What defines "favorite"? The team(s) that people thought was the best, the most fun to watch, and in the end they still broke their heart? Uh yeah. That's the Minnesota Vikings. ALL OF THEM!
I like your outside the box thinking, but..
1 team. 1 year. ANSWER IT.
MelanieMFunk wrote:My favorite Vikings team is: The Minnesota Vikings.
They're all my favorite because of who they are: The Minnesota Vikings.
Win or lose, they'll always be my favorite. All of them. The End.
Oh man, total homer answer.
Jeffbleedspurple wrote:Hahaha! Good thing she wasn't around in the year of Steckel.
No but she was around for the 2 Frazier years that rank right up there with the Steckel year haha.
I was too young to be a fan in the 70's, so I would say my favorite team was the '98 squad. I give them a slight edge over the '09 squad because they had a few ugly losses (at CAR, at ARZ, at CHI) near the end of the year that cost them home field. The '98 squad didn't have an ugly game all year. We even had 4th quarter leads in both our losses.
If I was around at the time, the '69 squad would be my favorite team. They won our only NFL Championship. It's too bad we lost that exhibition game vs the AFL Champion Kansas City Chiefs in January because it spoiled the whole season.
"Our playoff loss to the Vikings in '87 was probably the most traumatic experience I had in sports." -- Bill Walsh
'95 is one that sticks out in my mind because it was the first season where I was really, really into the Vikings. '94 was when I first started watching every game, but '95 was more memorable for me. Orlando Thomas was a rookie and had 9 picks that season. Cris Carter, Jake Reed, and Qadry Ismael were a pretty great receiving corps and Warren Moon was awesome.
'98 and '09 are the other two that come to mind of course.
J. Kapp 11 wrote:
I agree completely. The '75 team was monstrous. A joy to watch, and in my opinion, the BEST Vikings team ever assembled.
Fran may have been named MVP, but to me Chuck Foreman was even better. He had 1,781 yards from scrimmage, 73 receptions, and 22 TD in 14 games ... that extrapolates to 2,035 yards, 83 receptions, and 25 TDs in a 16-game season. Those are numbers that would stack up very well in today's NFL, and Foreman did that long before the rules were skewed so hard toward the defense. A.P. is the best running back I've ever seen, but Foreman was the most complete.
The defense in 1975 was still ferocious. They were first in fewest yards allowed and third in fewest points allowed. And the offense was great, as well, ranking third in points and third in yards. To this day, I still believe they would have won it all if not for the Hail Mary.
Foreman was a great back and I agree he was the 'most complete' back the Vikings have ever had. The '75 defense (or what I remember of it as a kid) was just so dominant. That year when we played the Saints we gave up a total of 67 yards of rushing and -7 (yes negative 7) yards passing for the game. (In 2013 we typically will give up more than that on opening drives now ) We forced 8 turnovers in the game against Atlanta that year, winning that game 38-0. That '75 team was just fun to watch on both sides of the ball.
I've told people a million times not to exaggerate!
OKAY.. My turn.. I started watching these guys in 1972. My favorite team would be any year from 1973-1976. My hero (Tarkenton), Foreman, Eller, Page, Marshall, Krause, Bryant, Cox, etc. Gilliam was great but he didn't have any help on the other side. The 1975 team was really good, but they also had a very soft schedule that year. The '98 squad was up there but the defense was suspect. I think the strongest team I have seen would be the '09 team. Unfortunately I missed the late '60's teams. Beware!! 12/28 is coming! It's even a Saturday this year..
I'm surprised no one said the 1987 team. Three losses that came with replacement players and they still managed to make the playoffs. Then of course the two big playoff upsets. This was after several years of some pretty poor play.
1998 - nearly every Sunday was fantastic. I was only 13, so I'd get my homework done before noon and just watch the Vikings cruise to a victory except for...y'know...the big one.
I started watching in 76 at the age of 14 and that year we went to the SB so sentimentally thats my all-time squad I am a huge Fran fan but the funnest season I have ever watched in all these years would have to be the 98 team because I went to three games that season and was on the field with the team opening day vs Tampa Bay and Have great pics in the tunnel of Robert Smith and Randal Cuningham . The 09 team would be right there too it was magical till the refs and the 12 man and too damned many turnovers etc… ended the run . Wow the Vikings have been a huge part of my life for a long long time !
1969 was the year I became a fan. Hard to beat the way they played football back then. Kapp/Brown/Osborn! I agree that 1975 was the greatest full team. We were the best team in the NFL in 1998 and 2009, but somehow lost the overtime championship those years. And 1987 was pretty magical. The year no one has mentioned yet was 1988. I was moving from Oklahoma City to Houston that fall, and had to stay with a buddy who didn't have a TV so I missed most games, but I remember the Vikes just destroying teams that year - at least a couple 30 point prime-time victories. But IIRC they lost twice to the 3-13 Packers, and had to play in SF in the opening round of the playoffs, and didn't really compete. For me, the 1992 season was pretty magical, because we had lost all our draft choices in the Walker trade, so it looked like we weren't going to compete for a decade or so, but Green and Dungy coached them up, resulting in an 11-5 record. Honorable mention to beating the Packers in Lambeau in the playoffs!
1998. I still have a broken knuckle that never fully healed after that game, but that was a fun team.
My dad liked the old days at the met. And he liked the D guys, like Browner, Doleman, Mallad, Studwell. We have to remember theres a lot of greats we had without winning the big game. After we got Favre he never watched another game.
Nothing like 98, if they don't choke at home, it may have been remembered as a top 5 team all time. Football felt different than it ever had before or since. For one year OUR team was the talk of the NFL.
I remember heading to the title game at like 6 AM for an 11:30 start, and to see the buildings downtown decked in purple go Vikings, gave me goose bumps. I was like yeah, this is finally our year.
And see my pic over there----------------------------------------------------> That is what I looked like at about 3:15, and I was a drunken puddle too, that is what 6 AM tailgating gets ya.
PurpleKoolaid wrote:1998. I still have a broken knuckle that never fully healed after that game, but that was a fun team.
My dad liked the old days at the met. And he liked the D guys, like Browner, Doleman, Mallad, Studwell. We have to remember theres a lot of greats we had without winning the big game. After we got Favre he never watched another game.
That's awesome. I hated Favre but obviously still watched and wanted us to win it all. Although looking back, had the vikings won, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't feel as good if we had a different QB. Clearly I would have enjoyed it, but having to sell your soul to pick up someone like that would have put a damper on it.
93 had many of my personal dream team. a.carter was the master of pulling catches out of nowhere, and c.carter was one of the closest to the mythical purple streak as i've seen.
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