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 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.
Francis Asbury Tarkenton is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at the University of Georgia, where he was recognized as a twice first-team All-SEC, and was selected by the Vikings in the third round of the 1961 NFL Draft. After retiring from football, he became a media personality and computer software executive.
Norman Mack Van Brocklin, nicknamed "the Dutchman", was an American football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. He spent his first nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams and his final three with the Philadelphia Eagles. Following his playing career, he was the inaugural head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 1961 to 1966 and the second head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 1968 to 1974.
Richard Joseph Gannon is an American former football quarterback who played 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Subsequently, he was a sports commentator with CBS Sports for 16 years.
Christopher Mark Chandler is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons. He played for seven different teams in eight different cities during his NFL career, and is known for leading the Atlanta Falcons to a 14–2 season in 1998 followed by an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIII.
Steven Joseph Bartkowski is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Atlanta Falcons (1975–1985), Washington Redskins (1985) and the Los Angeles Rams (1986). He was a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Bartkowski played college football for the California Golden Bears, earning consensus All-American honors as a senior in 1974.
Patrick Capper Haden is an American former professional football player and college administrator. He was the athletic director at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles from August 2010 to June 2016. He played quarterback for the USC Trojans before playing professionally in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams from 1976 through 1981. He also played in the World Football League (WFL) for the Southern California Sun in 1975.
Gustave Joseph Frerotte is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the seventh round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played college football at Tulsa.
Jeffrey Scott George is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He played college football at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, where he won the Sammy Baugh Trophy, and was selected first overall by the Indianapolis Colts in the 1990 NFL Draft. A journyman quarterback, George was a member of seven NFL teams during his career. George helped the 1995 Atlanta Falcons and the 1999 Minnesota Vikings reach the playoffs and led the league in passing yards in 1997 with the Oakland Raiders.
The 1989 NFL season was the 70th regular season of the National Football League. Before the season, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle announced his retirement. Paul Tagliabue was eventually chosen to succeed him, taking over on November 5.
Joseph Robert Garcia Kapp was an American football player, coach, and executive. He played college football as a quarterback for the California Golden Bears. Kapp played professionally in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders and the BC Lions and then in the National Football League (NFL) with the Minnesota Vikings and the Boston Patriots; with the Vikings, he led them to victory in the 1969 NFL Championship Game, the only league championship in team history. Kapp returned to his alma mater as head coach of the Golden Bears from 1982 to 1986. He was the general manager and president of the BC Lions in 1990.
Steven Christopher Bono is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played in college at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 6th round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He played for seven different teams in 15 different seasons, spending the most time with the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs.
Charles Wade Wilson was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, Dallas Cowboys, and the Oakland Raiders in a seventeen-year NFL career from 1981 to 1998. He was quarterbacks coach for the Dallas Cowboys from 2000 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2017 and the Chicago Bears from 2004 to 2006. He played college football for East Texas State University, where he was an NAIA All-American quarterback and led the Lions to the NAIA national semifinals during the 1980 season.
Hugh Breedlove Millen is a former professional football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons, New England Patriots, Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos. He played college football at the University of Washington.
Robert Melville Lee is an American former football quarterback and punter. He played college football for Arizona State, CCSF and Pacific. He was selected 441st overall in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams.
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.
Samuel Jacob Bradford is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL), most notably with the St. Louis Rams and Minnesota Vikings. He was also a member of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals. Bradford attended Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City, where he starred in football, basketball and golf. As a senior quarterback in 2005, he threw for 2,029 yards and 17 touchdowns in 12 games. Bradford was not highly recruited coming out of high school, but he did receive a scholarship offer from the University of Oklahoma, which he accepted. After a redshirt season in 2006, Bradford threw for 3,121 yards and 36 touchdowns as a redshirt freshman with the Oklahoma Sooners. In 2008, Bradford became only the second sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy as he led the highest-scoring offense in NCAA history, passing for 4,720 yards with 50 touchdowns and just eight interceptions. He again led the nation in passing and also added five rushing touchdowns as the Sooners went 12–1 and advanced to the BCS national title game.
John Sullivan is a former American football center. He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, later playing for the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams.
Theodore Edmond Bridgewater Jr. is an American football quarterback for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL).
Sean Thomas Mannion is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Oregon State and was their starting quarterback from 2011 to 2014. He was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the third round of the 2015 NFL Draft.
