"The Missing Rings • The Story Of The 1969 Minnesota Vikings"

in the history of pro football few teams were more dominant than the 1969 Vikings they led the league in points scored and had more than 50 in a game three times they allowed the fewest points averaging less than 10 per game they want 12 games in a row longest winning streak in the NFL in 35 years but they did not win it all their story begins when they first entered the league is an expansion franchise in 1961 we thought of ourselves Kaunas pirates we had been used to doing a little head hunting we get in some physical altercations or as most commonly no we get in some good fights the fight that rocked the franchise was one between head coach norm Van Brocklin and quarterback Fran Tarkenton it was a tough mix Tarkington was a preacher's kid come on bats osco and Van Brocklin talked like he was from the streets all right 22 more on 22 come on I got your ass off the field come on he could put together a string of curse words that were funny to me I mean hysterical but you can imagine with a preacher's kid they just didn't have a real good relationship the breaking point came in 1966 in a game televised in Tarkenton s home state of Georgia Van Brocklin benched the future Hall of Fame quarterback of course it had a great effect on target he just thought that was the biggest insult Vikings lost and finished the year in last place at the end of the season Tarkenton asked to be traded and was dealt to the Giants and Brocklin resigned the Vikings replace Van Brocklin with the successful Canadian Football League coach Bud Grant grant began molding Van Brocklin pirates and to disciplined soldiers he started getting the people to line up for the national anthem we'd practiced that just like we practiced a play I didn't like the way we stood and scratched and moved and chewed gum and spit and and had helmets on the ground we practiced standing our toes on the line helmet up under your arm no scratching and we thought man this guy's nuts you know he's really crazy but he had but there was method to his madness right after getting the players in line grant reassembled the team's personnel we didn't have a quarterback so I felt were qualified to get us going I said hey there's a guy in Canada one Grey Cups up in Vancouver and beat us many times so we went and got Joe Kapp 1967 Joe Kapp left the CFL and his offseason job at a food company I sold more squirrel brand peanut butter than anybody in the history of peanut butter and so that's why they call me nutty Joe there may have been another reason in his Viking debut cap entered trailing 32 to nothing against Deacon Jones and the Rams and so I go in there I got to do something different so we get to the line of scrimmage and I said to Deacon Q his game echoed his personality don't be calling me no cookie it was ill-mannered and unpredictable but above all else he was tough I could have been nice but I don't think I played nice I don't know I don't like to be nice in the middle of a of a contest nothing about camp was nice not even his throws I did not use the laces I did not use the lace and that's probably unique he threw some passes at they look like ducks but they got in the hands of the receivers if that's what they're seeing I mean I can question their vision or their judgment on what's a spiral I think over the years those who question cap did so at their own peril the best asset first of all I don't like any of it I don't like any of this in discussions about these quarterbacks though I know I talked about that if you're asking me to make these all-time statements for 430 million people and I'm going on record here you know and and you could spend an hour on each question we needed somebody to kind of get this team off the mark and Joe was that kind of a guy could he throw the ball with spirals can he throw it long enough accurate enough I hadn't measured all those thing all I knew he was a winner the nicest thing he ever said about me was Joe Kapp will never stop looking for a way to win the game that's what I got from it on the other hand the only thing he ever said to me personally up close was three words get a haircut grants cleanup of the Vikings was quick and dramatic in just three seasons they became one of the least penalized teams in the league and the most dominant in all of football but they would finish one win short of becoming Super Bowl four champions the 60s may have been a time for racial unrest in America but on the Vikings the only color that mattered was purple their Mexican American quarterback was one of the team's most popular players he just got along well with everybody I don't know whether it had anything to do with him being in the mix mexican-american I mean I didn't think of a Mexican until they always ordered tequila in 1967 cap had a chance to be the toast of Minnesota by completing a season sweep the mighty Green Bay Packers with the game tied in less than two minutes to play cap began driving the Vikings to the winning score I made my pivot to hand the ball off to Billy brown and I my mistake i fumble the ball Packers recovered won the game cap was inconsolable at the postgame gathering cap recounted the loss when number 59 linebacker Lonnie Warwick we got in a discussion as to who lost the game he said the defense I said no I did hear his two guys said I lost the game