The History Of the Minnesota Vikings

In this first installment, learn about the team's origin, the arrival of some of their most iconic superstars, and the eccentric coach that failed to bring them all together.

In part two, let's learn about the bulk of the Purple Gang of the late 1960s and 1970s. The players that comprised the greatest teams that would ever grace Minnesota football, where they came from, and how the got to Minnesota showcases diversity, swagger, and most importantly, a little Grabass.

It's part three. We're finally here, the bulk of the Vikings' most dominant years. After over an hour and a half setting it up, let's see what happens when they start regularly finding the Super Bowl. But that's the thing about the Vikings, as led by Fran Tarkenton in his prime years. He has always been a footnote in someone else's story.

In part four, the hangover the Vikings experienced after their four Super Bowl losses loomed for a decade. The Vikings moved to the city, moved indoors, and took their time to figure out exactly what that meant for them. It takes a lot to turn a perennial contender into an impotent middle-dweller, and, well, it indeed was a lot. The Herschel Walker trade, the Les Steckel debacle, and multiple strikes totally derailed the Vikings' build. Let's itemize the pain.

Part five might just be the one you've been waiting for. In this, we'll go over the majority of the 90s, the QB carousel from McMahon to Moon to Cunningham, Cris Carter and Randy Moss, and of course, Denny Green tying it all together. This was a fun era of Vikings football on the field, and most people remember it as "those years where the team just threw bombs downfield all the time". I think it makes a lot of younger fans pine for more deep passing, even when looking at teams like the recent Zimmer teams that were built more on ball control and defense. But it was so much more than that. To me, the 1990s Vikings, and specifically Denny Green's Vikings, were a place for people to discover better versions of themselves. Where people got opportunities to prove what they could be, because Denny Green saw that in you. He didn't see what you were today, he saw what you could be tomorrow. And because of that, so many people had their lives changed - even saved - by the Minnesota Vikings.

After losing in 1998, the Vikings began their agonizing decline. Marred by tragedy and scandal, by 2002 they were a laughingstock. In a way, they were the laughingstock that a healing nation needed in that period of history. Even as they pulled their act together after the circus sideshow that was the 2005 season, they still did it in funny ways. They embraced the 40 year-old icon of their bitterest rival. And suddenly, a fun-but-frustrating decade became all fun. And then, in a sickening twist that many still haven't fully processed, things became all frustrating.

You may be familiar with a lot of what we discuss today. It's the seventh and final installment of Minnesota Vikings history. We have grown to love a lot of the current Vikings, and some Vikings who have recently left. We love them mostly for what they do on the field. But what about off it? What about the off-field stuff we don't like as much? With the Vikings, you have to take the good with the bad. Because when you're willing to embrace the bad, it gives the good more meaning than you ever thought it could have. The last decade has been a story about steady, controlled growth. It's a story about 2,000 yard rushing season, missed 27-yard field goals and miracle touchdowns. But more than any of that, it's a story about fathers and sons. About family.