Editing Minnesota Vikings (section)

===1960s===
The team was officially named the Minnesota Vikings on September 27, 1960; the name is partly meant to reflect Minnesota's place as a center of [[Scandinavian American]] culture.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia">{{cite web |title=Minnesota Vikings |publisher=Sports E-Cyclopedia |url=http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/minnesota/vikings.html |access-date=April 24, 2007 |archive-date=October 10, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101010103257/http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/minnesota/vikings.html |url-status=live }}</ref> From the start, the Vikings embraced an energetic marketing program that produced first-year season ticket sales of nearly 26,000 and an average home attendance of 34,586, about 85 percent of [[Metropolitan Stadium]]'s capacity of 40,800. Eventually, the capacity of Met Stadium was increased to 47,900. [[Bert Rose]], former public relations director for the [[Los Angeles Rams]], was appointed the team's first general manager. The search for the first head coach saw the team court then-[[Northwestern Wildcats football|Northwestern University]] head coach [[Ara Parseghian]], who, according to ''[[Minneapolis Star]]'' writer [[Jim Klobuchar]]—the Vikings' first beat reporter for that newspaper—visited team management in the [[Twin Cities]] under the condition that his visit was to be kept secret from his current employer. His cover was blown by local columnist [[Sid Hartman]], who reported the visit and forced Parseghian to issue denials. [[Philadelphia Eagles]] assistant Nick Skorich and a man with Minnesota ties who was working in the [[CFL]], [[Bud Grant]], were also candidates until a different Eagle, quarterback [[Norm Van Brocklin]], was hired on January 18, 1961. Van Brocklin had just finished his career as a player on a high note, having defeated the [[1960 Green Bay Packers season|Green Bay Packers]] in the [[1960 NFL Championship Game]].<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/>

[[File:Bud Grant 1968.jpg|thumb|upright|Head Coach [[Bud Grant]] (1967–1983 and 1985)]]
[[File:1986 Jeno's Pizza - 50 - Buck Buchanan and Curley Culp.jpg|thumb|upright|The Vikings were upset by the Chiefs 23–7 in [[Super Bowl IV]].]]

As a new franchise, the Vikings had the first overall selection in the [[1961 NFL draft]], and they picked running back [[Tommy Mason]] of [[Tulane Green Wave football|Tulane]]. They also took a young quarterback from the [[Georgia Bulldogs football|University of Georgia]] named [[Fran Tarkenton]] in the third round. Notable veterans acquired in the offseason were [[George Shaw (American football)|George Shaw]] and [[Hugh McElhenny]]. The Vikings won their first regular-season game, defeating the [[1961 Chicago Bears season|Chicago Bears]] 37–13 on Opening Day [[1961 NFL season|1961]]; Tarkenton came off the bench to throw four touchdown passes and run for another to lead the upset. Reality set in as the expansion team lost its next seven games on their way to a 3–11 record.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/> The losing continued throughout much of the 1960s as the Vikings had a combined record of 32 wins, 59 losses, and 7 ties in their first seven seasons with only one winning season (8–5–1 in 1964).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1964-min |title=1964 Minnesota Vikings |publisher=Jt-sw.com |date=December 30, 2002 |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014130612/http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1964-min |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/1964.htm |title=1964 Minnesota Vikings Statistics & Players |website=[[Pro Football Reference]] |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=July 25, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120725135854/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/min/1964.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

On March 7, 1967, quarterback Fran Tarkenton was traded to the [[New York Giants]] for a first-round and second-round draft choice in 1967, a first-round choice in 1968 and a second-round choice in 1969. With the picks, Minnesota selected [[Clinton Jones (American football)|Clinton Jones]] and [[Bob Grim (American football)|Bob Grim]] in 1967, [[Ron Yary]] in 1968 and [[Ed White (American football)|Ed White]] in 1969.<ref name="VikingUpdate" /> On March 10, 1967, the Vikings hired new head coach Bud Grant to replace Van Brocklin, who had resigned on February 11, 1967. Grant came to the Vikings from the [[Canadian Football League]] as head coach for the [[Winnipeg Blue Bombers]], whom he led to four [[Grey Cup Championship]]s in 10 years.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/><ref name="VikingUpdate"/> Replacing Tarkenton at quarterback was eight-year CFL veteran and Grey Cup champion [[Joe Kapp]]. During the late 1960s, the Vikings built a powerful defense known as the [[Purple People Eaters]], led by [[Alan Page]], [[Carl Eller]], [[Gary Larsen]], and [[Jim Marshall (defensive end)|Jim Marshall]].<ref name="PPE">{{cite web |title=The Purple People Eaters |publisher=Viking Update |date=July 19, 2001 |url=http://Vikings.scout.com/2/11604.html |access-date=April 24, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061102000315/http://vikings.scout.com/2/11604.html |archive-date=November 2, 2006 }}</ref> In [[1968 NFL season|1968]], that stingy defense earned the Vikings their first Central Division title and their first playoff berth.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/>

In [[1969 NFL season|1969]], the Vikings secured a 12–2 record.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> The team had 12 straight regular-season victories after a season-opening loss to the New York Giants, which was the longest single-season winning streak in 35 years.<ref name="SB IV DVD">{{cite video |title=Super Bowl IV |series=Super Bowl I-X Collector's Set |medium=DVD |publisher=NFL Productions |year=2003 }}</ref> The Vikings defeated the [[1969 Cleveland Browns season|Cleveland Browns]] 27–7 in the last pre-merger [[1969 NFL Championship Game|NFL Championship Game]] on January 4, 1970, at Metropolitan Stadium. The Vikings became the first modern NFL expansion team to win an [[NFL Championship Game]],<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> and earned a berth in [[Super Bowl IV]]; however, the heavily favored Vikings lost that game to the [[Kansas City Chiefs]], 23–7.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/sports-betting/story/_/id/14720475/nfl-looking-back-point-spread-winners-all-50-super-bowls |title=A bettor's guide to all 50 Super Bowls |last=Kraemer |first=Mackenzie |publisher=[[ESPN]] |date=February 5, 2016 |website=[[ESPN.com]] |access-date=January 5, 2020 |archive-date=March 8, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308130929/https://www.espn.com/chalk/story/_/id/14720475/nfl-looking-back-point-spread-winners-all-50-super-bowls |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/super-bowl-li-point-spread-odds-history-gambling-new-england-patriots-atlanta-falcons-012617 |title=The 10 biggest gambling upsets in Super Bowl history, ranked |last=Lynch |first=Andrew |publisher=[[Fox Sports]] |date=January 26, 2017 |website=[[FoxSports.com]] |access-date=January 5, 2020 |archive-date=December 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201032226/https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/gallery/super-bowl-li-point-spread-odds-history-gambling-new-england-patriots-atlanta-falcons-012617 |url-status=live }}</ref> The team MVP that season was Joe Kapp, who threw for seven touchdowns against the Baltimore Colts – still an all-time NFL record; however, Kapp refused to accept the award, stating, "There is not one most valuable Viking... there are 40 most valuable Vikings!"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/2011/05/19/chicharito-channels-joe-kapp/|title=Chicharito Channels Joe Kapp|access-date=December 31, 2012|archive-date=December 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203214533/http://www.bigsoccer.com/soccer/john-jagou/2011/05/19/chicharito-channels-joe-kapp|url-status=live}}</ref>