no I lost the game you know I did this and I really messed up and the other guy says huh - yeah but I did this and I really messed up and the next thing you know they had taken it outside cap refused to back down and exchanged punches with Warwick one of the Vikings fiercest hitters my effort was to show him that the offense was just as tough as our own defense and that was the stupid reason for the fight next morning I did a call on the other end was Warwick he says Joe how you feeling I said well my left eyes closed and he says we'd better go tell coach grant that you know there's no problem no dissensions well I'll be I'll be there to get you that's what tequila can do to you once in a while so that was over and done with mean we talked about it and you know I wanted to downplay it then and of course the next day ever they were buddy they were give her kissing cousins from that on after finishing 1967 with just three wins solidarity became the team's battle cry in 1968 they won their first division title 1969 they adopted a new slogan forty four sixty forty players committed the sixty minutes of football cap was injured for the season opener still he was determined to show his devotion to the cause he stood on the side land and rooted for and I'm part of his team and it's a team goal that we're doing that's 44 60 caps replacement Gary croisé Oh through two touchdowns but victory hinged on whether the Vikings could contain the Giants quarterback former teammate Fran Tarkenton we had talked a little stuff before the game you know a little smack and you know told him we're gonna kick your ass you know you never wanted to let Fran you know get the upper hand cuz he had this little laugh he would teehee you to death he the Vikings defense silence Tarkenton for most of the game but with Minnesota head by 13 with five minutes to play the front four began to tire and Tarkenton took advantage he started scrambling and he was wearing us out to lead down to six Tarkington face third and 17 just over a minute to go probable completion led to the game-winning touchdown and the end of Gary quasars reign as the Vikings started quarterback Gary had a tremendous game against the Giants but we'd but we lost and I felt he had done nothing to lose the starting job so on the Wednesday bud says that I'm going to start and I started to say but he walked away the intention all along was that you know camp is going to be our quarterback I know Joe's mentality Joe responds to challenges he's ready for Baltimore me Baltimore Colts the Vikings week to opponent with a defending NFL champion in the 1968 playoffs they eliminated the Vikings by attacking cap they did a very dangerous nine-man kind of a blitz and we didn't catch up with it they had beat him up he was out for revenge I looked at that film all offseason so when they came to us in the 69 sees in the play up at Mets Stadium that same blitz didn't work for him that day you midway through the third quarter cap had already thrown five touchdowns I left the game twice Gary went in but they knocked him out they broke his nose so I go back in and they're still blitzing so we throw a couple more against one of the best defenses in football cap threw seven touchdowns no quarterback is thrown seven and a game since there's seven touchdown passes that day we did that and at least five of them are spirals time for kicker cutter but grant was a rarity in coaching circles he believed in few words and short practices 9:30 bus I've got a wife and six kids huh sit up here with that I got a family to feed the way to to make a living is basically what it was grant was able to detach himself from football but not from his players one in particular a lot of people ask who is your best football player as a coach you can't can't go there so how do I describe Jim Marshall he's a special football player a special man and if wasn't for Jim Marshall I wouldn't be here today I love - Marshall Marshall number 70 personified the Bud Grant standard he always played smart he always played hard but most impressively he always played he had that great capacity of bouncing back from serious bruises and contusions and play not only play play as easy but play at the level that he sets for himself I think was was the most amazing part of it you know there were times when I was legitimately sick in the hospital and but I don't know what it was when when they to do when they got to be game time there was just something there don't break my leg Jeff I think you're ready when God was making defensive ends they made Jim Marshall and then everything else followed okay when you change coaches you got different personalities and different not necessarily ruled but mode of operation and the thing that Jim Marrs he bought it he bought what I was saying and I could see it in his eyes and so right away everything went through Jim Marshall ready see I got you again if Meredith finds out that he can get us then he's gonna run us and run us to death on that quick count we can't afford to have that if there was a player that would raw and go jump and dis show disrespect to the other team Jim Marshall would have had him by the collar come on Manny hey hey hey hey don't start look man play on the field come on let's have a nice clean one okay come on we don't wanna have a fight and stuff man looking ironically the Viking