The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member 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 medieval 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.
Metropolitan Stadium was an outdoor sports stadium in the north central United States, located in Bloomington, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis.
The Minneapolis Marines were an early professional football team that existed from 1905 until 1928. The team did not play in 1918 or 1925 to 1926 and was later resurrected from 1929 to 1930 under the Minneapolis Red Jackets name. The Marines were originally owned by the Marine Athletic Club of Minneapolis and later by Minneapolitans John Dunn and Val Ness. The Marines played their earliest games in the sandlots of Minneapolis and at Minnehaha Park. They made their first appearance at Lexington Park in 1909 and Nicollet Park in 1910. From 1912 to 1914, the team rented the North Minneapolis Athletic Association grounds at 25th Avenue North and Washington Avenue in Minneapolis, a site now overrun by Interstate 94. The Marines moved to Nicollet Park in 1915 and played there until they disbanded as the Red Jackets in 1930. The Minneapolis Marines were the first Minnesota-based team to join the National Football League, predating the Duluth Eskimos (1923) and Minnesota Vikings (1961).
Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings 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 for 10 seasons, winning the Grey Cup four times.
James Edwin Otto was an American professional football player who was a center for 15 seasons with the Oakland Raiders of the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes.
Antoine Duane Winfield Sr. is an American former football cornerback who played for 14 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning consensus All-American honors and winning the Jim Thorpe Award. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1999 NFL draft and played five seasons for the Bills and nine seasons for the Minnesota Vikings. He was a three-time Pro Bowl selection as a member of the Vikings.
Walter Eugene "Chuck" Foreman is an American former professional football player who was a running back for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the National Football League (NFL). 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 the first-team All-Pro and second-team All-Pro teams two times each. 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. The Professional Football Researchers Association named Foreman to the PRFA Hall of Very Good Class of 2010.
Stephen John Walsh is an American football coach and former player. He played as a 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 for the Miami Hurricanes, earning consensus All-American honors in 1988.
Jeffrey Lamar Burris is an American football coach and former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL) for ten seasons. He played college football for the University of Notre Dame, and was a consensus All-American. He was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1994 NFL draft, and he played professionally for the Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL. Burris was the assistant defensive backs coach/defensive quality control coach for the Miami Dolphins. On October 8, 2015, Jeff Burris was promoted to assistant defensive backs coach for the Dolphins. On June 3, 2016, he was hired as a defensive analyst for his alma mater, the University of Notre Dame.
Robert Wells Marshall was an American sportsman. He was best known for playing football; however, Marshall also competed in baseball, track, boxing, ice hockey and wrestling.
Cedric Leonard Griffin is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the second round of the 2006 NFL draft. He played college football for the Texas Longhorns, where he was a stand-out performer on the 2005 national championship team.
Ronyell Deshawn Whitaker is an American former professional football cornerback. He was signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent in 2003. He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Detroit Lions and the Canadian Football League (CFL)'s Winnipeg Blue Bombers before retiring from professional football in 2010.
Omare Gerald Lowe is an American former professional football cornerback. He was selected by the Miami Dolphins in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL draft. He played college football at Washington.
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 professional 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. He has also coached in the National Football League (NFL).
The Minnesota Vikings are an American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After initially committing to become one of the founding members of the American Football League (AFL) in 1959, the team joined the National Football League (NFL) as an expansion franchise and played their first game in 1961, as part of the Western Conference. In 1967, they were placed into the new Central division, which became part of the National Football Conference following the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. The divisions were reorganized again in 2002, with the Vikings as part of the NFC North, in which they have played ever since. The Vikings have won their division 20 times and appeared in the playoffs 30 times, leading to four conference championships and one NFL title in 1969.
Cordrea Tankersley is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Miami Dolphins and the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Clemson Tigers and was selected by the Dolphins in the third round of the 2017 NFL draft.
The 1998 National Football Conference (NFC) Championship Game was the 29th title game of the NFC. This National Football League (NFL) playoff game was played on January 17, 1999, to determine the NFC champion for the 1998 NFL season. The visiting Atlanta Falcons defeated the heavily favored Minnesota Vikings 30–27 in sudden death overtime to win their first conference championship and advance to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance. As a result of their loss, the Vikings were eliminated from the playoffs and became the first team in the history of the NFL to compile a regular season record of 15–1 and not win the Super Bowl, a feat that was also later accomplished by the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, 2011 Green Bay Packers, and 2015 Carolina Panthers, as well as the 2007 New England Patriots who had a 16-0 season.
Mike Hughes is an American professional football cornerback for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina before transferring to Garden City Community College and later to UCF. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round of the 2018 NFL draft.
James Alvin Stewart is an American former professional football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Minnesota Vikings in 1995.
