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1964 Minnesota Vikings season

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1964 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerJim Finks
Head coachNorm Van Brocklin
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record8–5–1
Division placeT-2nd NFL Western
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersT Grady Alderman
FB Bill Brown
RB Tommy Mason
QB Fran Tarkenton
C Mick Tingelhoff
AP All-ProsFB Bill Brown (2nd team)
C Mick Tingelhoff (1st team)
Uniform

The 1964 season was the Minnesota Vikings' fourth in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with an 8–5–1 record for their first winning season and a franchise-best until 1969. They tied with the Green Bay Packers for second place in the Western conference, who gained the berth in the third-place Playoff Bowl in Miami on January 3. The two teams had split their season series, with the road teams winning, but the Packers won the tiebreaker on point differential: the Vikings' victory was by just one point, while Green Bay won by over four touchdowns.[1] In the season opener, the Vikings upset eventual Western champion Baltimore.

To date, this is the only season the Vikings wore white jerseys for all their home games. In January 1964, the NFL owners had approved a new rule which allowed home teams to wear the jersey color of their choice.[2]

This was the first season for the forty-man roster, an increase of three.[2]

Offseason

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1964 draft

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Main article: 1964 NFL draft
Pro Bowler
Hall of Famer
1964 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
1 6 Carl Eller Defensive tackle Minnesota
2 19 Hal Bedsole Wide receiver USC
3 34 George Rose Running back Auburn
4 47 Traded to the Chicago Bears[A]
53 Tom Keating Defensive tackle Michigan from Giants[B]
5 62 John Kirby Linebacker Nebraska
6 75 Bob Lacey Wide receiver North Carolina
7 90 Wes Bryant Defensive tackle Arkansas
8 103 Bill McWatters Fullback North Texas State
9 118 Darrell Lester Fullback McNeese State
10 131 Traded to the Los Angeles Rams[C]
11 146 H. O. Estes Guard East Central State
12 159 Sandy Sands Wide receiver Texas
13 174 Russ Vollmer Running back Memphis State
14 187 Tom Michel Running back East Carolina
15 202 Monte Kiffin Defensive tackle Nebraska
16 215 Carleton Oats Wide receiver Florida A&M
17 230 Jerry McClurg Wide receiver Colorado
18 243 Carl Robinson Defensive tackle Prairie View A&M
19 258 Dick Schott Wide receiver Louisville
20 271 Milt Sunde Offensive tackle Minnesota

Notes

  1. ^ The Vikings traded their fourth-round selection (47th overall) to the Bears in exchange for RB Bill Brown.
  2. ^ The Vikings traded RB Hugh McElhenny to the Giants in exchange for a fourth-round selection (53rd overall) and a 1965 second-round selection (15th overall).
  3. ^ The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (131st overall) to the Rams in exchange for RB Tommy Wilson.

Roster

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1964 Minnesota Vikings roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Rookies in italics

Preseason

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[3]
1 August 8 New York Giants W 21–7 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium 31,581
2 August 15 St. Louis Cardinals W 24–10 2–0 Cheney Stadium (Atlanta, GA) 10,000
3 August 22 San Francisco 49ers W 24–21 3–0 Ute Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT) 20,207
4 August 29 at Los Angeles Rams W 34–23 4–0 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 39,938
5 September 5 at Philadelphia Eagles W 21–20 5–0 Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA) 9,212

Regular season

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Main article: 1964 NFL season

Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 13 Baltimore Colts W 34–24 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium  35,563^
2 September 20 Chicago Bears L 28–34 1–1 Metropolitan Stadium 41,387
3 September 27 at Los Angeles Rams L 13–22 1–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 50,009
4 October 4 at Green Bay Packers W 24–23 2–2 City Stadium 42,327
5 October 11 Detroit Lions L 20–24 2–3 Metropolitan Stadium 40,840
6 October 18 Pittsburgh Steelers W 30–10 3–3 Metropolitan Stadium 39,873
7 October 25 at San Francisco 49ers W 27–22 4–3 Kezar Stadium 31,845
8 November 1 Green Bay Packers L 13–42 4–4 Metropolitan Stadium  44,278*
9 November 8 San Francisco 49ers W 24–7 5–4 Metropolitan Stadium 40,408
10 November 15 at Baltimore Colts L 14–17 5–5 Memorial Stadium 60,213
11 November 22 at Detroit Lions T 23–23 5–5–1 Tiger Stadium 48,291
12 November 29 Los Angeles Rams W 34–13 6–5–1 Metropolitan Stadium 31,677
13 December 6 at New York Giants W 30–21 7–5–1 Yankee Stadium 62,802
14 December 13 at Chicago Bears W 41–14 8–5–1 Wrigley Field 46,486
^ Opening day attendance record at Metropolitan Stadium
* Single game attendance record at Metropolitan Stadium

Game summaries

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Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

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The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27–22 on October 25 in San Francisco at Kezar Stadium, but not before defensive end Jim Marshall made one of the most embarrassing errors in NFL history. In the fourth quarter, 49er halfback Billy Kilmer caught a pass from rookie quarterback George Mira and fumbled the ball forward, which was scooped up in stride by Marshall. He unknowingly ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone; thinking he scored a touchdown, he tossed the ball in the air throwing it out of bounds, resulting in a safety. The Vikings had a 27–17 lead at the time, and it narrowed the gap to eight points.[4][5]

On the previous possession, Marshall had forced a Mira fumble in the collapsing pocket and defensive end Carl Eller had scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Just before that, Viking linebacker Roy Winston had intercepted a Mira pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it to the 49er eleven-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by quarterback Fran Tarkenton to take the lead.[6][7] Two weeks later in Minnesota, the Vikings defeated the 49ers again, by a score of 24–7.[8]

  • YouTube – NFL Films – Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run

Standings

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NFL Western Conference
W L T PCT CONF PF PA STK
Baltimore Colts 12 2 0 .857 10–2 428 225 W1
Green Bay Packers[a] 8 5 1 .615 6–5–1 342 245 T1
Minnesota Vikings 8 5 1 .615 6–5–1 355 296 W3
Detroit Lions 7 5 2 .583 6–4–2 280 260 W2
Los Angeles Rams 5 7 2 .417 3–7–2 283 339 T1
Chicago Bears 5 9 0 .357 5–7 260 379 L2
San Francisco 49ers 4 10 0 .286 3–9 236 330 L1
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
  1. ^ Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
    by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

Statistics

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Team leaders

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Category Player(s) Value
Passing yards Fran Tarkenton 2,506
Passing touchdowns Fran Tarkenton 22
Rushing yards Bill Brown 866
Rushing touchdowns Bill Brown 7
Receiving yards Bill Brown 703
Receiving touchdowns Bill Brown 9
Points Fred Cox 103
Kickoff return yards Bill Butler 597
Punt return yards Bill Butler 156
Interceptions George Rose 6
Sacks Jim Marshall 11.5

Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.[9]

League rankings

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Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 14)
Passing offense 2,123 151.6 11th
Rushing offense 2,183 155.9 2nd
Total offense 4,306 307.6 6th
Passing defense 2,724 194.6 13th
Rushing defense 1,616 115.4 5th
Total defense 4,340 310.0 10th

References

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  1. ^ Lea, Bud (December 14, 1964). "Packers tie Rams, gain bowl berth". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 5, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ a b "NFL keeps ties same, ups rosters". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. January 29, 1964. p. 3, part 2.
  3. ^ "1964 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
  4. ^ "Marshall runs 60 yards - backwards". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 26, 1964. p. 4B.
  5. ^ "Wrong way run shakes up coach". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. October 26, 1964. p. 4, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  6. ^ "Wrong way run as Vikes edge 49ers". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. October 26, 1964. p. 3, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ "Viking opportunists rout 49ers by 27-22". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. October 26, 1964. p. 12.
  8. ^ "Tarkenton fires 3 TDs in Vike win". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. November 8, 1964. p. 5, part 2.[permanent dead link‍]
  9. ^ "Pre-1982 Sacks Added To Pro Football Reference". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.
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