that tried to get everyone to do right made one of the biggest mistakes in NFL history for the first down loses the football it's picked up by Jim Marcel is running the wrong way Barton is running the wrong way his teammates were running along the far side of the field Russ trying to tell him I played well the rest of the game caused a fumble did we score the winning touchdown on so you can actually sad traded two points for for seven points but people you know constantly talk about the wrong way run you know I always tell them you know what think about the worst mistake that you've ever made and think about a hundred two hundred million people seeing you make that mistake and teasing you about it every day of your life how would you feel about it off the field marshal sought individual glory as a Viking he was part of a foursome number 81 Karl eller number 77 Gary Larson and number 88 Alan page joined marshal on the defensive front the foursome became known as the Purple People eaters after the popular song by Sheb Wooley when I had one horn flying purple people eater it was ugly looking to have bird half dinosaur looking thing and as you could think of 100 other name we'd be happier with than the purple people eaters in 1969 all four members of the Purple People eaters made the Pro Bowl to eller and Paige would make the Hall of Fame page man the middle he was a little different than the rest of the guys he didn't drink he was very intent on getting his law degree during football season he would do a lot of studying however he was a very very dedicated teammate and probably one of the best defensive linemen that I've ever seen Paige was the brain and Marshall was the heart number 81 Carl eller nicknamed moose provided the attitude what's Linda's thing let's win this without going in Week three the Purple People eaters and the rest of the defense came within five seconds of the franchise's first shutout the next week they blanked the Bears lopsided wins became the norm after their ninth straight win a championship season looked inevitable and the Viking players began to see themselves as invincible they scored touchdown we started laughing why are you laughing at us we have scored a touchdown yeah but you're not gonna win the game we are the NFL's Central Division the final stretch of the season meant games and bad weather the town I was told that Oh joke Apple do real well in Minnesota because he's been to Canada but you never get used to it and that's one of Bud grants coaching points that nobody can ever get used to it you just have to mentally get yourself prepared he had stories that he would tell us when I was the story that he told us about building the Alaskan pipeline we're behind schedule because it's too cold every we put people on a bulldozer they drive the bulldozer person you got to get down and get a cup of coffee and get warmed up get more cold on go back out and we're way behind and finally the Eskimos are up there they learn how to ride the bulldozer and they put them up there well they sat there all day obviously they Eskimo has some advantage they tested the skin on Eskimos and they tested Jim metabolism everything else and they came to the conclusion that there was absolutely no difference the only the only difference was that the Eskimos when they went out and saw on the bulldozers they expected to be cold but they knew they had a job to do well we're going to be cold but we can still play football so he convinced us and we bought a ticket to that story grant banned heaters from the Minnesota sideline with only the thought of victory keeping them warm the Vikings met the Lions in week 11 this game was Thanksgiving and it was snowing raining I didn't take care of the field very well despite the conditions Jim Marshall and Allen Paige combined for one of the years remarkable plays the Vikings added another shutout and improved to 10 and one the thing that you prove is of course that you can play when it's cold that's been proven many times in NFL and you can play when it's cold so that's what we wanted to emphasize at the Vikings Metropolitan Stadium both teams shared the same sideline and crafty veterans knew how to get around grants heater ban your opponents would be sitting about 20 feet away from me and they had great big heaters and stuff blowing all over so you always made it a point but you came off on the sidelines you'd always run down past their fans their bench and you could get a little warmth you know as she ran she ran fast despite the occasional cheat the ability to withstand the cold became a matter of pride among the Viking players you watch the Vikings come on the field we don't have sleeves ah nice day and I remember Bill Brown walking down in front of the other team scratching the scabs off his arm letting it start to bleed before the game in a cold weather just uh you know a little psychological thing that they got involved they bought it but they did it more than I did I just said you know left it up to them and they parlayed it into an advantage for us and yes I think it was an advantage and but not much you know point and a half maybe the Vikings parlayed the makeup of Metropolitan Stadium and the 20-foot Viking statue that stood in the endzone into another psychological advantage and the Sun would drop over the back of the stadium wind would come up the temperature