Editing Minnesota Vikings (section)

===1980s===
On May 15, 1981, the Vikings moved into a new facility in suburban [[Eden Prairie]] that housed the team's offices, locker room and practice fields. The complex was named "Winter Park" after [[Max Winter]], one of the Vikings' founders, who served as the team's president from 1965 to 1987.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> The Vikings played their final game at Metropolitan Stadium on December 20 to conclude the [[1981 NFL season]] by losing to the [[1981 Kansas City Chiefs season|Kansas City Chiefs]], 10–6.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/><ref name="VikingUpdate"/>

[[File:Tommy Kramer 2.jpg|thumb|upright|"Two-minute" [[Tommy Kramer]] (1977–1989)]]

The Vikings played their first game at the Metrodome in a preseason matchup against the [[1982 Seattle Seahawks season|Seattle Seahawks]] on August 21, 1982, in a game Minnesota won, 7–3.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> The first touchdown in the new facility was scored by [[Joe Senser]] on an 11-yard pass from [[Tommy Kramer]].<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> The first regular-season game in the Metrodome was the 1982 opener on September 12, when the Vikings defeated [[1982 Tampa Bay Buccaneers season|Tampa Bay]], 17–10. [[Rickey Young]] scored the first regular-season touchdown in the facility on a 3-yard run in the 2nd quarter.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> That year the defense led by [[Joey Browner]] began a dominant 10-year run as a premier NFL defensive back. The Vikings beat the St. Louis Cardinals 28–10 on August 6, 1983, at [[Wembley Stadium]] in [[London]] in the first international game in the NFL.

On January 27, 1984, Bud Grant retired as head coach of the Vikings. With a career regular-season record of 151–87–5 (.632) in 17 seasons with Minnesota, Grant led the franchise to 12 playoff appearances, 11 division titles, and four Super Bowls.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> [[Les Steckel]], who was an offensive assistant with the Vikings for 5 seasons, was then named the 3rd head coach in franchise history. Steckel, who came to the Vikings in 1979 after working as an assistant with the 49ers, was the youngest head coach in the NFL in 1984 at age 38.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> However, the Vikings lost a franchise-worst 13 games.<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/> After the season Steckel was fired, and on December 18, 1984, Bud Grant came out of retirement and was rehired as the head coach of the Vikings.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/>

On January 6, 1986, following the [[1985 NFL season|1985 season]], Bud Grant re-retired, this time permanently, as head coach of the Vikings. At the time of his retirement he held the 6th best winning record for a coach in NFL history with 168 career wins, including playoffs. In 18 seasons, he led the Vikings to a 158–96–5 regular-season record.<ref name="Grant">{{cite web |title=Bud Grant |work=profootballhof.com |publisher=Pro Football Hall of Fame |url=http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=79 |access-date=April 30, 2007 |archive-date=February 23, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090223044709/http://www.profootballhof.com/hof/member.jsp?player_id=79 |url-status=live }}</ref> Longtime Vikings assistant coach [[Jerry Burns]] was named the fourth head coach in team history on January 7, 1986.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/> He served as the Vikings' offensive coordinator from 1968 to 1985, when the team won 11 division titles and played in four Super Bowls. In his first season, the Vikings, led by the [[NFL Comeback Player of the Year]] Tommy Kramer, went 9–7,<ref name="Sportsecyclopedia"/> their first winning record in four years. On August 2, 1986, Fran Tarkenton was the first player who played the majority of his career with the Vikings to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.<ref name="VikingUpdate"/><ref name="Tarkenton"/>

Following the [[1987 NFL strike|strike]]-shortened [[1987 NFL season|1987 season]], the 8–7 Vikings, who had finished 8–4 in regular games but 0–3 using strike-replacement players,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1987-min |title=1987 Minnesota Vikings |publisher=Jt-sw.com |date=December 30, 2002 |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=October 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008223916/http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/results.nsf/Teams/1987-min |url-status=live }}</ref> pulled two upsets in the playoffs. They defeated the 12–3 [[1987 New Orleans Saints season|New Orleans Saints]] 44–10 at the [[Louisiana Superdome]] in the Wild Card game.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198801030nor.htm |title=Minnesota Vikings at New Orleans Saints – January 3rd, 1988 |work=Pro-Football-Reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=November 8, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108172239/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198801030nor.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> The following week, in the Divisional Playoff game, they beat the 13–2 [[1987 San Francisco 49ers season|San Francisco 49ers]] 36–24 at [[Candlestick Park]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198801090sfo.htm |title=Minnesota Vikings at San Francisco 49ers – January 9th, 1988 |work=Pro-Football-Reference.com |publisher=Sports Reference |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=October 24, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024085510/http://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/198801090sfo.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> During that game, [[Anthony Carter (American football)|Anthony Carter]] set the all-time record for most receiving yards in a playoff game with 227 yards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Anthony Carter and the receiving record |url=http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/70200322.html |work=StarTribune.com |publisher=StarTribune |date=November 26, 2009 |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203002726/http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/70200322.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The Vikings played the [[1988 Washington Redskins season|Washington Redskins]] in the [[1987–88 NFL playoffs|NFC Championship Game]] on January 17, 1988, at [[RFK Stadium]]. Trailing 17–10, the Vikings drove to the Redskins' 6-yard line with a little over a minute left in the game, but failed to get the ball into the end zone. The Vikings' hopes of a Super Bowl ended when [[Darrin Nelson]] dropped a pass from [[Wade Wilson (American football)|Wade Wilson]] on fourth down at the goal line.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.nbcsports.com/washington/washington-redskins/green-vs-vikes-in-87-the-myth-persists|title=Green vs. Vikes in '87—The Myth Persists|date=January 21, 2005|work=NBC Sports Washington|access-date=February 24, 2018|archive-date=March 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330013025/http://www.nbcsports.com/washington/washington-redskins/green-vs-vikes-in-87-the-myth-persists|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 12, 1989, the Vikings [[Herschel Walker Trade|acquired]] [[Herschel Walker]] from Dallas. The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, third-round choice Mike Jones, fifth-round choice Reggie Thornton and 10th-round choice Pat Newman in 1990 and a third-round choice [[Jake Reed (American football)|Jake Reed]] in 1991. Dallas received Issiac Holt, David Howard, Darrin Nelson, Jesse Solomon, Alex Stewart, a first-, second- and a sixth-round choice in 1990, first- and second-round choices in 1991 and a first-, second- and third-round choice in 1992. Two of those selections turned into [[Emmitt Smith]] and [[Darren Woodson]]. Walker's performance fell short of expectations in his three seasons with the Vikings, while the Cowboys rode their draft picks to three Super Bowl victories in the early-to-mid-1990s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Scout.com: History: Walker Trade |url=http://min.scout.com/2/11653.html |work=Scout.com |publisher=Microsoft |date=July 20, 2001 |access-date=September 3, 2012 |archive-date=January 10, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080110132609/http://min.scout.com/2/11653.html |url-status=live }}</ref>