Minnesota Vikings • 1973 Highlights

On January 13th 1974 in Houston's rice stadium it was the destiny of the NFC champion Minnesota Vikings to meet one of pro football's greatest teams ever on one of its greatest days Super Bowl eight was a day of ultimate triumph for the Miami Dolphins and a day of aching frustration for the Minnesota Vikings but even in defeat they remained the warm memories of a spectacular season the season of 19 victories and just three defeats most of all a season in which the Minnesota Vikings prove that they were winners as they swept to the championship of the National Football Conference for Coach bud grant and the Minnesota Vikings the season opened on September 16th in Metropolitan Stadium and following an undefeated preseason the Vikings were ready for the always powerful Oakland Raiders John Gilliam gave the Vikings an early 10-point lead but Fran Tarkenton found himself trailing 16 to 10 late in the third quarter Titans to voice role the Vikings into scoring position and one play later Fran Tarkenton hit rookie Chuck Foreman who twisted his way to the go-ahead touchdown old reliable bill brown added the clincher and Minnesota wrapped up an impressive team victory 24 to 16 week to found the Vikings in Chicago for the first of three consecutive Central Division battles against the Bears Chuck Foreman literally burst to the front and the Rookie of the Year race as time after time he found his way into the Chicago secondary Chuck Foreman ran for 116 yards Fran Tarkenton passed for the game's only touchdown and Fred Cox kicked five field goals as the Vikings again came from behind to win 22 to 13 the returning heroes of the offense were welcomed home the following week but against the defending central champion Green Bay Packers a different kind of game was in store as one Packer said afterward they just poured in on us in a game decided by first downs instead of by touchdowns the Vikings out hit and out kicked the Packers 11 2 3 week four found the Vikings in Detroit where two early errors by the Lions special team set up two touchdowns in the first four and a half minutes both on scoring passes to add Marinero the Vikings won their fourth straight 23 to 9 next the Vikings put their undefeated streak on the line against the San Francisco 49ers a team they had not beaten in their last three try John Gilliam again provided an early lead but steve spurrier completed 31 passes the most ever against the Vikings and the outcome was in doubt until two crucial fourth-quarter interceptions by Paul Krause saved a 5th straight victory 17 to 13 back home for a 4-game stand the Vikings next faced their old friend Roman Gabriel now the leader of the surprisingly tough Philadelphia Eagles Fran Tarkenton had the perfect antidote for any kind of trouble number 42 John Gilliam Fran Tarkenton connected on 16 of 21 passes including six - John Gilliam who totaled a hundred and sixty yards and scored two touchdowns as the Vikings offense hit its stride and outscored the Eagles 28 21 for a sixth consecutive win then came week seven and a battle of a Titans as the NFL's only unbeaten teams squared off against each other the Los Angeles Rams had the league's top rated offense but the only touchdown of the game came on a short pass to Chuck Foreman the rest was up to the Vikings defense and they were magnificent leading ten to nine with time running out Jeff seaman blitzed John Hagel out of field goal range and with their seventh consecutive win the Vikings that equaled their victory total of the previous season and were the only undefeated team in the league the always formidable Cleveland Browns were next for the Vikings but no matter what the Browns tried there was a Viking ready to turn the play around for Minnesota the Viking defense held cleveland just for first downs and no touchdowns while the offense provided 23 first downs and some of the year's most spectacular plays by Fran Tarkenton and Stu Voigt pleasin became Minnesota's eight consecutive victim 26 to three and the Vikings rolled on to week nine in the rematch with the revitalised and ravenously hungry Detroit Lions Detroit scored first but once again weird special team play hurts the Lions and helped the Vikings Walli hill converged touchdown put the Vikings ahead and then the clock rolled back to the 60s as Fran Tarkenton handed off to Dave Osborne 14 times for 79 yards and to the old bowling ball Bill Brown 18 times for 103 yards Fran Tarkenton enjoyed another typically efficient afternoon as he hit on 11 of 15 passes including another touchdown - John Gilliam the offensive line devastated the detroit defense opening the way to the vikings 9th straight victory of the season and their 12th straight over the lions 28 to 7 not only with the Vikings the lone undefeated team in the NFL but after just nine weeks they had already clinched the Central Division title for the fifth time in the past six years in Minnesota he was Bob Lee in Atlanta he was General Robert M Lee and he was looking for an end to the Vikings unbeaten streak and for a sixth consecutive win for the Falcon the Vikings winning streak finally ended in Atlanta 22:14 the following week was the last home game of the regular season governor Andersen officially proclaimed it Carl Cassell fidei the former Minnesota strong saftey had been paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle crash the day before training camp opened and now he was making his first public appearance since the accident as Jon Gilliam said I don't think we can ever do enough to repay him for what he's done for us in the game itself the Vikings rolled up 31 points against the Bears of which 12 were scored by John Gilliam who later presented the game ball to Carl kasell key the regular season ended with 12 wins and 2 losses a record which tied for the best in the NFL and one of the reasons for that record was but grants outstanding offensive line anchored at left tackle by captain Grady alderman at left guard was Ed white the world's armwrestling champion at center was Nick tingle off a seven-time all-pro who made himself one of the game's most celebrated free agents cheering right guard were John Henry ward until he broke his leg and number 64 veteran Milt Sunday Ronnie Airy was again an all-pro and a major contributor to the health and welfare of Francis Asbury Tarkenton who led the entire NFL and passing percentage and in fewest interceptions while directing a masterfully coordinated Minnesota offense an offense which attacked the opposition with more than two thousand yards in both rushing and passing among Tarkenton x' receivers were six who averaged at least one catch per game three of these were running backs Oscar II the multi-talented rookie Chuck Foreman and the second-year man from The Ivy League ed Marinero at one wide receiver spot Tarkington could call on the experience of 14 Pro seasons and former Green Bay Packer Carol Dale from the tight end position Tarkington could rely on Stu