Top 50 Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings have gone to the Super Bowl four times.They have lost each one of them.
They have since been to the NFC Championship five times.
They have lost all of those too.
The Minnesota Vikings first took the field in 1961 as an NFL expansion team. While they have not had the best playoff success, they have been to the playoffs more often than not and house some of the most rabid fans in the NFL.
It wouldn’t surprise us if this Top 50 generates one of the most buzz of any NFL team.
This list is up to the end of the 2023 regular season.
Note: Football lists are based on an amalgamation of tenure, traditional statistics, advanced statistics, playoff statistics and post-season accolades.
A four-time Pro Bowler, Ahmad Rashad (the one who really had Mrs. Huxtable) always seemed to secure clutch passes. Rashad would finish in the top ten in Receptions five times and had well over 5,000 Receiving Yards for the Vikings. Most notably, Rashad caught a Hail Mary pass in 1980 that won Minnesota the NFC Central Division Title. We guarantee…
Drafted as the successor to Fran Tarkenton (no pressure!), Tommy Kramer would have a thirteen year run as the Vikings Quarterback. Kramer would battle injuries throughout his career but “Two Minute Tommy” would battle it all and would have an excellent 1986 season where he would win the Comeback Player of the Year and lead the NFL in Passing Rating.
The “fourth” member of the Purple People Eaters, Gary Larsen’s role of the group was as the “policeman”, indicating that he was covering the run while his teammates were terrorizing the QB. This didn’t mean that Larsen didn’t have his share of Quarterback pressure, as he had 38.5 (unofficial) Sacks and was named to two Pro Bowls.
After he began his professional career in the USFL, Anthon Carter would find a home in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings. The former Michigan Wolverine star would go to three Pro Bowls and rattle off three consecutive seasons where he would go over 1,000 Yards Receiving. Carter would also lead the NFL in Yards/Reception in 1987.
After bouncing around with limited success with the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers, Wally Hilgenberg found a home with the Minnesota Vikings. Hilgenberg would become the permanent starting Right Linebacker in 1969 and would become part of the famed Minnesota defense of the following decade. He would play in all four Vikings Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s.
A Minnesota Viking for all but his final season, Tim Irwin patrolled the right side of Minnesota’s O-Line for over 180 Games. The Right Tackle may never been a member of the Pro Bowl, but his solid and consistent presence was welcomed by Vikings QBs and RBs alike.
Henry Thomas (AKA: Hardware Hank) came out of LSU and shortly took over the starting Left Defensive Tackle slot. Thomas would go to the Pro Bowl twice as a Viking and record 56 Quarterback Sacks for the team. Thomas was a Viking for eight of his fourteen years in the National Football League.
When you are a franchise that once had Randy Moss in his prime, you never expect to get a Wide Receiver of that caliber again. They might have done that with Justin Jefferson. Jefferson played for LSU on their 2019 National Championship Team, and he impressed the Tigers enough that Minnesota used their 2020 1st Round Pick (22nd Overall) to…
Ed Sharockman played all eleven of his NFL seasons with the Minnesota Vikings and recorded 40 Interceptions. The Cornerback is still in the top 30 all-time in Interception Return Yards and he secured six touchdowns over his career.
A First Round Pick (9th Overall) and All-American from UCLA, Anthony Barr made the Minnesota Vikings starting lineup as a rookie at Right Linebacker, but it was the next four seasons that land him on this list. Chosen for the Pro Bowl annually from 2015 to 2018, Barr might have worked the right side of the field, but was capable of…
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A Second Round Pick out of Grambling State, Sammy White made an immediate impact in the NFL winning the Offensive Rookie of the Year and earning the first of two Pro Bowl Selections. White never left the Vikings and caught 393 passes for an even 6,300 Yards. Too bad he is most known for taking a vicious hit from Jack…
Everson Griffen came to the Minnesota Vikings as the 100th Overall Draft Pick in 2010 and it was a slow build for him to really find his place in the NFL. Griffen was mostly used on Special Teams as a rookie and morphed into a pass rushing specialist until 2014 when he became the starting Defensive End. Griffen went to four…