The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings 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 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 locally 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 gridiron 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.
Alan Cedric Page is an American retired Minnesota state Supreme Court judge 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 (NFHS).
The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area and played their outdoor home games at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome and the Met Center for indoor games. Founded in 1967 as the Washington Darts and playing in Miami as the Gatos and the Toros before playing seven season as the Fort Lauderdale Strikers the team left Florida following the 1983 North American Soccer League season. After the 1987–88 season and playing four seasons in the MISL the team ceased operations.
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.
Gustave Joseph Frerotte is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulsa.
Minnesota boys high school ice hockey is made up of multiple leagues and programs representing different associations. The two organizations associated with high school are the Minnesota State High School League and Minnesota Hockey. The Minnesota State High School League is a voluntary, nonprofit association of public and private schools with a history of service to Minnesota's high school youth since 1916. Minnesota Hockey, an affiliate of USA Hockey, is the governing body of youth and amateur hockey in Minnesota. Minnesota Hockey is governed by a board of directors and consists of approximately 140 community based associations who are formed into 12 districts.
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 once first-team All-Pro team and three 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. 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.
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.
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.
Cretin-Derham Hall High School (CDH) is a private, co-educational Catholic high school in Saint Paul, Minnesota operated by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. It is co-sponsored by the Brothers of the Christian Schools and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.
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 a Canadian football and American 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 (NFL) for the Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers and the Minnesota Vikings.
James Alvin Stewart is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who played for the Minnesota Vikings in 1995.
