Vikings Message Board.Com

I know there are people here who have been fans longer than I have ... but not many. I date back to September, 28, 1969, when the Vikings beat the NFL champion Baltimore Colts 52-14 and Joe Kapp threw 7 touchdown passes. I was in the stands at old Met Stadium that day, all of 9 years old. I knew very little about football at that time, but in that moment, I instantly loved the Vikings (and of course Joe Kapp). In my 9-year-old mind, EVERY GAME would be like the Colts game.

Wow. How wrong was I?

I've seen all four Super Bowl losses. All the times we've fallen short in the NFCC Game. All the end-of-season heartaches, like the year we lost to the stupid Cardinals to miss the playoffs. Like many of you, I loved the 1998 team, but I always felt a little uneasy about that squad because they just gave up too many yards and points on defense. I thought our 2009 team was maybe the best since the Super Bowl era relative to the rest of the NFC, or at least gave the 1998 team a run for its money, but that team truly got screwed in the game against league-darling New Orleans. I've been around for every possible heartache a Vikings fan could suffer.

Still, I am optimistic. I'm optimistic every year (although admittedly more some years that others). I see the Vikings differently than many ... as a proud franchise with 20 division championships and 9 trips to the NFC Championship Game. From the time Bud Grant came on as coach in the late 60s, we've been one of the winningest franchises in the entire league. I'm proud of our heritage, and I believe we're going in the right direction.

I believe our best chance in the Zimmer era, our peak talent-wise was in 2016. We had just come off a division championship, AP was still in his prime, Teddy Bridgewater was showing signs of maturing, and our defense was absolutely terrifying. When I look back at YouTube videos of that defense, I wonder how we ever lost. Fast, tough and nasty at every level. But the wheels got loosened big time when Teddy had that terrible injury in training camp. We started 5-0 and looked like we might be able to survive it all, but it just wasn't working with Norv at the helm on offense, and those wheels eventually fell off.

The 2017 season was probably the most fun and joyful I've had in decades. I loved the way that team battled and won games they weren't favored to win. I thought Case Keenum had one of the great seasons in Vikings history, and of course totally unexpected. But ... again, something in the back of my mind told me this wasn't the team to win it all. Maybe it was Case bumping his head against his own ceiling. Don't know, but somehow I wasn't surprised the Eagles killed us.

Right now, I feel like we're in a bit of a reset. Maybe a reload. But to say Mike Zimmer CAN'T win it? That's crazy. The man has won 60% of his games as coach of the Vikings. We haven't had a losing season since 2014. I also believe he's among the most improved in-game coaches there is. He did some questionable things in his first couple of years, but he's proven to be great at in-game adjustments, solid on challenges, and good at clock management (yes, good at clock management ... one of his biggest areas of improvement, if you assess him honestly). His players respect the heck out of him, and so does management. I also love the way he sets his ego aside to bring in former head coaches for his staff, guys like Norv Turner and Tony Sparano and Pat Shurmur and Gary Kubiak. That indicates to me a man who is comfortable in his own skin and confident in his authority, yet not stuck in the mud.

I believe this team can win the Super Bowl, and I believe it can be within the next 3-5 years under Mike Zimmer.

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 pm I know there are people here who have been fans longer than I have ... but not many. I date back to September, 28, 1969, when the Vikings beat the NFL champion Baltimore Colts 52-14 and Joe Kapp threw 7 touchdown passes. I was in the stands at old Met Stadium that day, all of 9 years old. I knew very little about football at that time, but in that moment, I instantly loved the Vikings (and of course Joe Kapp). In my 9-year-old mind, EVERY GAME would be like the Colts game.

Wow. How wrong was I?

