1968 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1968 season was the Minnesota Vikings' eighth in the National Football League. Under head coach Bud Grant, the Vikings won the NFL Central division title with an 8–6 record, and qualified for the postseason for the first time in franchise history. This was the first of four consecutive division titles for the Vikings. The Vikings' first trip to the playoffs saw them suffer a 24–14 loss in the Western Conference Championship Game to the eventual NFL champion and Super Bowl runner-up Baltimore Colts at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. In the Playoff Bowl two weeks later, they again lost to the Dallas Cowboys 17–13.

1968 Minnesota Vikings season
General managerJim Finks
Head coachBud Grant
Home fieldMetropolitan Stadium
Results
Record8–6
Division place1st NFL Central
Playoff finishLost Western Conference Championship Game
(at Colts) 14–24
Lost NFL Playoff Bowl
(vs. Cowboys) 13–17
Uniform

Offseason

1968 Draft
Main article: 1968 NFL draft
Hall of Famer
1968 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order Player name Position College Notes
Round Selection
11 Ron YaryOffensive tackleUSCfrom Giants[a]
7 Traded to the New Orleans Saints[b]
233 Charlie WestDefensive backTexas–El Paso
361 Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers[c]
76 Mike McGillLinebackerNotre Damefrom Cowboys[d]
489 Mike FreemanDefensive backFresno State
5117 Traded to the Washington Redskins[e]
6144 Bob GoodridgeWide receiverVanderbilt
7167 Oscar ReedWide receiverColorado Statefrom Falcons[f]
171 Lenny SnowRunning backGeorgia Tech
8198 Hank UrbanowiczDefensive tackleMiami
9225 Mike DonohoeTight endSan Francisco
10250 Tom SakalDefensive backMinnesota
11279 Bill HaasWide receiverNebraska–Omaha
12308 Howie SmallCenterRhode Island
13333 Dick WherryWide receiverNorthern State
14360 Don EvansOffensive tackleArkansas–Pine Bluff
15387 Jim HaynieQuarterbackWest Chester
16414 Lary KuharichDefensive backBoston College
17441 Bob LeeQuarterbackPacific
445 Bill HullGuardTennessee Techfrom Lions[g]
^[a] The New York Giants traded their 1st-round selection (1st overall), 1967 1st-round selection (2nd overall), 1967 2nd-round selection (28th overall), and 1969 2nd-round selection (39th overall) to Minnesota for QB Fran Tarkenton.
^[b] Minnesota traded their 1st-round selection (7th overall) and their 1969 1st-round selection (17th overall) to New Orleans for QB Gary Cuozzo.
^[c] Minnesota traded their 3rd-round selection (61st overall) to PIttsburgh for CB Brady Keys.
^[d] Dallas traded their 3rd-round selection (76th overall) to Minnesota for WR Lance Rentzel.
^[e] Minnesota traded their 5th-round selection (117th overall) to Washington for OL Bob Breitenstein.
^[f] Atlanta traded their 7th-round selection (167th overall) to Minnesota for QB Ron Vander Kelen.
^[g] Detroit traded their 17th-round selection (445th overall) to Minnesota for their 1969 16th-round selection (407th overall).

Roster
1968 Minnesota Vikings final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  • 30 Bill Brown
  • 28 Earl Denny
  • 26 Clinton Jones
  • 21 Jim Lindsey
  • 41 Dave Osborn
  • 32 Oscar Reed

Wide receivers

  • 82 Bob Goodridge
  • 27 Bob Grim
  • 86 Tom Hall
  • 80 John Henderson
  • 84 Gene Washington

Tight ends

  • 87 John Beasley
  • 85 Bill Martin
 Offensive linemen
  • 67 Grady Alderman T
  • 66 Bookie Bolin G
  • 61 Larry Bowie G
  • 71 Doug Davis T
  • 64 Milt Sunde G
  • 53 Mick Tingelhoff C
  • 63 Jim Vellone G
  • 73 Ron Yary T

Defensive linemen

  • 76 Paul Dickson DT
  • 81 Carl Eller DE
  • 77 Gary Larsen DT
  • 70 Jim Marshall DE
  • 88 Alan Page DT
  • 74 Steve Smith DE
 Linebackers
  • 58 Wally Hilgenberg
  • 36 John Kirby
  • 55 Mike McGill
  • 59 Lonnie Warwick
  • 60 Roy Winston

Defensive backs

  • 20 Bobby Bryant CB
  • 49 Dale Hackbart FS
  • 29 Karl Kassulke S
  • 22 Paul Krause FS
  • 46 Earsell Mackbee CB
  • 45 Ed Sharockman CB
  • 40 Charlie West

