subject: Minnesota Vikings Tickets : The Vikings Were Building A Defense Known As The Purple People Eaters [print this page] The team was officially named the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, 1960; the name is partly meant to reflect Minnesota's place as a center of Scandinavian American culture.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 capacity of 40,800 for Metropolitan Stadium. Eventually Met Stadium capacity was increased to 47,900.
The search for the first head coach had the team court then-Northwestern University head coach Ara Parseghian, who according to Minneapolis Star writer Jim Klobuchar the Vikings' first beat reporter for that newspaper visited team management in the Twin Cities under the condition that his visit was to be kept secret from his current employer.His cover was blown by local columnist Sid Hartman who reported the visit and forced Parseghian to issue denials. Philadelphia Eagles assistant Nick Skorich and a man with Minnesota ties who was working in the CFL, Bud Grant, were also candidates until a different Eagle, quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, was hired on January 18, 1961.
Van Brocklin had just finished his career as a player on a high note, having defeated the Green Bay Packers in the 1960 NFL championship.With the first overall selection in the 1961 NFL Draft, the Vikings selected running back Tommy Mason of Tulane. They took a young quarterback from the University of Georgia named Fran Tarkenton in the third round. Notable veterans acquired in the offseason were George Shaw and Hugh McElhenny.
The Vikings won their first regular season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37/13 on Opening Day 1961. Tarkenton came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes and run for another to lead the upset. Reality set in as the expansion team lost its next seven games on their way to a 3/11 record.The losing continued throughout much of the 60s as the Vikings had a combined record of 32 wins, 59 losses, and 7 ties in their first 7 seasons with only one winning season .On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the New York Giants for a 1st and 2nd-round draft choice in 1967, a 1st-round choice in 1968 and a 2nd-round choice in 1969.
With the picks Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in 1967, Ron Yary in 1968 and Ed White in 1969.Three days later on March 10, the Vikings hired new head coach Bud Grant to replace Van Brocklin, who had resigned on February 11, 1967. Grant came to the Vikings from the Canadian Football League as head coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who he led to four Grey Cup Championships in 10 years.
During 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. In 1968, that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division title and their first playoff berth.In 1969 the Vikings went 12/2, the best record in the NFL, and had 12 straight regular season victories, after a season-opening loss to the New York Giants, which was the longest single-season winning streak in 35 years.
The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns, 27/7, in the last NFL Championship Game on Jan. 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. Minnesota became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an NFL Championship Game,and earned a berth in Super Bowl IV. The heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs 23/7.The 2010 season was arguably one of the most disappointing for the Vikings. After coming within a few plays of Super Bowl XLIV, Minnesota ended the 2010 season with a 6/10 record and a last place finish in the NFC North.
During the season, the Vikings had many distractions, including trading for Randy Moss and then waiving him only a month later, Brett Favre NFL investigation for allegedly sending inappropriate text messages to Jets employee Jenn Sterger while he was with the team in 2008, the Metrodome collapse and resulting venue changes, and finally head coach Brad Childress firing on November 22 following a 31/3 loss at the hands of the rival Green Bay Packers.