I've seen all four Super Bowl losses. All the times we've fallen short in the NFCC Game. All the end-of-season heartaches, like the year we lost to the stupid Cardinals to miss the playoffs. Like many of you, I loved the 1998 team, but I always felt a little uneasy about that squad because they just gave up too many yards and points on defense. I thought our 2009 team was maybe the best since the Super Bowl era relative to the rest of the NFC, or at least gave the 1998 team a run for its money, but that team truly got screwed in the game against league-darling New Orleans. I've been around for every possible heartache a Vikings fan could suffer.

Still, I am optimistic. I'm optimistic every year (although admittedly more some years that others). I see the Vikings differently than many ... as a proud franchise with 20 division championships and 9 trips to the NFC Championship Game. From the time Bud Grant came on as coach in the late 60s, we've been one of the winningest franchises in the entire league. I'm proud of our heritage, and I believe we're going in the right direction.

I believe our best chance in the Zimmer era, our peak talent-wise was in 2016. We had just come off a division championship, AP was still in his prime, Teddy Bridgewater was showing signs of maturing, and our defense was absolutely terrifying. When I look back at YouTube videos of that defense, I wonder how we ever lost. Fast, tough and nasty at every level. But the wheels got loosened big time when Teddy had that terrible injury in training camp. We started 5-0 and looked like we might be able to survive it all, but it just wasn't working with Norv at the helm on offense, and those wheels eventually fell off.

The 2017 season was probably the most fun and joyful I've had in decades. I loved the way that team battled and won games they weren't favored to win. I thought Case Keenum had one of the great seasons in Vikings history, and of course totally unexpected. But ... again, something in the back of my mind told me this wasn't the team to win it all. Maybe it was Case bumping his head against his own ceiling. Don't know, but somehow I wasn't surprised the Eagles killed us.

Right now, I feel like we're in a bit of a reset. Maybe a reload. But to say Mike Zimmer CAN'T win it? That's crazy. The man has won 60% of his games as coach of the Vikings. We haven't had a losing season since 2014. I also believe he's among the most improved in-game coaches there is. He did some questionable things in his first couple of years, but he's proven to be great at in-game adjustments, solid on challenges, and good at clock management (yes, good at clock management ... one of his biggest areas of improvement, if you assess him honestly). His players respect the heck out of him, and so does management. I also love the way he sets his ego aside to bring in former head coaches for his staff, guys like Norv Turner and Tony Sparano and Pat Shurmur and Gary Kubiak. That indicates to me a man who is comfortable in his own skin and confident in his authority, yet not stuck in the mud.

I believe this team can win the Super Bowl, and I believe it can be within the next 3-5 years under Mike Zimmer.

That's pretty much where I'm at. Love reading about your long history as a fan and so really hope they can win one for the longtime fans soon.

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 7:55 pm

VikingsVictorious wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:21 pm
So firing your proven winning coach is the path to success. WOW!

Excuse me, I was not talking to you

When you post on this message board you are in fact talking to everybody who reads this message board.

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 11:28 pm

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 pm I know there are people here who have been fans longer than I have ... but not many. I date back to September, 28, 1969, when the Vikings beat the NFL champion Baltimore Colts 52-14 and Joe Kapp threw 7 touchdown passes. I was in the stands at old Met Stadium that day, all of 9 years old. I knew very little about football at that time, but in that moment, I instantly loved the Vikings (and of course Joe Kapp). In my 9-year-old mind, EVERY GAME would be like the Colts game.

Wow. How wrong was I?

I've seen all four Super Bowl losses. All the times we've fallen short in the NFCC Game. All the end-of-season heartaches, like the year we lost to the stupid Cardinals to miss the playoffs. Like many of you, I loved the 1998 team, but I always felt a little uneasy about that squad because they just gave up too many yards and points on defense. I thought our 2009 team was maybe the best since the Super Bowl era relative to the rest of the NFC, or at least gave the 1998 team a run for its money, but that team truly got screwed in the game against league-darling New Orleans. I've been around for every possible heartache a Vikings fan could suffer.

