1967 Minnesota Vikings season

1967 Minnesota Vikings season
Head Coach	Bud Grant
General Manager	Jim Finks
Home Field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	3–8–3
Place	4th NFL Central
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
1966	1968

The 1967 season was the Minnesota Vikings' seventh in the National Football League. After the resignation of head coach Norm Van Brocklin at the end of the previous season, the Vikings hired Bud Grant, previously the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who led the team to a 3–8–3 record.

1967 Draft

Main article: 1967 NFL draft

	Pro Bowler
	Hall of Famer

1967 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order			Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Choice	Overall
1	2	2	Clint Jones	Running back	Michigan State	from Giants
	8	8	Gene Washington	Wide receiver	Michigan State
	15	15	Alan Page	Defensive end	Notre Dame	from Rams
2	2	28	Bob Grim	Running back	Oregon State	from Giants
	7	33	Traded to the Los Angeles Rams
3	8	61	Earl Denny	Wide receiver	Missouri
4	7	87	Alvin Coleman	Defensive back	Tennessee A&I
5	8	115	Ken Last	Wide receiver	Minnesota
6	7	140	Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers
7	8	167	Bobby Bryant	Defensive back	South Carolina
8	7	192	Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers
	12	197	John Beasley	Wide receiver	California	from Redskins
9	8	219	Bill Morris	Guard	Holy Cross
10	7	244	Pete Tatman	Running back	Nebraska
11	8	271	Bob Trygstad	Defensive tackle	Washington State
12	7	296	Fred Cremer	Guard	St. John's (MN)
13	8	323	Charles Hardt	Defensive back	Tulsa
14	7	348	Jim Hargrove	Linebacker	Howard Payne
15	8	375	Jim Shea	Defensive back	Eastern New Mexico
16	7	400	Gene Beard	Defensive back	Virginia Union
17	8	427	Dick Wagoner	Defensive back	Bowling Green

^{^[a]} The New York Giants traded their 1st-round selection (2nd overall), 2nd-round selection (28th overall), 1968 1st-round selection (1st overall) and 1969 2nd-round selection (39th overall) to Minnesota for QB Fran Tarkenton.

^{^[b]} Los Angeles traded their 1st-round selection (15th overall) and TE/LB Marlin McKeever to Minnesota for their 2nd-round selection (33rd overall), TE Hal Bedsole and RB Tommy Mason.

^{^[c]} Minnesota traded their 6th-round selection (140th overall) to Pittsburgh for RB Phil King (American football).

^{^[d]} Minnesota traded their 8th-round selection (192th overall) to Pittsburgh for LB Dave Tobey.

^{^[e]} Washington traded their 8th-round selection (197th overall) to Minnesota for DE Bill Briggs (American football).

Roster

1967 Minnesota Vikings roster
	Quarterbacks 17 Bob Berry 11 Joe Kapp 15 Ron Vander Kelen Running backs 30 Bill Brown FB 26 Clinton Jones 21 Jim Lindsey 41 Dave Osborn Wide receivers 85 Paul Flatley 27 Bob Grim 84 Gene Washington Tight ends 86 Marlin McKeever		Offensive linemen 67 Grady Alderman T 61 Larry Bowie G 71 Doug Davis T 66 John Pentecost G 64 Milt Sunde G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen 76 Paul Dickson DT 81 Carl Eller DE 77 Gary Larsen DT 70 Jim Marshall DE 88 Alan Page DT 73 Jerry Shay DT 69 Arnie Simkus DE		Linebackers 54 Paul Faust 55 Don Hansen 36 John Kirby 59 Lonnie Warwick 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs 37 Al Coleman S 49 Dale Hackbart FS 29 Karl Kassulke S 46 Earsell Mackbee CB 45 Ed Sharockman CB Special teams 14 Fred Cox K 39 Bobby Walden P		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics 54 Active, 4 Inactive, 0 Practice squad

Preseason

Game	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance [1]
1	August 12	Philadelphia Eagles	W 34–0	1–0	Skelly Stadium (Tulsa, OK)	24,500
2	August 18	at Denver Broncos (AFL)	L 9–14	1–1	University of Denver Stadium	31,850
3	August 27	at New York Giants	L 3–21	1–2	Yale Bowl (New Haven, CT)	43,584
4	September 2	Atlanta Falcons	W 16–3	2–2	Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland, OH)	84,236
5	September 10	Cleveland Browns	L 14–42	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium	40,012

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 17	San Francisco 49ers	L 21–27	0–1	Metropolitan Stadium	39,638
2	September 22	at Los Angeles Rams	L 3–39	0–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	52,255
3	October 1	Chicago Bears	L 7–17	0–3	Metropolitan Stadium	44,868
4	October 8	St. Louis Cardinals	L 24–34	0–4	Metropolitan Stadium	40,017
5	October 15	at Green Bay Packers	W 10–7	1–4	Milwaukee County Stadium	49,601
6	October 22	Baltimore Colts	T 20–20	1–4–1	Metropolitan Stadium	47,693
7	October 29	at Atlanta Falcons	L 20–21	1–5–1	Atlanta Stadium	52,859
8	November 5	New York Giants	W 27–24	2–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	44,960
9	November 12	Detroit Lions	T 10–10	2–5–2	Metropolitan Stadium	40,032
10	November 19	at Cleveland Browns	L 10–14	2–6–2	Cleveland Stadium	68,431
11	November 26	at Pittsburgh Steelers	W 41–27	3–6–2	Pitt Stadium	23,773
12	December 3	Green Bay Packers	L 27–30	3–7–2	Metropolitan Stadium	47,693
13	December 10	at Chicago Bears	T 10–10	3–7–3	Wrigley Field	40,110
14	December 17	at Detroit Lions	L 3–14	3–8–3	Tiger Stadium	44,874

Standings

NFL Central
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Green Bay Packers	9	4	1	.692	4–1–1	6–3–1	332	209	L2
Chicago Bears	7	6	1	.538	3–2–1	5–4–1	239	218	W1
Detroit Lions	5	7	2	.417	1–3–2	3–5–2	260	259	W2
Minnesota Vikings	3	8	3	.273	1–3–2	1–6–3	233	294	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Joe Kapp	1,386
Passing touchdowns	Joe Kapp	8
Rushing yards	Dave Osborn	972
Rushing touchdowns	Bill Brown	5
Receiving yards	Gene Washington	384
Receiving touchdowns	John Beasley	4
Points	Fred Cox	77
Kickoff return yards	Clint Jones	597
Punt return yards	Bob Grim	101
Interceptions	Earsell Mackbee	5

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 16)
Passing offense	1,667	119.1	14th
Rushing offense	1,811	129.4	9th
Total offense	3,478	248.4	14th
Passing defense	1,752	125.1	3rd
Rushing defense	2,104	150.3	15th
Total defense	3,856	275.4	6th