History of The Minnesota Vikings - 1960s: The Vikings' Humble Beginnings

1960s: The Vikings' Humble Beginnings

Bill Boyer served as the team president from 1960 to 1964. Joe Thomas was hired as head scout. Minnesota's first management team was led by general manager (GM) Bert Rose, who was appointed as GM on August 5, 1960. In an article on August 6, 1960 in the Minneapolis Tribune, it was reported that the team would use the name "Minnesota" instead of "Minneapolis-St. Paul". The article also stated that several nicknames were suggested for the team, including "Chippewas", "Miners", "Vikings" and "Voyageurs". 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 40,800-seat capacity of Metropolitan (Met) Stadium in Bloomington. Eventually Met Stadium capacity was increased to 47,900. On January 18, 1961, the Vikings named Norm Van Brocklin as head coach, though Bud Grant had been a candidate for the job.

The Vikings played their first game, an exhibition game, against the Dallas Cowboys on August 5, 1961. The game was played at Howard Wood Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Vikings won their first regular-season game, defeating the Chicago Bears 37–13 on Opening Day 1961. Rookie Fran Tarkenton replaced starting quarterback George Shaw 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.

Rose resigned from his position as GM on June 1, 1964. Jim Finks, then general manager of the Calgary Stampeders, was named his successor on September 11, 1964. The Vikings had their first winning season in 1964, finishing with 8 wins, 5 losses and 1 tie. 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. He thought he had scored a touchdown for the Vikings, but instead had scored a safety for the 49ers. The Vikings did go on to win the game 27–22. 1964 was also the only season that the Vikings wore white jerseys at home games. This led to confusion when the Detroit Lions came to Bloomington with only their white jerseys. The game started with both teams wearing white jerseys. The Vikings retrieved their purple jerseys from Midway Stadium in Saint Paul. The Vikings changed from white jerseys to purple jerseys on the sidelines. That led to the Vikings wearing all-purple uniforms.

Max Winter became the team president in 1965. 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. 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. Bud Grant, head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, became the new Vikings coach on March 10, 1967.

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. With these picks, Minnesota selected Clinton Jones and Bob Grim in 1967, Ron Yary in 1968 and Ed White in 1969.

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. They lost to Baltimore in the Western Conference championship game.

In 1969 the Vikings earned a 12–2 record, the best in the NFL. An opening game one-point to loss the New York Giants, quarterbacked by former Viking Fran Tarkenton, was followed by twelve consecutive wins. The Vikings played their first regular season game in Minneapolis, when the October 5 game against the Packers was moved to Memorial Stadium. That game also saw a than record home crowd of 60,740. The Vikings defeated the Cleveland Browns 27–7 in the NFL Championship Game on January 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. Minnesota became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an NFL Championship Game, which earned the team a berth in Super Bowl IV. The heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23–7 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.