Still, I am optimistic. I'm optimistic every year (although admittedly more some years that others). I see the Vikings differently than many ... as a proud franchise with 20 division championships and 9 trips to the NFC Championship Game. From the time Bud Grant came on as coach in the late 60s, we've been one of the winningest franchises in the entire league. I'm proud of our heritage, and I believe we're going in the right direction.

I believe our best chance in the Zimmer era, our peak talent-wise was in 2016. We had just come off a division championship, AP was still in his prime, Teddy Bridgewater was showing signs of maturing, and our defense was absolutely terrifying. When I look back at YouTube videos of that defense, I wonder how we ever lost. Fast, tough and nasty at every level. But the wheels got loosened big time when Teddy had that terrible injury in training camp. We started 5-0 and looked like we might be able to survive it all, but it just wasn't working with Norv at the helm on offense, and those wheels eventually fell off.

The 2017 season was probably the most fun and joyful I've had in decades. I loved the way that team battled and won games they weren't favored to win. I thought Case Keenum had one of the great seasons in Vikings history, and of course totally unexpected. But ... again, something in the back of my mind told me this wasn't the team to win it all. Maybe it was Case bumping his head against his own ceiling. Don't know, but somehow I wasn't surprised the Eagles killed us.

Right now, I feel like we're in a bit of a reset. Maybe a reload. But to say Mike Zimmer CAN'T win it? That's crazy. The man has won 60% of his games as coach of the Vikings. We haven't had a losing season since 2014. I also believe he's among the most improved in-game coaches there is. He did some questionable things in his first couple of years, but he's proven to be great at in-game adjustments, solid on challenges, and good at clock management (yes, good at clock management ... one of his biggest areas of improvement, if you assess him honestly). His players respect the heck out of him, and so does management. I also love the way he sets his ego aside to bring in former head coaches for his staff, guys like Norv Turner and Tony Sparano and Pat Shurmur and Gary Kubiak. That indicates to me a man who is comfortable in his own skin and confident in his authority, yet not stuck in the mud.

I believe this team can win the Super Bowl, and I believe it can be within the next 3-5 years under Mike Zimmer.

That's pretty much where I'm at. Love reading about your long history as a fan and so really hope they can win one for the longtime fans soon.

Thanks man. It's been a long and winding road.

I still believe the best team we ever had was 1975, the year of the Hail Mary. A lot of people claim pass interference on Drew Pearson, but I saw it differently. The rules were different then ... you could get away with almost anything, including destroying a "helpless receiver."

Which is why I blame Paul Krause.

He was in position to light up Drew Pearson just as he was making the catch -- again, perfectly legal in those days -- but Paul Krause hated contact. Watch the play on YouTube. He actually SLOWS DOWN instead of trying to separate Pearson from the ball, then dances around pointing at the referee and crying foul.

I know that point of view is pretty much sacrilege in Vikings Country, but Krause could have stopped that play. Jack Tatum of the Raiders not only would have separated Drew Pearson from the ball, but likely his head, too. Not Krause.

That team would have won the Super Bowl. They were hands-down the best team in the NFL that year.

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 8:41 am

Maelstrom88 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 11:28 pm

That's pretty much where I'm at. Love reading about your long history as a fan and so really hope they can win one for the longtime fans soon.

Thanks man. It's been a long and winding road.

I still believe the best team we ever had was 1975, the year of the Hail Mary. A lot of people claim pass interference on Drew Pearson, but I saw it differently. The rules were different then ... you could get away with almost anything, including destroying a "helpless receiver."

Which is why I blame Paul Krause.

He was in position to light up Drew Pearson just as he was making the catch -- again, perfectly legal in those days -- but Paul Krause hated contact. Watch the play on YouTube. He actually SLOWS DOWN instead of trying to separate Pearson from the ball, then dances around pointing at the referee and crying foul.