would drop 10 15 sometimes 20 degrees we would under our breath start saying oh dit Odin Odin Viking God of War all of a sudden the wind would come Bohdan Odin it's chill would come through you see your opponents go what manner of men are these you know these these dudes are crazy is that we had some kind of a spiritual thing going on and it was simply that it was gonna get cold in week 13 the Vikings played the snowiest game in Minnesota history the conditions did little to cool Joe caps fiery spirit down 7 to 3 cap lobbied grant to let him throw foosball we playing with let's go down that's our ball and Joe kept saying we'll only gonna open up coach I really feel that we can run up there and I could just 3435 pancetta feel conditions those aren't that this is that kind of game I'd say Joel long as the game was this tight and it was close we'll just do what we're doing it's something really simple to stop I'm taking flats and Blair Bleek boule a flat is tough too he was a real Ally on the sideline even though you knew he was mr. conservative so 81 divider from the basic play to silicon if I was truly listen to him I probably wouldn't have made it in the NFL because because I had to get more offense gone I had to take control of the signal calling where I did it my way finally wrong in the fourth quarter were behind and I said okay Joe we're going to open up down I got gene Washington I said gene we're going to split the zone now how do you want the ball you want the laces up or on the side or where do you want the laces boom when was the Vikings 12th straight for the playoffs the Vikings would enjoy home-field and all the advantages that come with it the Vikings finished the regular season 12 and 2 but the annual awards banquet joke app was named the team's most valuable player Here I am at the banquet knowing that the reason for our success is every department every every player contributed to this thing I know for a fact that there is no most valuable Viking there only 40 most valuable bike this team has earned this thing together and thank you for you know saying so but I don't want it I just can't accept this there the spontaneous I just couldn't accept it the Credo of 4460 is more valuable to me I thought it was a great gesture on his part and Joe always had good timing I mean he these things look spontaneous but Joe's a he's a thinker and he is this was something that wasn't spontaneous this heats up need planned forty-four 6040 players committed to sixty minutes of football best describe the effort the team would need to beat George Allen's Rams in the playoffs in the opening moments Carl eller returned an interception for a touchdown but the play was called back because of an offsides call on Allen page Allen was not all signed it was just very quick it took a while for the Vikings to recover Roman Gabriel threw two first-half touchdowns Joe Kapp through to second-half interceptions Vikings trailed 22:14 in the fourth quarter and their championship run was in jeopardy on occasion if I didn't see the defensive end protecting for the bootleg I'd keep the ball the Purple People eaters now had to protect a one-point lead their best pass rusher was matched up against the Rams Hall of Fame tackle number 76 Bob Brown Karl met the challenge of the best offensive tackles in the league the better player he played against the better he played the player they call moose pulled over brown sack Gabriel for his safety in the final minute the Rams made one last charge Kalen pages penalty costs the Vikings early with the game on the line he was determined to make amends he was a little angry they were calling him for offside they were holding him they just invoked anger in him and one thing you didn't want to do is make him angry go Cleveland Browns and sub-zero temperatures stood between the Vikings and a spot in Super Bowl four neither were any match for the resolve of Joe Kapp we're on the five-yard line and it's icy field we call Bill Brown over the middle we miss connected I just don't go down I'm gonna go make the score I believe the budget play under each other and cap right up the village you see what happened pick fine later in the game I called a short pass and it was covered I looked on this side it was covered so what do you do so I'm running down the field if I had any kind of speed at all I would have gone all the way but then there's this obstacle his name is Jim Houston and I put all my moves on him both of them he ran right through him Houston went down and was out cold Joel got up and used and laid facedown in the field I'm sure to his embarrassment to this day because he was certainly their best linebacker maybe even their best defensive player the National Football League 7/7 and it's nothing but pandemonium here at the son of a it was a little hazardous trying to get off the field it's like a massive crowd running at you and you had to try to get between the people and get off the field we didn't have security we got now now the throw in jail if you get on a field and those day they're pretty and the whole stand want to be in the field toward a goal post down in that turba thing some guys just stops you know they just stood there and people just jumped on them there was something to to feel and and when it feels that good you just want to treasure that feeling and keep it with you and hope