He finished his first season with 1,341 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns and easily won the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. It never really happened for Kleinsasser as a receiver, although he did have two great seasons back-to-back in 2002-2003 when he caught 37 and 46 passes, respectively. The historic Ivor was, in fact, one of the greatest Viking leaders who ever existed, recorded as being a great commander of the Great Heathen Army. Jordan played 176 games for the Vikings, the most of any pass catcher other than Cris Carter. His touchdown total is sixth all time for Minnesota wideouts. Randle played 11 seasons in the middle for Minnesota, racking up 137 sacks, and was voted to the Pro Bowl seven times. Karl Kassulke was the prototypical big hitting safety who was one of the backbones of the Purple People Eaters secondary in the 1960s. With the Eller/Marshall era of defensive ends over in Minnesota, the Vikings used their first pick in the 1980 draft on University of Washington's Doug Martin, who starred on the Huskies' Rose Bowl-winning team of 1978. Martin registered 50.5 sacks in his 126 games with Minnesota, including a league-leading 11.5 in 1982 (in just nine games of a strike-shortened season.) He played on three NFC championship teams, and the Vikings won nine division titles in Voigt's 11 seasons with the team. The 6'2", 250-pounder spent most of his rookie season on the bench before taking on a starting role at guard for most of the next nine seasons. The Vikings have played in four Super Bowls, losing all of them. The Vikings were heavy favorites to win Super Bowl IV over the Chiefs, but it wasn't to be. We've considered everything here, and we'll explain our reasoning as we go. It should be fun to see how the rest of the career of the greatest Viking ever plays out. Martin became a starter for the Vikings halfway through his second season and remained a pivotal member of the defensive line for eight consecutive seasons. The Vikings were just trying to fill out their roster for their first season. (If we're being honest, he's actually too low on this list.). He was voted one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Minnesota Vikings All-Time Roster. According to USA Today, 45 Minnesota Vikings have been arrested since 2000. Randall McDaniel | G 4. Before he was one of Michael Jordan's BFFs, Ahmad Rashad was a damn fine wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings. Krause picked off seven passes in his first year with Minnesota and just never stopped snaring balls. He was named All-Pro in 1973 and named one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Hutchinson was a Pro Bowler his first four seasons with the Vikings and was one of the shortest-tenured players to make the 50 greatest Vikings list of 2010. Alas, Millard's lasting legacy in Minnesota comes from a quote he gave police officers in 1986, saying, "My arms are more powerful than your guns.". As a receiver, he had great hands and perfect timing as to when to switch from being a pass-blocker to a safety-valve option. A 6'5", 235-pound athletic freak, Blair was constantly all over the field for the Vikings. That broken collar bone was one of the best things that ever happened to the Minnesota Vikings. Like Hilgenberg, Winston was tenacious against both the run and the pass. If you drew up a caricature of what you thought an NFL fullback was supposed to look like in the 1940s and 1950s, you'd have a pretty good picture of Bill "Boom-Boom" Brown, who manned that position for the Minnesota Vikings from 1962-1974. His .39 touchdowns per game is tied for third with Sammy White. Carter is fourth all time in Vikings receptions and third in both yards and touchdowns. He used an array of swim moves, stutter steps and explosion moves that always kept offensive lineman off balance and on their heels. Every great football team needs a few Jim Kleinsassers on it. Moss could certainly be surly and petulant and his second time around with the Vikings would land him on an all-time worst Vikings list. The Vikings racked up three NFC championships and played in three Super Bowls in four years in that stretch. It is recorded that he had a physical condition, called brittle bone disease, perhaps the reason for his name. Foreman won the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Krause was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998 and voted one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. After two subpar seasons, Flatley had a nice resurgence with the Falcons for two seasons before retiring after the 1970 season. Steussie combined with Randall McDaniel, Jeff Christy, David Dixon and Korey Stringer to give the Vikings one of the biggest, and best, offensive lines they ever had. But during his first six years in the league, Moss put together a stretch of play that has never been matched in the history of the NFL. While Blair became more of a star, McNeill was always the steady guy on the other side. Henderson took over the starting role in 2004 and remained there for eight years. Grady Alderman was an original Viking, starting at offensive guard for the expansion team in 1961. With Fred McNeill and Matt Blair, the Vikings were set with two star players at outside linebacker for more than a decade. Winfield has 27 interceptions in his career and well over 1,000 tackles. Merriweather brought a little bit of that Steelers toughness to the Vikings defense at a time when they needed it. Joe Kapp was probably better suited to play linebacker than quarterback. Wilson passed for more than 12,000 yards and 66 touchdowns as a Viking and compiled a 27-21 record as a starting quarterback. Krause still holds the all time interceptions record in the NFL with 81. Although Riley never became another Ron Yary, he