I know that point of view is pretty much sacrilege in Vikings Country, but Krause could have stopped that play. Jack Tatum of the Raiders not only would have separated Drew Pearson from the ball, but likely his head, too. Not Krause.

That team would have won the Super Bowl. They were hands-down the best team in the NFL that year.

I too have been a fan for about the same amount of time as Kapp. Was born in Oct of 64. I became a Vikings fan as soon as I was born due to hereditary fandom in my dad's side of the family, and I was born , raised an still live in NW Ohio, so it wasn't a popular thing, but it never ever wavered. I have pictures of me in Vikings pjs , still have my old J.C. Penney helmet, and my Eller and Page posters and old penants that hung on my bedroom walls all my life now are hanging in my Viking mancave.
So I've had to live all the heartache and disappointments.
Just gonna be brief. I could write all day to dig up the pains of the best but only gonna hit a few.
I remember several times crying as a kid. The SB losses. Will get back to the Hail Mary in a min.
No disputing the Championship games where we were destroyed. Giants, Philly etc.
The Atlanta game, that hurt bad. Ues our D may have had a tendency to give up points. But that O could score and score. I go back to right before halftime when we got cute and Cunningham fumbled and it led to a Falcons score. BUT when Gary Anderson lined up for the FG , I thought finally we r going to win a SB. And I really truly believe we would have beaten Denver.
When Anderson shanked it, I knew that once again we were gonna get beat that day. It was an indicator to me. To this day I have never seen Mortens game winning kick. I went up to the top of the stairs and didnt watch. I heard my wife say Oh honey I'm so sorry. So the curse continued.
The Saints game. Yes, there is no doubt we turned the ball.over way too many times that day. But I will go to my grave standing on my belief that Pete Morelli and his crew did everything possible to give that game to them. We should have never been in that position where we had to be trying to have that late scoring drive when Favre threw the int. Bad choice yes. Shoulda ran for the 1st down. Yes. But the phantom P.I. call, the Pierre Thomas fumble that WASN'T a 1st down that also kept the drive alive. Way too many bad calls to remember. But , is it possible that Favre didnt run because Morrelli and his crew let the Saints about kill Favre all day long and that ankle was so bad he didn't try? Search for the pics of his ankle after the game. I don't know how he woulda played even if they did win. He would have, but how effective would he have been? It was a downright homer job. They wanted the Saints in the SB because of all the stuff that had happened from Katrina, which was an absolute horrible thing, but it should not have had an outcome on the game. And they wanted Brees to get him a ring. Sorry but to this day I still hope I never run into Pete Morelli in my lifetime. I don't care if I am 80, I will still want to punch him in the mouth.
The year of the Minny Miracle, my mom was laying in the hospital recovering from a massive brain bleed stroke. I was at the hospital from morning till night everyday. I had my Viking shirts , jerseys, coats etc on every day. I will tell u during that run, there were so many nurses, doctors, hospital workers and other patients families who became temporary Vikings fans due to my dad and I being there wearing our stuff all that time. My dad forced me to go home and watch the games at home because he knew i needed that break. I'm telling you when the Minny Miracle happened I truly believed it was destiny and we were gonna take it all. And it was prob the greatest time in my life for it to happen. I wanted so bad to be able to tell my mom when she was able to comprehend that we finally did it. Then Philly happened. Done again.
Ok now the Hail Mary. When that happened, and I have told the story here before, but when Pearson pushed off on Wright, I was crying my eyes out. The phone rang. My mom said it for you. I picked up the phone and my older cousin said "Go Cowboys" and started laughing. That became the moment my mom 1st heard me say the F bomb. I yelled " F you Steve. I hate you" and slammed the phone down. My mom turned to my dad and said did you hear him. What are you gonna do? My dad said just leave him alone. Steve deserved it. My dad had my back!! And I know he was saying it in his head.
Now Kapp, we r buddies here. And I will agree that they did get away with alot more back then. But I will stand on this argument, what if the roles were reversed? What if it woulda been the other way around? Myself, I believe the flag woulda been thrown in favor of Capt America Rodger the Dodger and America's team. It was a blatant push off.
If u read my signature you will see I am like so many of you guys here. Its 1 milestone in life i want to see happen so freakin bad. But i am to the point now that I just don't know. Somehow no matter how close we get and how good it looks to happen, we either shoot ourselves in the foot or we get screwed. Plain and simple.
So now I just hang on to hope that someday before I draw my last breath i see it happen. But i am not holding that breath anymore.