Special teams

Practice squad

  • -- Gayle Knief WR
  • 19 Bob Lee QB


Rookies in italics

Preseason
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance[1]
1 August 10 Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) L 10–13 0–1 Metropolitan Stadium 46,228
2 August 17 at Denver Broncos (AFL) W 39–16 1–1 University of Denver Stadium 20,901
3 August 24 Philadelphia Eagles W 52–10 2–1 Metropolitan Stadium 41,229
4 September 1 at St. Louis Cardinals L 28–31 2–2 Busch Memorial Stadium 25,233
5 September 6 New Orleans Saints W 20–17 3–2 State Fair Stadium (Shreveport, LA) 23,000

Regular season

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 14 Atlanta Falcons W 47–7 1–0 Metropolitan Stadium 45,563
2 September 22 at Green Bay Packers W 26–13 2–0 Milwaukee County Stadium 49,346
3 September 29 Chicago Bears L 17–27 2–1 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644
4 October 6 Detroit Lions[lower-alpha 1] W 24–10 3–1 Metropolitan Stadium 44,289
5 October 13 at New Orleans Saints L 17–20 3–2 Tulane Stadium 71,105
6 October 20 Dallas Cowboys L 7–20 3–3 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644
7 October 27 at Chicago Bears L 24–26 3–4 Wrigley Field 46,562
8 November 3 Washington Redskins W 27–14 4–4 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644
9 November 10 Green Bay Packers W 14–10 5–4 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644
10 November 17 at Detroit Lions W 13–6 6–4 Tiger Stadium 48,654
11 November 24 at Baltimore Colts L 9–21 6–5 Memorial Stadium 60,238
12 December 1 Los Angeles Rams L 3–31 6–6 Metropolitan Stadium 47,644
13 December 8 at San Francisco 49ers W 30–20 7–6 Kezar Stadium 29,049
14 December 15 at Philadelphia Eagles W 24–17 8–6 Franklin Field 54,530
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 11: at Baltimore Colts
Minnesota Vikings (6–4) at Baltimore Colts (9–1) – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 3 339
Colts 7 14 0021

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: November 24, 1968
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 50 °F or 10 °C, relative humidity 63%, wind 9 miles per hour (14 km/h; 7.8 kn)
  • TV: CBS
  • [2]
Game information

This would be the last occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season until 2000, by when the former team had been relocated to Indianapolis for seventeen seasons. The intervening gap of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history.[lower-alpha 2]

Standings
NFL Central
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Minnesota Vikings 8 6 0 .571 4–2 6–4 282 242 W2
Chicago Bears 7 7 0 .500 3–3 5–5 250 333 L1
Green Bay Packers 6 7 1 .462 1–4–1 2–7–1 281 227 W1
Detroit Lions 4 8 2 .333 3–2–1 4–5–1 207 241 L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Playoffs
Round Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
Conference December 22 at Baltimore Colts L 14–24 0–1 Memorial Stadium 60,238
Playoff Bowl January 5 Dallas Cowboys L 13–17 0–2 Miami Orange Bowl 22,961

Conference Playoff: at Baltimore Colts
Minnesota Vikings (8–6) at Baltimore Colts (13–1) – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Vikings 0 0 01414
Colts 0 7 14324

at Memorial Stadium, Baltimore, Maryland

  • Date: December 22, 1968
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 33 °F or 0.6 °C, relative humidity 73%, wind 7 miles per hour (11 km/h; 6.1 kn), wind chill 27 °F or −2.8 °C
  • TV: CBS
  • [4]
Game information

Following upon their last regular-season visit to the Colts for 32 years, the Vikings would visit the Colts for the last time in a competition game until 2000 in their first-ever postseason appearance.

Statistics

Team leaders
Category Player(s) Value
Passing yardsJoe Kapp1,695
Passing touchdownsJoe Kapp10
Rushing yardsBill Brown805
Rushing touchdownsBill Brown11
Receiving yardsGene Washington756
Receiving touchdownsGene Washington6
PointsFred Cox88
Kickoff return yardsCharlie West576
Punt return yardsCharlie West201
InterceptionsPaul Krause7

League rankings
Category Total yards Yards per game NFL rank
(out of 16)
Passing offense1,685120.415th
Rushing offense1,921137.26th
Total offense3,606257.614th
Passing defense1,855132.53rd
Rushing defense1,903135.911th
Total defense3,758268.45th

Notes
  1. This game was originally scheduled to be played in Detroit, but was switched with the November 17 game due to game 4 of the World Series.
  2. Tampa Bay did not play at Buffalo until 2009, although the Buccaneers joined the league 33 seasons previously.[3]

References
  1. "1968 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com.
  2. "Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Colts — November 24th, 1968". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. Urena, Ivan (2014). Pro Football Schedules: A Complete Historical Guide from 1933 to the Present. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 15–16. ISBN 9780786473519.
  4. "Divisional Round — Minnesota Vikings at Baltimore Colts — December 22nd, 1968". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
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