The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion team, the team began play the following year. They are named after the Vikings of ancient Scandinavia, reflecting the prominent Scandinavian American culture of Minnesota. The team plays its home games at U.S. Bank Stadium in the Downtown East section of Minneapolis.
Sidney Gillman was an American football player, coach and executive. Gillman's insistence on stretching the football field by throwing deep downfield passes, instead of short passes to running backs or wide receivers at the sides of the line of scrimmage, was instrumental in making football into the modern game that it is today.
Metropolitan Stadium was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb south of Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1924. The team was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were owned locally by Minneapolitans John Dunn and Val Ness, and composed primarily of working-class teenagers. Some of the first games were played at Camden Park, The Parade, and Bottineau Field. Later games were played at larger stadiums such as Nicollet Park and Lexington Park. The Minneapolis Marines are the first Minnesota-based team to join the National Football League, predating the Duluth Eskimos (1923) and Minnesota Vikings (1961).
Harold Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons; he was the team's second (1967–83) and fourth (1985) head coach, leading them to four Super Bowl appearances, 11 division titles, one league championship and three National Football Conference championships. Before coaching the Vikings, he was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ten seasons, winning the Grey Cup four times. Grant is the most successful coach in Vikings history, and the fifth most successful professional football coach overall with a combined 286 wins in the NFL and CFL. Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He was the first coach to guide teams to the Grey Cup and the Super Bowl, the only other being Marv Levy.
Alan Cedric Page is an American retired jurist and former professional football player.
The Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) is a voluntary, non-profit association for the support and governance of interscholastic activities at high schools in Minnesota, United States. The association supports interscholastic athletics and fine arts programs for member schools. Membership includes nearly 500 schools, including special schools, home schools, and 435 high schools. The State High School League is an affiliate of the National Federation of State High School Associations.
John Albert Kundla was an American college and professional basketball coach. He was the first head coach for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA) and its predecessors, the Basketball Association of America (BAA) and the National Basketball League (NBL), serving 12 seasons, from 1947 to 1959. His teams won six league championships, one in the NBL, one in the BAA, and four in the NBA. Kundla was the head basketball coach at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul for one season in 1946–47, and at the University of Minnesota for ten seasons, from 1959 to 1968. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1995 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
The Minnesota High School Boys Hockey program is a high school ice hockey program in the state of Minnesota. Based on tournament attendance, hockey is the most popular high school sport in the state. Approximately 256 schools and over 6,500 participants in total field sanctioned varsity teams competing in the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL). These teams are divided into two classes, AA and A. Each class is also divided into eight sections.
Walter Eugene "Chuck" Foreman is a retired American football running back who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Considered one of the best passing-catching backs in NFL history, Foreman started in three Super Bowls with the Vikings and was the premiere back for the team for most of the 1970s. Upon entering the league in 1973, he was named the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he was selected to the Pro Bowl for the first five seasons of his career. During this time, he was also named to 2 first-team All-Pro teams and 2 second-team All-Pro teams. Nicknamed "The Spin Doctor" for his elusive running abilities, Foreman held the Vikings franchise record for rushing yards from scrimmage upon his retirement. As part of the team's 50th anniversary celebration, Foreman was named as one of the 50 Greatest Vikings in 2010.
Stephen John Walsh is an American football coach and former player. He is a former quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, New Orleans Saints, Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Indianapolis Colts. He played college football at the University of Miami.
The Minnesota Vixen is a professional women's football team based in the Twin Cities. The team has been known as the Minnesota Vixens and Minneapolis Vixens prior to being known as the Vixen.
Brooks Michael Bollinger is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings, Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions. He also was a member of the Florida Tuskers in the United Football League (UFL). He played college football at the University of Wisconsin.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
Robert Ross Lurtsema is a former American football defensive end in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings, New York Giants and Seattle Seahawks. He played in two Super Bowls with the Vikings.
Marc Marlyn Trestman is an American football and Canadian football coach. He led the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL) to back-to-back Grey Cup victories in 2009 and 2010, and another as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts in 2017. He was also named CFL Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2017.
Kurt L. Knoff is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League for the Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers and the Minnesota Vikings.
Ronald Allen Carpenter, Jr. is a former professional American football player who played defensive back for five seasons for the Cincinnati Bengals, Minnesota Vikings. New York Jets, and St. Louis Rams. He played college football at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he was a three-time first-team All-Mid-American Conference player and served as captain his senior season. He was voted to the Miami University All-Millennium team by The Cincinnati Enquirer in 2000. He was also inducted into the Miami University Athletic Hall of Fame on October 14, 2016. Carpenter was also an All-World League player for the Amsterdam Admirals and spent seasons with the New York CityHawks of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Los Angeles Xtreme of the XFL, and the Nashville Kats, Georgia Force, and Detroit Fury of the AFL. He owns a Super Bowl ring from the 1999 Rams and an XFL Championship ring from the 2001 Xtreme. Following his professional career, Carpenter took up coaching and scouting, having scouted for Pro Football Scouts Inc., the Tennessee Titans as a scouting intern, and coached for Princeton High School in Ohio, the Georgia Force, Central State University, Indiana University, Miami University and the University of Central Arkansas.
James Alvin Stewart is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Minnesota Vikings in 1995.