void to make the key catch no matter how heavy the traffic when it came time for the big play week after week talking Tinley for and found Minnesota's mr. smooth John Gilliam John Gilliam scored nine touchdowns and caught 42 passes for more than 900 yards as he led his team in receding for the fifth straight year and no matter who was at quarterback Fran Tarkenton or his backup Bob berry the man to look for was John Gilliam the running game achieved new heights in 73 Fran Tarkenton ran his career rushing total past 3,300 yards with a lifetime average of 6 yards a tribe with tarkington in the backfield most of the year was the man they called the seed Oscar II with a solid four yards per carry then there was number 44 Walter Eugene shut Foreman the Vikings first authentic breakaway back since the early years of Tommy Mason despite several nagging injuries Foreman handled the ball more than 200 times for a total of almost 1,200 yards in total offense and was consensus NFC Rookie of the Year for 1973 all right let's huddle up come on guys get it going all right make sure you're outside don't go in the offside first man down there riding a wild horse let's go now AB each of the tackle mate at age 35 Bill Brown was not just the oldest running back in the league but as captain of the Viking special teams he was a rare blend of experience and enthusiasm as Brown said that retirement talk just makes me work that much harder Bill Brown was an inspiration to the rest of the Vikings excellent special teams of which the more visible members were punter mikesh I an expert at moving the ball around for favourable field position in Fred Cox who passed the 1000 point mark and became number four on the NFL's all-time scoring list the Minnesota defense returned to good health in 73 as they gave up the fewest points in the NFC and the fewest touchdowns in the entire league an average of less than one again the defensive secondary forced its share of turnovers the most spectacular was by Terry Brown against the New York Giants Terry Brown is an example of the quality depth which weights behind men like free safety Paul Kraus number 22 the NFL's leading active interceptor and third on the all-time list and men like strong safety Jeff Wright number 23 the third year man from the University of Minnesota and left cornerback Nate Wright number 43 the other half of the Minnesota Vikings own particular version of the Wright brothers head right cornerback was bobby Bryant 270 pounds of true grit and the NFC's leading interceptor for the year with seven the Viking linebackers combined youth with savvy on the outside there was experienced in ten-year veteran Wally he'll converge on one side and 12 year veteran Roy Winston on the other in the middle there was youth and a developing star and second-year man Jeff seaman number 50 at defensive tackle were perennial all-pro Allen page and strongmen Gary Larson at end were all Pro Carl Ehlert and captain Jim Marshall the ironman v man was TV star bob lutz a'mma the Viking front four has been an inseparable unit since 1967 when Alan page arrived from Notre Dame all nicknames aside the Viking front four is quite simply one of the best in pro football history and the foundation for one of the best defensive teams ever to play the game December 22nd 1973 the opening game of the NFL playoffs most of the Vikings had been there before but two had not been there were Fran Tarkenton and John Gilliam in their first crucial game in six weeks the Vikings were tight at the start and they trailed the Washington Redskins seven to three at the half the man who finally got things going was Oscar Reed who accounted for 171 yards running and receiving as Reid said after the game since early in the season they've been keying on Chuck Foreman I'm not the world's greatest pass catcher or runner but given a little room I'll use what I've got twice Billy Kilmer put the Redskins ahead but then Karl eller told John Gilliam to shake it off and with one kick he blasted a blackboard to the floor and in the second half the Vikings twice came from behind to take the lead while Metropolitan Stadium quivered with joy in the Twilight Fran Tarkenton performed still another of his miracles within one minute of the fourth quarter Charrington's and Gilliam twice four touchdowns the Vikings won 27 to 20 and it was on to Dallas to play for the championship for the National Football Conference Irving Texas was not exactly friendly territory for Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings but in his first championship game in 13 years of pro football Tarkenton played the best game of his best season his play selection and field generalship kept the Dallas doomsday defense off-balance throughout the game and enabled the Vikings to control the ball for almost the entire first half which ended with Minnesota leading 10 to nothing in the third quarter mike eischeid boomed a punt 58 yards from his own endzone but a Dallas rookie named golden Richards almost inspired the Cowboys to another championship as a nation of pro football fans looked on Fran Tarkenton showed the winners touch just three plays after Dallas had scored Tarkenton retreated and threw the ball just as far as he could as he had done so often John Gilliam scored the touchdown which broke the game open again it was up to the defense and the Purple Gang never looked better the Cowboys tried everything in their playbook but the Vikings just kept hammering the ball loose Bobby Bryant's touchdown finished an almost perfect day for Minnesota the Vikings 127 210 not just because of Bryant and Gilliam and Tarkenton but because 40 men had played a team sport about as well as it can be played and that is how the Minnesota Vikings became champions of the National Football Conference On January 12th 1975 in Tulane Stadium New Orleans the Minnesota Vikings took part in their second consecutive Super Bowl game and their third in the past six years as champions of the National Football Conference they were prepared in every way possible but as coach but Grant has often said one thing you can't coach is the bounce of the football and against the AFC champion Pittsburgh Steelers every score was the direct result of an eccentric bounce of the football late in the fourth quarter an apparent Minnesota fumble recovery was ruled after the whistle and the Pittsburgh Steelers then went on to score the championship clinching touchdown a touch down almost too painful to endure especially for the Vikings who had been there the longest but to a man each member of the team had every right to be proud of himself and an extraordinarily successful championship season

Channel: Randy Fast

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Keywords: Minnesota Vikings, Vintage Minnesota Vikings, Minnesota Vikings Video, 1973 Minnesota Vikings, Vikings

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Length: 25min 58sec (1558 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 24 2016