J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:30 pm I know there are people here who have been fans longer than I have ... but not many. I date back to September, 28, 1969, when the Vikings beat the NFL champion Baltimore Colts 52-14 and Joe Kapp threw 7 touchdown passes. I was in the stands at old Met Stadium that day, all of 9 years old. I knew very little about football at that time, but in that moment, I instantly loved the Vikings (and of course Joe Kapp). In my 9-year-old mind, EVERY GAME would be like the Colts game.

Wow. How wrong was I?

I've seen all four Super Bowl losses. All the times we've fallen short in the NFCC Game. All the end-of-season heartaches, like the year we lost to the stupid Cardinals to miss the playoffs. Like many of you, I loved the 1998 team, but I always felt a little uneasy about that squad because they just gave up too many yards and points on defense. I thought our 2009 team was maybe the best since the Super Bowl era relative to the rest of the NFC, or at least gave the 1998 team a run for its money, but that team truly got screwed in the game against league-darling New Orleans. I've been around for every possible heartache a Vikings fan could suffer.

Still, I am optimistic. I'm optimistic every year (although admittedly more some years that others). I see the Vikings differently than many ... as a proud franchise with 20 division championships and 9 trips to the NFC Championship Game. From the time Bud Grant came on as coach in the late 60s, we've been one of the winningest franchises in the entire league. I'm proud of our heritage, and I believe we're going in the right direction.

I believe our best chance in the Zimmer era, our peak talent-wise was in 2016. We had just come off a division championship, AP was still in his prime, Teddy Bridgewater was showing signs of maturing, and our defense was absolutely terrifying. When I look back at YouTube videos of that defense, I wonder how we ever lost. Fast, tough and nasty at every level. But the wheels got loosened big time when Teddy had that terrible injury in training camp. We started 5-0 and looked like we might be able to survive it all, but it just wasn't working with Norv at the helm on offense, and those wheels eventually fell off.

The 2017 season was probably the most fun and joyful I've had in decades. I loved the way that team battled and won games they weren't favored to win. I thought Case Keenum had one of the great seasons in Vikings history, and of course totally unexpected. But ... again, something in the back of my mind told me this wasn't the team to win it all. Maybe it was Case bumping his head against his own ceiling. Don't know, but somehow I wasn't surprised the Eagles killed us.

Right now, I feel like we're in a bit of a reset. Maybe a reload. But to say Mike Zimmer CAN'T win it? That's crazy. The man has won 60% of his games as coach of the Vikings. We haven't had a losing season since 2014. I also believe he's among the most improved in-game coaches there is. He did some questionable things in his first couple of years, but he's proven to be great at in-game adjustments, solid on challenges, and good at clock management (yes, good at clock management ... one of his biggest areas of improvement, if you assess him honestly). His players respect the heck out of him, and so does management. I also love the way he sets his ego aside to bring in former head coaches for his staff, guys like Norv Turner and Tony Sparano and Pat Shurmur and Gary Kubiak. That indicates to me a man who is comfortable in his own skin and confident in his authority, yet not stuck in the mud.

I believe this team can win the Super Bowl, and I believe it can be within the next 3-5 years under Mike Zimmer.

I'm with you on all of that. I've been a fan since the mid 60s. Growing up my Dad was a Bears fan and I wanted to pick a team that would piss him off. I started following the Vikings because of that and because I thought their helmets were cool.