started for eight seasons for the Vikings, playing left tackle across from Yary, who was manning the right tackle spot. He was voted one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Fun facts: all-time players, trivia, popularity rankings, and more. McDaniel didn't make the Pro Bowl as a rookie, but he was voted on to the team his next 12 years in the league and was voted first-team All-Pro seven times. After getting a second chance in pro football with the Vikings, Carter did more than just reach his potential, he outworked everyone in the game to become one of the very best to ever play it. Any room. Cunningham seemed to grow old again in the offseason, throwing nine interceptions in the first six games of 1999, and he lost the starting job to Jeff George. Starting 48 of the 76 games he played in for the Vikings, Wilson was always solid, if not spectacular, in filling in. For years and years, the Minnesota Vikings didn't have to worry about who was going to play defensive end: It was Carl Eller and Jim Marshall, every game, every year. In 1990, the team successfully claimed Cris Carter off waivers. Still, because of all the red flags around Moss, he dropped all the way down to the 21st pick, where the Vikings were more than happy to grab him and add him to their receiver mix with Cris Carter and Jake Reed. That might sound a little boring, but Two-Minute Tommy was anything but that. (Chris Kluwe will have to come up with another patch in Oakland.). Tingelhoff played in six Pro Bowls and was voted first-team All-Pro five times. The Vikings were high on Foreman because they thought he could not only be a great rusher, but also an excellent receiver out of the backfield. He took on the demeanor of his head coach, Bud Grant, and was never flashy but always got the job done. It's tough to say how many Minnesota Vikings from the glory years of the late 1960s and 1970s would have ended up making the Hall of Fame had the Vikings won one or two of their Super Bowls. Gilliam had had three great seasons in St. Louis, and the Vikings traded for him before the 1972 season. Though it seems crazy now, 280 pounds was absolutely massive at the time, and Thomas played the roles of run-stuffer and pass-rusher equally well. The "Soul Patrol" played seven seasons for the Vikings and had 15 interceptions to go along with his solid tackling against the run. The browser you are using is no longer supported on this site. It's unfortunate that Nate Wright is mostly remembered for his part in the Dallas Cowboys Hail Mary pass that knocked the Vikings out of the 1975 playoffs. With their first-round pick in 2001, the 27th overall pick, the Vikings selected Michael Bennett, the speedster out of Wisconsin. Eller had 15 sacks in both 1969 and in 1977 and had seven seasons with double-digit sacks. He was smart, tough and physical, and he continued the Vikings' strong tradition at center after Mick Tinglehoff and Lowdermilk. It looked like Taylor's career was set to take off as a Minnesota Viking. Widnes Vikings RLFC’s 10 Greatest Players. Marshall tops any list of players not in the Hall who belong there. Fran Tarkenton, QB, 1961-1966, 1972-1978. They were bookends in Minnesota, it seems wrong to mention one without mentioning the other. © 2019 Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC , All Rights Reserved. He made six straight Pro Bowls beginning in 1986. Some of the best players in NFL history have played in the purple and gold. The live event at the Minneapolis Convention Center included appearances by more than 45 of the final 50, making it the largest collection of former Vikings players under one roof. It paid immediate dividends, as Taylor rushed for a career-high 1,216 yards and six touchdowns and also caught 42 passes out of the backfield. In 2010, the Minnesota Vikings, as a celebration of their 50 years as a franchise, named their 50 greatest players up to that point. Griffith picked off 17 passes in his time with Minnesota, but it was his prodigious tackling that lands him this high on the list. Gene Washington, the Vikings' first-round pick out of Michigan State in 1967, was a very productive wide receiver in the NFL for seven years in the NFL, making the Pro Bowl in 1969 and 1970. Tarkenton won 91 games for the Vikings and holds every career mark for quarterbacks, amassing 2,635 completions for 33,098 yards and 239 touchdowns (80 more than Tommy Kramer, who ranks second.). Visit ESPN to view the Minnesota Vikings team roster for the current season Zimmerman played two seasons in the USFL before joining the Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings have had three nuclear bombs on offense in their history, and they're all in the top four of our list. But then in the 2007 NFL draft, six teams passed on Adrian Peterson. With their first pick in the 1975 draft, the Vikings took Mark Mullaney, a 6'5", 245-pounder out of Colorado State. Paul Krause was the original ball hawk of the Minnesota Vikings. He ignored the press for most of his career after he felt some of his postgame comments had been twisted. Kapp was a rough-and-tumble character who certainly wasn't a skilled NFL passer. Senser blossomed his second year with the team, exploding for 79 catches, 1,004 yards and eight touchdowns in the single best season ever recorded by a Minnesota tight end. Irwin took over as a starter at right guard halfway through his second season and never missed a game while with the team, starting 181 straight games for the Vikings. Here's the full ranking of the ten best to every play for the Vikings. The Minnesota Vikings have had a lot of success throughout their history even though they have never won a Super Bowl. His three interception returns for touchdowns are still tied for the Vikings record. Freddy the Foot was the greatest scorer in Vikings