The Minnesota Vikings are one of the few NFL teams to be named after a state rather than the city. The other teams to share this unique trait are the Arizona Cardinals, the Tennessee Titans, and the Carolina Panthers.
The term Vikings pays tribute to the state's Scandinavian heritage. As a result of the Vikings' entry into professional football, the state received a team after three decades. The earlier teams were the Minneapolis Marines and the Minneapolis Red Jacket.
Since joining the NFL, they have claimed three wins in a season in all but one campaign (1962). This streak is active from the 1963 NFL season.
Their last Super Bowl appearance came for the 1976 season. The team came close to glory for the 1998 season and cobbled a historic 15-1 season. However, luck was just not on their side as kicker Gary Anderson missed his first field goal for the season in the NFC finale.
As a result, they did not put the tie to rest and the Arizona Cardinals couldn't have received a bigger morale booster.
The Minnesota Vikings finished the 2019 NFL season in second place with a 10-6 record. The team will seek to maintain the form that took them to the playoffs and helped them defeat fellow NFC North contenders, i.e. Chicago Bears, Green Bay Packers, and Detroit Lions.
The Minnesota Vikings quarterback is nine-season veteran Kirk Cousins, and their head coach is Mike Zimmer. The Vikes’ jersey colors are purple and gold and their fight song ‘Skol Vikings’ is popular and features at every single one of their home games.
The Minnesota Vikings failed to qualify for the playoffs and didn't improve on their 2019 record of 10-6. They rounded out their 2020 campaign placing third in the NFC North with a 7-9 losing record.
The Wilf family, namely Zigi, Mark, and Leonard function as owners of the Minnesota Vikings. They purchased the team for $600 million ahead of the 2005 NFL season.
Under their new owners, the Vikings have switched home fields twice. They vacated the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and moved to the TCF Bank Stadium in 2014 and the U.S. Bank Stadium in 2016.
The Vikings won the 1969 NFL Championship by beating the Cleveland Browns 27-7. However, they suffered heartbreak on the biggest stage of all as the Kansas City Chiefs claimed a dominant victory in Super Bowl IV.
'The Purple and Gold' made it to the Super Bowl three times in four seasons between 1973 to 1976. They achieved this on the back of their NFC championship wins. Unfortunately, they fell at the final hurdle each time.
Despite their lack of post-season success, the Vikings have won their division 20 times. Furthermore, they have made it past the regular season a whopping 30 times in 60 completed NFL seasons.
This is a testament to 'The Vikes' consistency which no doubt leads fans to keep the faith as they know that one day they will go all the way and claim the cherished Vincent Lombardi Trophy.
Three Minnesota Vikings players have been awarded the regular season NFL MVP. They are Alan Page (1971), Fran Tarkenton (1975), and Adrian Peterson (2012)
The Minnesota Vikings have had three logos in their tenure in professional football. In the original version, the team opted for a Viking looking to the right. The character had a yellow hat and yellow hair with a white face and mustache.
Five seasons later, the Vikings changed their logo design. Here, the Viking is looking to the left and white horns. The braid is prominent and his mustache has a yellow influx. An addition in elements here is a purple headband.
Ahead of the 2013 NFL season, the franchise changed its logo design once more. The character in the logo is looking straight rather than up. The black marks on the bottom of his horns have disappeared and the purple strip has become more prominent.
The Vikings became the second NFL team to collaborate with GameOn, the leading application tool for a chat. The new fan experience was launched prior to the Vikings game against the Atlanta Falcons on October 18. Moreover, the franchise selected Selligent Marketing Cloud to deliver engaging and relevant Omnichannel Experiences to a growing fanbase.
Hy-Vee and the Vikings also announced a partnership that made its commitment to the people of the Twin Cities and all of Minnesota. North Memorial Health also signed a multi-year collaboration with the franchise that also had a large Viking ship on the stadium plaza for a fun photo opportunity.
Quarterbacks | #8 Kirk Cousins #14 Sean Mannion #11 Kellen Mond #9 Nick Mullens |
Running Backs | #32 Ty Chandler #4 Dalvin Cook #38 Bryant Koback #2 Alexander Mattison #26 Kene Nwangwu |
Wide Receivers | #85 Dan Chisena #9 Trishton Jackson #18 Justin Jefferson #81 Bisi Johnson #87 Myron Mitchell #83 Jalen Nailor #17 K.J. Osborn #15 Ihmir Smith-Marsette #19 Adam Thielen |
Tight Ends | #40 Zach Davidson #82 Ben Ellefson #86 Johnny Mundt #34 Nick Muse #84 Irv Smith Jr. |
Offensive Linemen | #56 Garrett Bradbury #60 Josh Sokol #72 Ezra Cleveland #73 Jesse Davis #52 Wyatt Davis #68 Kyle Hinton #67 Ed Ingram #74 Olisaemeka Udoh #62 Chris Reed #65 Austin Schlottmann #64 Blake Brandel #71 Christian Darrisaw #63 Vederian Lowe #75 Brian O'Neill #61 Timon Parris |
Defensive Linemen | #79 Jonathan Bullard #92 James Lynch #76 T.Y. McGill #90 Esezi Otomewo #97 Harrison Phillips #50 T.J. Smith #94 Dalvin Tomlinson #93 Jaylen Twyman #96 Armon Watts |
Linebackers | #33 Brian Asamoah #45 Troy Dye #58 Jordan Hicks #54 Eric Kendricks #47 William Kwenkeu #48 Blake Lynch #41 Chazz Surratt #99 Danielle Hunter #91 Patrick Jones II #59 Zach McCloud #95 Janarius Robinson #55 Za'Darius Smith #43 Luiji Vilain #98 D.J. Wonnum |
Defensive Backs | #23 Andrew Booth Jr. #29 Kris Boyd #3 Cameron Dantzler #21 Akayleb Evans #27 Nate Hairston #35 Parry Nickerson #7 Patrick Peterson #39 Chandon Sullivan #37 Mike Brown #24 Camryn Bynum #6 Lewis Cine #46 Myles Dorn #44 Josh Metellus #22 Harrison Smith #70 C.J. Ham |
Special Teams | #1 Greg Joseph #42 Andrew DePaola #16 Jordan Berry #66 Ryan Wright |
The Vikings aim to give back to the community with the Minnesota Vikings Foundation since 1961. The public charity organization advances the well-being of youth through engaging health and education initiatives. In order to truly reach a larger portion of the community, the Foundation enlists the help of players, staff, and fans.
Moreover, there are certain programs set up such as the ‘Give Today’ drive that directly supports at-risk youth of the community. Furthermore, the Vikings Table serves healthy meals and nutrition education to youth across the Greater Twin Cities area.
Founded | 1960 |
Owner | Zygi Wilf |
CEO | Andrew Miller |
Head Coach | Kevin O'Connell |
General Manager | Kwesi Adofo-Mensah |
Stadium | U.S Bank Stadium |
Location | Downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Sponsors | GameOn Technology, Selligent, Polaris, North Memorial Health, Verizon, Hy-Vee |
Championships | League championships (1) NFL Championships (pre-1970 AFL-NFL merger) [1] 1969 Conference championships (4) NFL Western 1969 NFC: 1973, 1974, 1976 Division championships (20) NFL Central: 1968, 1969 NFC Central: 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1998, 2000 NFC North: 2008, 2009, 2015, 2017 |
Official Website | Minnesota Vikings- www.vikings.com |