Back in May the NFL writers and editors at CBSSports.com gathered together to discu s the key figures and moments of every NFL franchise in the Super Bowl era. Before long we were discu sing every team's best and worst moments, along with their most-hated players and coaches, as well as some of the more bizarre things each team has been involved in. That spirited discu sion produced this series -- the Good, Bad, Ugly and, sometimes, Bizarre moments for every team. We continue with the Minnesota Vikings. The good The Bud Grant era To understand how Bud Grant became so popular in Minnesota, you first have to understand how ugly things were when Grant was hired in 1967. Basically the Vikings were a circus. When Grant took over as head coach of the Vikings 49 years ago, things were looking pretty bleak in Minnesota. Grant was taking over for Norm Van Brocklin, a coach who was so sick of coaching that he actually quit the Vikings job twice in 15 months. Van Brocklin , but this wasn't your normal resignation, because Van Brocklin would return the next week and coach the Vikings for 15 more months. In February 1967, things got so ugly that quarterback Fran Tarkenton "quit" the team, which for a second time. Carson Palmer's strategy to get out of Cincinnati in 2011 was basically invented by Tarkenton. Tarkenton swore he would never play for the Vikings again
Louis Williams Jersey , so on March 7, 1967, the team New York Giants. Four days later, Grant was hired to coach a team that was in complete turmoil and had no starting quarterback. Not an ideal place to start for a first-time head coach. In his first month on the job, Grant fixed his first problem: He brought in a quarterback. Grant and Vikings general manager Jim Finks had both spent some time in the CFL, so that's where they looked for their starting quarterback. The team brought in Joe Kapp, who had spent eight seasons in the CFL, a span that included two Grey Cup appearances and one championship with the British Columbia Lions. The other big move Grant made came in the 1967 , which took place on March 14, just three days after he was hired. With the 15th overall pick, the Vikings selected Alan Page, a future Hall-of-Famer, who played a key role on the team's Purple People
Los Angeles Clippers Jersey Eater defense. Although the Vikings struggled to a 3-8-3 record during Grant's first season on the job, there wouldn't be much struggling after that. In 10 of his next 11 seasons with the team, Grant would lead the Vikings to the postseason. It was a ridiculous stretch that included three appearances in four years between 1973 and 1976. Grant was succe sful despite the fact that there always seemed to be some sort of drama surrounding the team. After Kapp led the Vikings to a Super Bowl IV appearance in 1969, he decided to hold out for more money the following season. Kapp was , but the Vikings wouldn't give it to him. Instead of giving money to Kapp, Grant decided to plug in Gary Cuozzo at quarterback and the team didn't mi s a beat. Kapp would leave Minnesota and the Vikings would go to the playoffs in both years that Cuozzo was the team's starter. Despite Cuozzo's succe s, Grant wasn't content, so he in January 1972: He brought Tarkenton back to Minnesota. The combination of Tarkenton on offense and the Purple People Eaters on defense made the Vikings virtually unstoppable. Not only did they reach three Super Bowls in four years, but they also went to the NFC title game four times in five years (1973-1977).
Landry Shamet Jersey It took a miracle from the Cowboys to keep the Vikings from going to five straight NFC title games. In a 1975 divisional playoff game, the Vikings lost 17-14 after Roger Staubach pa s with just 24 seconds left in the game. Although Grant never won a Super Bowl, he's one of only eight coaches in NFL history to have made it to the big game four times. After Grant retired in 1983, the Vikings fell apart. The team went 3-13 in 1984, which led the front office to make a wild offer to Grant: Come back and we'll . The internet would probably explode if an NFL coach got a lifetime contract today, but it's something that actually happened in 1985. That's the kind of offer that's impo sible to turn down, so Grant took it and returned to the Vikings sideline in 1985. One more season was enough though, and Grant of the year. It was almost fitting that he retired twice since he replaced a coach that had resigned twice. Grant finished his Hall of Fame career with 158 regular seasons wins, which still stands as the 17th highest total in NFL history. During his career, Grant coached several players who would end up in the Hall of Fame, including: Paul Krause, Mick Tingelhoff, Ron Yary, Carl Eller, Tarkenton and Page. Although Grant's been retired for over 30 years, he really hasn't slowed down much. The 89-year-old is still a popular figure in Minnesota, and he definitely loves the weather there. While most of us would get hypothermia if we walked out into freezing cold weather, that's not the case with Grant, who wore short-sleeves for the opening coin to s of the Vikings-Seahawks playoff game in January. The temperature at kickoff (-20 windchill).My favorite moment of so far: 88-year-old Bud Grant in a polo Ryan Kath (@ryankath) Even in retirement, Grant has endeared himself to the Minneapolis community. Grant's garage sale is pretty much the social event of the summer in Minnesota.Former Vikings coach Bud Grant is having. Garage sale. Gue
Blake Griffin Jersey s no Super Bowl rings are for sale! Ouch! Love the guy. Rich Lenz (@RichLenz6) The bad Gary Anderson goes wide left in the NFC title game The Vikings postseason history has basically been one giant nightmare for fans in Minnesota. Since the franchise's inception in 1961, the team has suffered shocking lo s after shocking lo s after shocking lo s in the playoffs. There's almost been so many shocking lo ses that we can
Chris Paul Jersey 't can even call them shocking anymore because it's just what you come to expect when the Vikings play in the postseason. For a team that's lost four Super Bowls, it would be easy to say that one of those lo ses stung the most, but that's probably not the case for most Vikings fans. For most fans, the playoff lo s that stung the most was probably 'The mi s heard 'round the world:' Gary Anderson's 38-yard field goal that sailed wide left in the NFC title game. After a 15-1 season in 1998, the Vikings looked like a surefire favorite to advance to Super Bowl XXXIII. Following a 41-21 divisional playoff win over the Cardinals, the only thing standing in the way of the Vikings and a Super Bowl berth was the Atlanta Falcons. No one thought the Vikings were going to lose. Minnesota was an 11-point favorite and they were playing at home, where they had won 10 straight games, including the playoffs. The blowout didn't
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