history, though, and it's not even close. Relegated to being a backup once again, Taylor was still magnificent, especially as a third-down receiving threat out of the backfield. Selected in the third round of the 1961 draft out of the University of Georgia, Tarkenton served notice that he was going to be an NFL force in his very first game, leading the expansion Vikings to a stunning 37-13 win over the Chicago Bears. White won the 1976 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award after catching 51 balls for 906 yards and 10 touchdowns. White ranks fourth all time in touchdowns and fifth in yards receiving. With limited American football experience, Dixon played at Arizona State in college. That was tasked to Doug Sutherland, the defensive tackle the Vikings picked up from the New Orleans Saints before the 1971 season. He had a career-high 18 sacks in 1976 and unofficially had six seasons with 10 or more sacks. Drafted by the Detroit Lions in 1963, the Vikings picked him up for training camp, where he became an immediate starter, providing a solid punch against the running game and steady ball-hawking against the pass. Sharper was a dominant force for the Vikings immediately, snaring nine interceptions and bringing a force to the Vikings secondary that had been lacking for a few years. His reception total is third all time for Vikings running backs. Ragnar’s history is well documented in the old the old writings, where he is father to many sons, including Bjorn Ironside, Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan Ragnarsson, Sigurd Snake-in-the-eye and Ubba Ragnarsson. The sky is the limit for both players as they set forth on their NFL careers. Sutherland was named one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Fred McNeill was the first-round pick out of UCLA and Matt Blair was the second-round choice out of Iowa State. Tarkenton had an uncanny feel for the game and made scrambling an art form. Acquired in 1990 for $100 on the waiver wire, Carter became one of the best receivers to ever play the game. But that wasn't him. He was as good after the catch as any receiver the Vikings have ever had. Martin made the Pro Bowl in 1982 and followed that up with another exceptional year in 1983, registering a career-high 13 sacks in 1983. Coupled with another shoulder injury he'd suffered as a freshmen, NFL scouting experts labeled Peterson as "injury prone." He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008 and was named one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Voigt was a solid blocker and dependable receiver during the Vikings' dominant decade of the 1970s. He was indeed a ruthless warrior, much as his cruel depiction in the Vikings series. Here's our list of the 17 most important Vikings players going into the 2017 season. At 6'5", 255 pounds, and a gifted athlete, Yary was simply dominant at right tackle and goes down as one of the very best to ever play the position. The Vikings had a history of using retreads at quarterback, never finding their "own" guy who could lead them into the future. The Vikings struck gold in the seventh round of the 1967 draft, taking cornerback Bobby Bryant out of South Carolina. He isn’t just an all-time Vikings player, he is an all-time NFL player. Steve Jordan edges out Matt Birk for the highest ranked Ivy League player on our list. In three years, they'll both be much, much higher. He just wasn't as good as they were. Thomas played in 118 games for the Vikings, and he recorded 56 sacks and made the Pro Bowl in back-to-back years in 1991 and 1992. The first current Viking to make our list is center John Sullivan, who's improved every season in Minnesota and is currently one of the top 5-7 centers in the NFL. Foreman played 93 games for the Vikings; his 5,887 yards rushing ranks third all time, and his 350 receptions is tops for Vikings running backs. Yary was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and was voted one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Cunningham signed with the Vikings in 1997 and had a decent first season. Page made the Pro Bowl nine straight seasons, from 1968-1976, and was voted first-team All-Pro six times. Overall, Cunningham was 16-7 as a starter for the Vikings and threw for 48 touchdowns in just 27 games. He was named one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. Johnson returned to the Vikings for two seasons, in 2005 and 2006, and after going 7-2 as a starter in 2005, things went south in 2006. Page was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988 and was voted one of the 50 greatest Vikings in 2010. In 1971, he became the first defensive player to ever be named NFL MVP, and he remains one of just two defensive players to have won the award. By the time the Vikings traded to get Tarkenton back in 1972, the Vikings had formed a dominant defense and become one of the top teams in the NFL. Moss simply overwhelmed NFL defenders as a rookie, catching 69 balls for 1,313 yards and 17 touchdowns, which led the league. In the first round of the 1994 draft, the Minnesota Vikings selected an anchor for their offensive line, tackle Todd Steussie out of California. Well, he certainly had a middle linebacker's name. Warwick began a great tradition of tough, no-nonsense middle linebackers that began in the mid-'60s and ran into the '90s for the Vikings. History is very forgiving to the Minnesota Vikings when it comes to the 2003 draft. In 1998, he registered a career-high seven sacks and 128 tackles while making the Pro Bowl. Drafted out of Clemson in the ninth round in 1990, Allen backed up Herschel Walker as a rookie but took over as the starter in his second season and put up back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons for Minnesota.
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