Paul Allen | |
---|---|
Born | |
Alma mater | Pasadena City College |
Sports commentary career | |
Team | Minnesota Vikings (2002–present) |
Genre | Play-by-play |
Sport | NFL football |
Employer | KFAN (1998–present) |
Paul Allen (born January 6, 1966 [1] [2] ) is a sports commentator who has called play-by-play for the Minnesota Vikings since 2002. He is the voice of the Minnesota Vikings Radio Network and for horse racing at Canterbury Park. Allen has worked for Twin Cities radio station KFXN, where he currently hosts a morning sports radio show, since 1998. [3] [4]
Allen previously called horse races at different locations throughout the United States until he came to Canterbury Park in Shakopee, Minnesota in 1995. [5] Allen was both criticized and praised by Vikings fans for "ripping" into Brett Favre after he threw an interception in the 2009 NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints that ultimately kept them out of Super Bowl XLIV. [6] [7] He uses personally coined phrases like "Minnesota Moving Company" (offensive line) and "Minneapolis Miracle," the play where the Vikings beat the New Orleans Saints with a last play touchdown in the playoffs on January 14, 2018. Allen is known for his emotional calls, such as the aforementioned 2009 NFC Championship, the 2003 Vikings' regular season finale against the Arizona Cardinals, and the 2015 Wild Card Playoff game between the Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks.
Allen is a devout Christian and does a podcast called Faith and Goal. He also speaks at churches and leads chapels every summer at the Dean Kutz Memorial Chapel on the property of Canterbury Park. [8]
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.
Brett Lorenzo Favre is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 2010, including 297 regular season games, the most in league history. He was also the first NFL quarterback to obtain 70,000 yards, 10,000 passes, 6,000 completions, 500 touchdowns, and victories over all 32 teams.
The 2010 NFL season was the 91st regular season of the National Football League (NFL) and the 45th of the Super Bowl era.
James Harmon Henderson is a former American sportscaster based in New Orleans. He was the radio voice announcer of the New Orleans Saints and also worked as a football analyst for WVUE-DT from 2012 to 2018. Before that, he worked for WWL-TV from May 8, 1978 to January 31, 2012.
Michael Zimmer is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings from 2014 to 2021. Prior to that, Zimmer served as a defensive assistant for the Cowboys, Atlanta Falcons, and Cincinnati Bengals. He also won Super Bowl XXX with the Cowboys in 1996.
NFL's Greatest Games is a series of television programs that air on NFL Network, ESPN and related networks. They are condensed versions of some of the most famous games in the history of the National Football League, using footage and sound captured by NFL Films, as well as original interviews. All installments produced before 2015 are 90 minutes in length, and are presented with a title in respect to the game being featured. Starting in 2015, new installments produced run for either 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or 90 minutes, and no longer have a title beyond the actual game itself that is featured.
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.
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League (NFL), themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."
The 2009 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 49th in the National Football League (NFL) and their fourth under head coach Brad Childress. The Vikings improved upon their 10–6 record and defended their NFC North title from 2008, their first successful defense of a divisional title since they won six NFC Central titles in a row between 1973 and 1978. They beat the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoff at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in Minneapolis, but lost the NFC Championship Game in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints, missing out on what would have been their first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XI in 1976. This year's NFC Championship Game is also dubbed by many as the "Bountygate Game" that also resulted in several players and coaching staff receiving 12-month suspensions three years later. The Vikings had 10 Pro Bowlers and four All-Pros on their roster, both league-highs for the season.
The National Football League playoffs for the 2009 season began on January 9, 2010. The postseason tournament concluded with the New Orleans Saints defeating the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, 31–17, on February 7, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida.
The 2010 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 50th in the National Football League (NFL), and the fifth and final under head coach Brad Childress. After a loss to the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship ended their 2009 season, the Vikings had hoped to defend their NFC North division title for the third year in a row and contend again for a Super Bowl championship. However, Brett Favre was unable to recover from the injuries he had sustained in the NFC Championship and turned in abysmal performances for most of the season, being forced to sit out three games due to injuries and breaking his consecutive start record at 297 games since September 1992. After the Vikings fell to a 3–7 record with a 31–3 division loss to the Green Bay Packers in week 11, Childress was fired and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was named as his interim replacement, going 3–3 in his six games in charge before taking over the job permanently at the end of the season. The team finished 6–10 and ended up in last place in the division for the first time since 1990. The Vikings also missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007.
The Packers–Vikings rivalry is an NFL rivalry between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. CBS ranked it the #3 NFL rivalry of the 2000s.
The 2012 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 52nd in the National Football League (NFL), as well as their second full season under head coach Leslie Frazier. They looked to improve upon their 3–13 season the year before, and did so after defeating the Tennessee Titans in Week 5; their win over the Houston Texans in Week 16 made this their first winning season since 2009. The Vikings also made the playoffs for the first time since 2009 with a Week 17 win over the Green Bay Packers to give them a 10–6 regular season record, but were defeated by the same opponents in the Wild Card playoff round the following week. Adrian Peterson was named the league's Most Valuable Player after rushing for 2,097 yards, just nine yards short of breaking the single-season record held by Eric Dickerson since 1984.
Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. The National Football Conference (NFC) champion Philadelphia Eagles defeated the American Football Conference (AFC) and defending Super Bowl LI champion New England Patriots, 41–33, to win their first Super Bowl and their first NFL title since 1960, making the NFC East the first and currently only division where every team has won a Super Bowl. The game was played on February 4, 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This was the second time that a Super Bowl was played in Minneapolis, the northernmost city to ever host the event, after Super Bowl XXVI at the Metrodome during the 1991 season. It was also the sixth Super Bowl held in a cold-weather city, although the stadium is indoors.
The 1998 NFC Championship Game was the 29th title game of the National Football Conference (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.
The 2018 season was the New Orleans Saints' 52nd in the National Football League (NFL), their 43rd at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome and their 12th under head coach Sean Payton.
The Minneapolis Miracle was the National Football Conference (NFC) divisional playoff game played between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 14, 2018, and specifically its final play. The game was played as part of the National Football League (NFL)'s 2017–18 playoffs. This was the fourth playoff game between these two franchises in their histories.
The 2019 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 59th in the National Football League (NFL), their fourth playing home games at U.S. Bank Stadium and their sixth under head coach Mike Zimmer. They improved on their 8–7–1 campaign from 2018 with a Week 14 win over the Detroit Lions, and returned to the playoffs following a one-year absence after the Los Angeles Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 16. That week, the Vikings were eliminated from contention for the NFC North division title, losing 23–10 to the Green Bay Packers. They defeated the New Orleans Saints 26–20 in overtime in the Wild Card round but lost 27–10 to the eventual NFC champion San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
The Double Doink was a game-ending field goal attempt by Chicago Bears kicker Cody Parkey in the National Football League (NFL)'s 2018 NFC Wild Card game. Parkey's failed 43-yard field goal attempt against the Philadelphia Eagles was partially blocked by Eagles defensive lineman Treyvon Hester, hit the left upright, then bounced off the crossbar, and finally fell back out onto the goal line finishing on the 3-yard line. The sixth-seeded, defending Super Bowl champion Eagles won the game over the third-seeded Bears, 16–15, at Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois, and advanced to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
The Saints–Vikings rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings. As the Saints play in the NFC South and the Vikings play in the NFC North, the two teams do not play each other every year; instead, they play at least once every three years and at least once every six seasons at each team's home stadium during which their divisions are paired up, sometimes more often if the two teams finish in the same place in their respective divisions or meet in the playoffs.