There are two things I really want to see in my lifetime, a man on Mars and the Vikings winning a Super Bowl. Both will happen eventually. Hopefully we don't have to wait for a Mars Super Bowl

S197 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 8:38 pm There are two things I really want to see in my lifetime, a man on Mars and the Vikings winning a Super Bowl. Both will happen eventually. Hopefully we don't have to wait for a Mars Super Bowl

Hmmmm. Why do you want to see someone on Mars? Fascinating.

I was not alive to watch the Vikings in any Super Bowls, so I can't speak to those teams.

I will say the 98 team was by far the best team in football that year, and the most dominate Vikings team I have ever seen. The fact that team couldn't win a Super Bowl, or even get to one, really makes me believe it is not ever meant to be for the Vikings.

That 09 team was close with how great Favre and AP worked off of each other and made that offense dominate, that was really just a great team with a QB playing at an elite level, we have seen that story before (every year NE wins a SB, KC this year, etc).

98 was a once in a lifetime team that just was so fricken good at everything and was just so much better than every team they faced. You typically don't see that kind of dominance in the NFL, and it reminded me a bit of college football, with a team like Ohio State or Alabama being just that much better than everyone else.

This current Vikings team would have lost 38-3 to that one. Super Bowl Champs KC would have lost 40-24. Yet somehow an overachieving Atlanta team beats us because of two missed FGs from a kicker who had been perfect on the year. It still kicks me in the nuts to think of it to this day.

fiestavike wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 9:21 am

S197 wrote: ↑Wed May 06, 2020 8:38 pm There are two things I really want to see in my lifetime, a man on Mars and the Vikings winning a Super Bowl. Both will happen eventually. Hopefully we don't have to wait for a Mars Super Bowl

Hmmmm. Why do you want to see someone on Mars? Fascinating.

Why do people climb Mountains. Same thing. I personally think it would drive me crazy making that trip in a cramped space ship. How long would it take? A month or more to get there?

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:03 pm

Rhodes Closed wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 7:41 pm

It took Andy Reid over a decade. Your point?

Excuse me, I was not talking to you

This is a public forum. You're speaking to everyone. Don't act indignant and snide when another person has a point to add to the conversation. That reflects badly on you.

So yes, you *are* talking to me now, and you have yet to address my point.

Rhodes Closed wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:28 pm

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 8:03 pm

Excuse me, I was not talking to you

This is a public forum. You're speaking to everyone. Don't act indignant and snide when another person has a point to add to the conversation. That reflects badly on you.

So yes, you *are* talking to me now, and you have yet to address my point.

I did say excuse me so it does not reflect badly on me and so you want to wait for 20 years until Zimmer wins a Superbowl?

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:57 pm

Rhodes Closed wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:28 pm

This is a public forum. You're speaking to everyone. Don't act indignant and snide when another person has a point to add to the conversation. That reflects badly on you.

So yes, you *are* talking to me now, and you have yet to address my point.

I did say excuse me so it does not reflect badly on me and so you want to wait for 20 years until Zimmer wins a Superbowl?

Sure, saying excuse me makes everything totally okay.

And my point isn't that it will take us 20 years, but that it takes time to win. Not everyone is Bill Belichick.

VikingsVictorious wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 6:21 pm

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Tue May 05, 2020 12:59 pm If Zimmer gets fired, Vikings will make it

So firing your proven winning coach is the path to success. WOW!

Well, I guess you are happy with Zimmer missing the playoffs every other year then

Rhodes Closed wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 2:27 pm

RandyMoss84 wrote: ↑Thu May 07, 2020 1:57 pm

I did say excuse me so it does not reflect badly on me and so you want to wait for 20 years until Zimmer wins a Superbowl?

Sure, saying excuse me makes everything totally okay.

And my point isn't that it will take us 20 years, but that it takes time to win. Not everyone is Bill Belichick.

Got it!