They lost to Baltimore in the Western Conference championship game. In 1968, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division title and their first playoff berth. With these picks, Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in 1967, Ron Yary in 1968 and Ed White in 1969.ĭuring 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. On March 7, 1967, Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a first and second-round draft choice in 1967, a first-round choice in 1968 and a second-round choice in 1969. Bud Grant, head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, became the new Vikings coach on March 10, 1967. Two months after that brief departure, Van Brocklin signed a new contract that would keep him with the franchise through 1970, but then quit for good, abruptly announcing his departure on February 11, 1967, saying he had lost control of the team. In November of that year, the volatile Van Brocklin quit one day after the team had been eliminated from the postseason in a 41–21 defeat to the Baltimore Colts, but came back 24 hours later. Max Winter became the team president in 1965. That led to the Vikings wearing all-purple uniforms. The Vikings changed from white jerseys to purple jerseys on the sidelines. The Vikings retrieved their purple jerseys from Midway Stadium in Saint Paul. The game started with both teams wearing white jerseys. This led to confusion when the Detroit Lions came to Bloomington with only their white jerseys. 1964 was also the only season that the Vikings wore white jerseys at home games. The Vikings did go on to win the game 27–22. He thought he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, but instead had scored a safety for the 49ers. The 1964 season is also remembered for a game played at San Francisco against the 49ers in which Jim Marshall picked up a fumble and ran it to the wrong end zone. The Vikings had their first winning season in 1964, finishing with 8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. Jim Finks, then general manager of the Calgary Stampeders, was named his successor on September 11, 1964. Rose resigned from his position as GM on June 1, 1964. Reality set in as the expansion team lost its next seven games on their way to a 3–11 record. Rookie Fran Tarkenton replaced starting quarterback George Shaw to throw four touchdown passes and run for another to lead the upset. The Vikings won their first regular-season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37–13 on Opening Day 1961. The game was played at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Vikings played their first game, an exhibition game, against the Dallas Cowboys on August 5, 1961. On January 18, 1961, the Vikings named Norm Van Brocklin as head coach, though Bud Grant had been a candidate for the job. Eventually Met Stadium capacity was increased to 47,900. 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 40,800-seat capacity of Metropolitan (Met) Stadium in Bloomington. The team was officially named the Minnesota Vikings on Septemthe name is partly meant to reflect Minnesota's place as a center of Scandinavian American culture. The article also stated that several nicknames were suggested for the team, including "Chippewas", "Miners", "Vikings" and "Voyageurs". In an article on Augin the Minneapolis Tribune, it was reported that the team would use the name "Minnesota" instead of "Minneapolis-St. Minnesota's first management team was led by general manager (GM) Bert Rose, who was appointed as GM on August 5, 1960. The agreement allowed him 10% of any future Minnesota team.ġ960s: The Vikings' humble beginnings īill Boyer served as the team president from 1960 to 1964. 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. Five months later, on January 27, 1960, the ownership group, along with Bernie Ridder forfeited its AFL membership and then on Januwas awarded the National Football League's 14th franchise with play to begin in 1961. Skoglund and Max Winter – were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League. However, a new professional team in the area did not surface again until August 1959, when three Minneapolis businessmen – Bill Boyer, H. Professional football history in the Twin Cities began with the Minneapolis Marines/Red Jackets, an NFL team that played intermittently in the 1920s and 1930s.
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