Minnesota Vikings
At the time he came to Minnesota in 1965, the Vikings had left defensive end Carl Eller (a fellow second-year player) and right defensive end Jim Marshall on the roster. [23] [24] Eller would go on to a Hall of Fame career with the Vikings. [25] Marshall was a member of the first Vikings team in 1961, and played 19 years, with 270 consecutive starts, for the team. [26] [27] Larsen started nine games in 1965 and all 14 games in 1966, playing at left tackle next to Eller. [1] In 1967, future Hall of Famer Alan Page was drafted to play defensive tackle, [28] [29] becoming the final piece of what became generally known as the "Purple People Eaters" with Eller, Marshall, and Larsen; the four of whom originally referring to themselves as the "Purple Gang". [27]
However, the Purple People Eater unit did not start with Page's joining the team in 1967. Rather, Page replaced Larsen who had started at left tackle next to Eller in 1966, with veteran Paul Dickson starting the majority of games at right tackle, as he had in 1966. [30] [28] [31] The Vikings had a 3–8–3 record in 1967. [32] In 1968, Vikings coach Bud Grant moved Larsen back to the starting lineup at left tackle, with Page at right tackle and Dickson as a backup. [33]
The team was markedly improved in 1968, winning the NFL's Central Division with an 8–6 record. [34] Grant attributed the team's improvement in large part to the defensive line. Larsen's play was outstanding (including an early season game where he tackled Detroit Lions quarterback Bill Munson five times for losses); and the versatile Page, who could play any position on the line, improved the team's pass rush. [33] In 1968, Larsen had 10 quarterback sacks, Eller eight, Page 11 and Marshall 10; all but Larsen being selected to the Pro Bowl. [34] [35]
For the next four seasons (1969-72) Larsen started every Vikings game at left tackle, and started 12 of 14 games in 1973, all alongside Eller, Page and Marshall. [1] [36] [37] [38] He played out his option with the Vikings in 1974, and the Vikings did not offer him a new contract in 1975. [39]
Larsen (nicknamed the “Norse Nightmare”) [17] was a key piece of the unit's success because Larsen gave Eller, Marshall and Page the freedom to go to where the football was located during a play because, as Jim Marshall said, "'he had our backs all the time'". [40] [41] The four linemen would reach the Super Bowl three times (all losses), twice as a starting unit: Super Bowl IV [42] (doing so by winning the 1969 NFL Championship Game), [43] Super Bowl VIII [44] and Super Bowl IX. [45] Larsen did not start in Super Bowl IX, his final game as a player. The 35-year old Larsen had been supplanted by Doug Sutherland in the lineup during the season due to injuries to his foot along with a sore knee; Larsen starting six games and Sutherland eight during the 1974 regular season. [17] [46] [47]
In 1969, the entire unit was elected to the Pro Bowl (the first time one team sent four defensive linemen), and none of the unit missed a game from 1968 to 1973. [48] [17] [1] [36] [37] [38] Larsen made the Pro Bowl for the second and last time in 1970, along with Eller and Page. [49]
Sacks were not officially tracked until 1982, but statisticians have retroactively accounted for a majority of NFL sacks going back to 1960, with Larsen being found to have had 38.5 sacks in his career, with ten occurring in 1968. [50] Larsen was recognized as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings in 2010. [51]
