)
9	115	Bob Hoover	Running back	Florida
10	128	Terry Kosens	Running back	Hofstra
11	143	John Campbell	Linebacker	Minnesota
12	156	John Sklopan	Running back	Southern Mississippi
13	171	Dave O'Brien	Offensive tackle	Boston College
14	184	Ralph Ferrisi	Running back	Southern Connecticut State
15	199	John Murio	End	Whitworth
16	212	Rex Mirich	Offensive tackle	Northern Arizona
17	227	Tom Munsey	Running back	Concord
18	240	Tom McIntyre	Offensive tackle	St. John's (MN)
19	255	Frank Horvath	Running back	Youngstown State
20	268	Mailon Kent	Running back	Auburn

^{^[a]} The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection (72nd overall) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for CB Tom Franckhauser, OT Errol Linden, TE Charley Ferguson and K Fred Cox.

^{^[b]} The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (87th overall) to the New York Giants for DE/LB Jim Leo.

Roster

1963 Minnesota Vikings roster
	Quarterbacks 10 Fran Tarkenton 11 Ron Vander Kelen Running backs 30 Bill Brown FB 20 Tommy Mason Wide receivers 85 Paul Flatley 89 Jerry Reichow Tight ends 87 Gordon Smith		Offensive linemen 67 Grady Alderman T 61 Larry Bowie G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen 70 Jim Marshall DE 79 Jim Prestel DT		Linebackers 58 Rip Hawkins 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs 29 Karl Kassulke S 45 Ed Sharockman CB Special teams 14 Fred Cox K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics 53 Active, 5 Inactive, 5 Practice squad

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 10	San Francisco 49ers	W 43–28	1–0	Multnomah Stadium (Portland, OR)	20,837
2	August 17	at Los Angeles Rams	W 27–3	2–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	42,966
3	August 25	New York Giants	W 17–16	3–0	Metropolitan Stadium	29,815
4	August 31	Philadelphia Eagles	L 27–34	3–1	Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA)	15,861
5	September 6	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 35–0	4–1	Busch Stadium	30,842

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 15	at San Francisco 49ers	W 24–20	1–0	Kezar Stadium	30,781
2	September 22	Chicago Bears	L 7–28	1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	33,923
3	September 29	San Francisco 49ers	W 45–14	2–1	Metropolitan Stadium	28,567
4	October 6	St. Louis Cardinals	L 14–56	2–2	Metropolitan Stadium	30,220
5	October 13	Green Bay Packers	L 28–37	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium	42,567
6	October 20	at Los Angeles Rams	L 24–27	2–4	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	30,555
7	October 27	at Detroit Lions	L 10–28	2–5	Tiger Stadium	44,509
8	November 3	Los Angeles Rams	W 21–13	3–5	Metropolitan Stadium	33,567
9	November 10	at Green Bay Packers	L 7–28	3–6	City Stadium	42,327
10	November 17	Baltimore Colts	L 34–37	3–7	Metropolitan Stadium	33,136
11	November 24	Detroit Lions	W 34–31	4–7	Metropolitan Stadium	28,763
12	December 1	at Chicago Bears	T 17–17	4–7–1	Wrigley Field	47,249
13	December 8	at Baltimore Colts	L 10–41	4–8–1	Memorial Stadium	54,122
14	December 15	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 34–13	5–8–1	Franklin Field	57,403

Standings

Template:1963 NFL Western standings

Postseason

For the first time, the Vikings had starters in the East–West Pro Bowl, played January 12, 1964, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and won by the West squad. Halfback Tommy Mason, linebacker Rip Hawkins and tackle Grady Alderman each were voted to start on the West team coached by the Chicago Bears' George Halas.

Wide receiver Paul Flatley, who led the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, was named as the 1963 Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI) and The Sporting News (TSN).

Halfback Tommy Mason, in his third year, was named first-team All-Pro by the AP, UPI, TSN, the Newspaper Enterprise Association and the New York Daily News.

Middle linebacker Rip Hawkins was named second-team All-Pro by the UPI.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Fran Tarkenton	2,311
Passing touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	15
Rushing yards	Tommy Mason	763
Rushing touchdowns	Tommy Mason	7
Receiving yards	Paul Flatley	867
Receiving touchdowns	Paul Flatley	4
Points	Fred Cox	75
Kickoff return yards	Bill Butler	713
Punt return yards	Bill Butler	220
Interceptions	Ed Sharockman	5

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 14)
Passing offense	2,169	154.9	12th
Rushing offense	1,733	123.8	4th
Total offense	4,011	286.5	11th
Passing defense	2,998	214.1	10th
Rushing defense	1,733	123.8	7th
Total defense	4,731	337.9	9th

References

• "1963 Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=1453. Retrieved April 10, 2007.
• "1963 Minnesota Vikings". DatabaseFootball. Archived from the original on 8 April 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070408163908/http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=MIN&lg=nfl&yr=1963. Retrieved April 11, 2007.