1964 Minnesota Vikings season

1964 Minnesota Vikings season
Head Coach	Norm Van Brocklin
General Manager	Jim Finks
Home Field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–5–1
Place	T-2nd NFL Western
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1963	1965

The 1964 season was the Minnesota Vikings' fourth in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with an 8–5–1 record, the most wins they had accrued in a season since joining the league. To date, this is the only season the Vikings wore white jerseys for their home games.

Offseason

1964 Draft

Main article: 1964 NFL draft

	Pro Bowler
	Hall of Famer

1964 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	6	6	Carl Eller	Defensive tackle	Minnesota
2	5	19	Hal Bedsole	Wide receiver	USC
3	6	34	George Rose	Running back	Auburn
4	5	47	Traded to the Chicago Bears
	11	53	Tom Keating	Defensive tackle	Michigan	from Giants
5	6	62	John Kirby	Linebacker	Nebraska
6	5	75	Bob Lacey	Wide receiver	North Carolina
7	6	90	Wes Bryant	Defensive tackle	Arkansas
8	5	103	Bill McWatters	Fullback	North Texas State
9	6	118	Darrell Lester	Fullback	McNeese State
10	5	131	Traded to the Los Angeles Rams
11	6	146	H. O. Estes	Guard	East Central State
12	5	159	Sandy Sands	Wide receiver	Texas
13	6	174	Russ Vollmer	Running back	Memphis State
14	5	187	Tom Michel	Running back	East Carolina
15	6	202	Monte Kiffin	Defensive tackle	Nebraska
16	5	215	Carlton Oats	Wide receiver	Florida A&M
17	6	230	Jerry McClurg	Wide receiver	Colorado
18	5	243	Carl Robinson	Defensive tackle	Prairie View A&M
19	6	258	Dick Schott	Wide receiver	Louisville
20	5	271	Milt Sunde	Offensive tackle	Minnesota

^{^[a]} Minnesota traded their 4th round selection (47th overall) to Chicago for RB Bill Brown.

^{^[b]} The New York Giants traded their 4th round selection (53rd overall) and 1965 2nd round selection (15th overall) to Minnesota for RB Hugh McElhenny.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 10th round selection (131st overall) to the Los Angeles Rams for RB Tommy Wilson.

Roster

1964 Minnesota Vikings roster
	Quarterbacks 10 Fran Tarkenton 15 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 64 Milt Sunde G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen 81 Carl Eller DE 70 Jim Marshall DE 79 Jim Prestel DT		Linebackers 58 Rip Hawkins 36 John Kirby 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs 23 Lee Calland CB 29 Karl Kassulke S 45 Ed Sharockman CB 83 Larry Vargo Special teams 14 Fred Cox K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics 53 Active, 5 Inactive, 5 Practice squad

Preseason

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance [1]
1	August 8	New York Giants	W 21–7	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	31,581
2	August 15	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–10	2–0	Cheney Stadium (Atlanta, GA)	10,000
3	August 22	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–21	3–0	Ute Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)	20,207
4	August 29	at Los Angeles Rams	W 34–23	4–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	39,938
5	September 5	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–20	5–0	Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA)	9,212

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Baltimore Colts	W 34–24	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	35,563
2	September 20	Chicago Bears	L 7–28	1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	41,387
3	September 27	at Los Angeles Rams	L 13–22	1–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	50,009
4	October 4	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–23	2–2	City Stadium	42,327
5	October 11	Detroit Lions	L 20–24	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium	40,840
6	October 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–10	3–3	Metropolitan Stadium	39,873
7	October 25	at San Francisco 49ers	W 27–22	4–3	Kezar Stadium	31,845
8	November 1	Green Bay Packers	L 13–42	4–4	Metropolitan Stadium	44,278
9	November 8	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	5–4	Metropolitan Stadium	40,408
10	November 15	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–17	5–5	Memorial Stadium	60,213
11	November 22	at Detroit Lions	T 23–23	5–5–1	Tiger Stadium	48,291
12	November 29	Los Angeles Rams	W 34–13	6–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	31,677
13	December 6	at New York Giants	W 30–21	7–5–1	Yankee Stadium	62,802
14	December 13	at Chicago Bears	W 41–14	8–5–1	Wrigley Field	46,486

Game summaries

Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27–22 but not before Jim Marshall made one of the most embarrassing errors in NFL. 49er Billy Kilmer fumbled the ball which was recovered by Marshall and he unknowingly ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone and thinking he scored a touchdown he tossed the ball in the air throwing it out of bounds, resulting in a safety.

Standings

Template:1964 NFL Western standings

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Fran Tarkenton	2,506
Passing touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	22
Rushing yards	Bill Brown	866
Rushing touchdowns	Bill Brown	7
Receiving yards	Bill Brown	703
Receiving touchdowns	Bill Brown	9
Points	Fred Cox	103
Kickoff return yards	Bill Butler	597
Punt return yards	Bill Butler	156
Interceptions	George Rose	6

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 14)
Passing offense	2,123	151.6	11th
Rushing offense	2,183	155.9	2nd
Total offense	4,306	307.6	6th
Passing defense	2,724	194.6	13th
Rushing defense	1,616	115.4	5th
Total defense	4,340	310.0	10th

References

• "1964 Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame. http://www.profootballhof.com/history/release.jsp?release_id=1454. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
• "1964 Minnesota Vikings". DatabaseFootball. Archived from the original on 9 April 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070409052857/http://www.databasefootball.com/teams/teamyear.htm?tm=MIN&lg=nfl&yr=1964. Retrieved April 14, 2007.