The Minnesota Vikings are out in the cold again. After 31 years in the covered Hubert Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis, they have rounded out their current season in the open air of the University of Minnesota’s Memorial Stadium.
The team’s new venue, the US Bank Stadium, under construction for the past three years, promises to be open for business by next September. The old Dome had to go, the NFL said, because it was too small, only 45,000 seats. The new digs will seat more than 50,000.
The Vikings lost their last game of the season 10-9 against the Seattle Seahawks by missing a field goal attempt in the final seconds. The temperature during the game was six-below with a wind chill in negative double digits.
That would never have been an acceptable excuse back in the 1960s and 70s when the Vikings played all their home games in the refrigerated confines of Metropolitan Stadium in the Twin Cities suburb of Bloomington – now the location of Mall of the Americas.
In addition to being case-hardened by subzero temperatures, the Vikings had a secret weapon back then, a quarterback by the name of Fran Tarkenton. After this quiet, Georgia boy was drafted in 1961, Vikings football was forever changed.
He sat on the bench during most of his first game in September of that year. When Coach Norm Van Broklin finally put him into the game, he stunned the football world by throwing four rapid touchdown passes and personally running a fifth to bring the Vikings from behind to beat the Chicago Bears 37-13.
From that notable beginning, Tarkenton launched a career of dizzying victories for the Minnesota team – along with a culture of insane joy and unbearable angst among thousands of fans.
He had a habit of letting the opposing teams gallop ahead by multiple touchdowns, and then he would calmly stand behind the line of scrimmage, survey the field with the quiet demeanor of a man deciding where to plant a rose bush, and then magically throw rapid-fire touchdown passes to win game after game in the final minutes.
It was crazy.
One game was especially memorable. The Vikings versus the Packers. It was 25-below at Metropolitan Stadium. Fans huddled in down-filled sleeping bags, their faces buried in ski masks, waiting for the Tarkenton magic. He did not disappoint, and the Vikings pulled out another heart attack victory.
The Minneapolis Tribune reported the next day that because of the extreme cold, more than 1,000 delirious Viking fans shelled out 30 bucks apiece to get their frozen cars started after the game. No one complained.
The Vikings also lost all four Super Bowl attempts. Some said it was because they were playing indoors.
