1961 Minnesota Vikings

The Minnesota Vikings were the idea of a group of owners led by Bill Boyer, the son a Minnesota lumberjack. Another partner in the new team's ownership, Ole Haugsrud, had once owned the Duluth team of the early NFL. My ebook considers the Vikings founders, their early management and coaches and the first players drafted by Minnesota. Finally I describe in detail the highlights of the 1961 season. More

The National Football League expanded in 1960 and 1961, adding two teams that would be an incremental part of the NFL in years to come. The Dallas Cowboys came first followed by the Minnesota Vikings who began their first season in September 1961. There were some differences in the expansions as they were applied to the new two teams. These differences are one of the subjects of my ebook. Neither team did very well to begin with but the Vikings surprised several teams, among them a very good Baltimore Colts team. Minnesota wanted a professional football team in part because the owners of the Minnesota Twins wanted additional revenue to retire bonds on Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington. Metropolitan was situated in Bloomington, which was at the apex of a triangle that also included the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. A professional football team was also desired in the Minneapolis area to fill Metropolitan Stadium during the months when the Twins were not active.