that you remember it when you get my age where's the Tucson yeah oh look up we should we stuck with it you know start the end the game we went to a running game run run the clock down we stayed with it there you go juice oh yeah get the carrot i soda pop that games are hard to take don't throw any on let me talk this man first any more questions and so when you win that game and you know there's one more to go you start getting ready you start getting ready emotionally your mind it starts to think of what's the next one and do we have another fight okay bring him on Super Bowl four was the last game before the AFL and NFL merged it was supposed to be the final display of the NFL's dominance Vikings were expected to beat the Chiefs by two touchdowns and the pregame ceremony a Viking in a balloon lost his way and careened off course in the first half the same could be said of the team at halftime they trailed 16 to nothing we never got our blocking straight in the Super Bowl so that sounds like I'm blaming the offensive line I don't think are we ever as a coaching staff and I don't know how bud would react to this but I don't think we were quite as smart as we had to be as a play caller in that game I did not go to the pass on first down I can critique it to death well we really didn't have a sophisticated passing attack we're ahead in most of our games and most of our games we didn't have to come back we didn't have the passing sophistication or the talent to do that now Joe took a tremendous beating in that game trying to do that but he tried to do it himself and our passing game was not that good at that point in spite of us being behind at the half and nobody was saying anything special in the way of a rah-rah but on the other hand we did not make some Corrections that we needed to make and I know I got our offense together and I ripped them pretty good we came out with a 70 yard drive and that was us Vikings cut the lead to nine watch a play-action pass and make sure you keep them in that pocket they could not get any closer let's go look like it had helium in it you can't smoke those balls and hardly that's right the end was near but nutty Joe never went down without a fight drawback was was not working so I did a play pass and knew Aaron Brown was not going to get blocked unless they made some calls that that we weren't making but I called it anyway because I we needed a change as a scintillating 20 feet of summer and have been a five year panic instead of fix it back up again and half it hurt cap had dislocated his shoulder it was finished and so were the Vikings Here I am if my chance to win the world's championship and I get knocked out when you get your chance you got to be ready you got to be prepared and we did not get it done you somebody says winning isn't everything but losing sure is nothing and you lose something like that man there's a real nothing feeling it's not one of your most memorable moments today I guess coach what happened you saw what happened we played a fine football team and in Kansas City are deserving winners and certainly you couldn't have a finer team represent the professional football as their as our champion you agonize after the game and what did you could you have done what did you do what you didn't do you agonize you replay it you look at it and then you put it aside to a man nobody cried nobody made excuses nobody blamed anybody it was a team right to the end Minnesota's lost in Super Bowl four marked a stunning end to a remarkable season but the Vikings were a team on the rise and many expected their fall from grace to be short but I know it's a great disappointment but we're going to hear a lot more about the Minnesota Vikings in the years to come I think while we sir we sure hope so and maybe we can come back next year sometime and redeem ourselves a little bit after losing Super Bowl four Joe Kapp had a contract dispute and never played for the Vikings again in 1970 he joined the Patriots for one forgettable season and was then out of football his career and the team's legacy would have been different if they had won Super Bowl four I have spent my life now looking back and make assessments of that question and I feel that if we'd have won the game that I could have played for the Vikings another season and I think our team the momentum that we had we would have won another Super Bowl in 1972 Fran Tarkenton came back to Minnesota and the Vikings returned to three more Super Bowls they lost each time you I've never gotten over it none of them those were for opportunities that we had to prove that we were the best in the world and we didn't do it we got beat and each one of the Super Bowls we got beat soundly and you never get over things like that I mean it still haunts me every day you got to be able to live with losing that's the hardest thing to get over it I'm you can't let it eat you up I've never gone back and looked at those Super Bowl games I don't have a copy of any of them I mean I don't that's not that's not my legacy I mean that's that's what we did and that's over with no it doesn't it's not something I live with you

Channel: Randy Fast

Views: 379,260

Rating: 4.8078322 out of 5

Keywords: Minnesota Vikings, 1969 Minnesota Vikings, Jim Marshall, Joe Kapp, Bud Grant

Id: 7UMVy0-ZjPc

Length: 43min 31sec (2611 seconds)

Published: Sat May 28 2016