Kings of the North: Photographs and History of the Minnesota Vikings

Product Description

Get the beautiful book that presents the history of the Minnesota Vikings football team, with full-color photography and fascinating text.
The Minnesota Vikings are a proud and storied franchise. Some of the NFL’s all-time best players―and all-time great teams―have donned the purple and gold. Each season is precious to the fans, whether we won three games or thirteen, because it reminds us of special memories: trips to the stadium with parents and children, watching on TV with neighbors and friends, shared camaraderie with strangers, and more.
Author, historian, and lifelong Vikings fan Chad Israelson presents the perfect gift for Minnesota sports fans. Kings of the North collects the team’s rich history and pairs it with professional, full-color photography to create a stunning book for any coffee table or bookshelf. It presents a season-by-season summary, which includes the team’s schedule, starting lineup, and statistical leaders. Chad also takes a closer look at a few of the best players and greatest wins. The book is rounded out with Chad’s picks for every all-decade team. It truly has it all for anyone who loves Minnesota’s favorite team!
Book Features

Fascinating summary of every Minnesota football season
Schedules, starting lineups, and statistical leaders
The author’s picks for every all-decade team
Full-color photography from throughout the Vikings’ history

About the Author

Chad Israelson grew up in La Crescent, Minnesota, and began following the Minnesota Vikings at five years old. He also developed an early love of history. Chad earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. In 1995, he graduated with an MA from the University of Nebraska. For the past 25 years, he has been a history instructor at Rochester Community and Technical College in southeast Minnesota, winning Outstanding Educator twice and serving as faculty president for six years. In addition, he taught history courses for Augsburg and Winona State universities. Chad serves as political analyst for KTTC, Rochester’s NBC-affiliated television station, and he was a columnist for the Rochester
Post-Bulletin. In 2015, Chad co-authored
The Political World of Bob Dylan. He lives in Rochester with his wife of nearly 30 years. They raised two sons together.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Season by Season
1961 Record: 3–11, Seventh Place
Key Additions:

Grady Alderman (expansion draft)
Jim Marshall (trade)
Ed Sharockman (draft)
Fran Tarkenton (draft)

On September 17, 1961, after dropping all five of their preseason contests, the Minnesota Vikings played and won their first ever regular-season game. No other expansion team had, or would, emerge victorious in their inaugural contest until the 2002 Houston Texans. The Vikings did not merely squeak by; they routed the Chicago Bears, 37–13. George Shaw started at quarterback, but late in the first quarter, head coach Norm Van Brocklin felt the team needed a spark: He replaced Shaw with rookie Fran Tarkenton.
Tarkenton threw four touchdown passes in his debut (the first of 342 on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame). What made the win even more impressive was that Chicago finished the season with a respectable 8–6 record.
After this auspicious beginning, the Vikings promptly dropped their next seven games. They snapped the streak in November with a 28–20 victory against Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts. Three weeks later, the Vikings posted their final victory of the season, a 42–21 thrashing of the Los Angeles Rams. Their season concluded with a 52–35 defeat at the hands of the revenge-hungry Chicago Bears.
Running back Hugh McElhenny and end Jerry Reichow became the Vikings’ first Pro Bowl representatives that year. Respectability remained a few years off, but fans were encouraged by the team’s young talent.
1962 Record: 2–11–1, Sixth Place
Key Additions:

Bill Brown (trade)
Mick Tingelhoff (free agent)

The 1962 season began less suc