How is everyone’s holiday season? Just sitting around this week? While you huddle near the fireplace, space heater or stove, consider testing your knowledge with this year-end Minnesota Vikings Holiday Trivia Quiz?
Earn a nifty score and impress your friends at a New Year’s party. No party plans? Well, take the quiz anyway. The following 20 questions could be a nice diversion from playing Solitaire.
Score 16 or more correct answers and qualify as a consultant for future quizzes. Answer 12 to 15 right and I am still impressed. Get half correct, or fewer? Well, as they say in sports, “There’s always next year.”
Here are the questions, with the answers following after question No. 20. Later your hands might be quivering from the cold weather, but send an email and let me know your score.
1. If the Vikings win Sunday against the Bears, Minnesota’s final regular season record will be 13-3. What year did the Vikings last lose only three games or fewer in a season?
2. Who are the three teams that have defeated the Vikings during the 2017 regular season?
3. Name the Vikings players invited to participate in the 2018 Pro Bowl in Orlando.
4. Wide receiver Adam Thielen, 27, is having a breakout season for his home state team. Name the Minnesota town where he was a four-sport prep athlete.
5. What’s the name of the Vikings’ practice facility and front office headquarters in Eden Prairie?
6. How many surgeries has Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer had on his right eye?
7. Name the Viking offensive coordinator who resigned his position during the 2016 season.
8. Who was the Viking that tackled Aaron Rodgers and the hit resulted in a broken collarbone for the Packers’ great quarterback?
9. The Vikings have two starters and one reserve that played college football at Notre Dame. Can you name the three players?
10. Since the franchise’s first season in 1961, the Vikings have played the majority of their home regular season games at Met Stadium and in the Metrodome. Name the other facilities in Minnesota where they have played during the regular season.
11. What was the final score last Saturday night when the Vikings defeated the Packers in Green Bay?
12. After Vikings long snapper Kevin McDermott was injured during the Packers game, who took over his duties?
13. Where did Vikings’ quarterback Case Keenum play his college football?
14. The Wilf family has owned the Vikings since 2005. Who did the Wilfs purchase the franchise from?
15. What is Bud Grant’s real name?
16. Back in October the Vikings defeated the Bears 20-17 in Chicago. How many times have the Vikings won in their last 10 games at Soldier Field?
17. When the Vikings defeated the Redskins this season, how many different players scored touchdowns for Minnesota?
18. Sam Bradford’s knee has been the subject of much angst this fall. Is it the left or right knee that has been so troublesome?
19. This ex-Viking punter is heard on the team’s gameday radio broadcasts and shows. Who is he?
20. A former Vikings first round draft choice, this athlete also played baseball for the New York Mets. Who is he?
Trivia Quiz Answers
1. Who could forget (hopefully not you) that the 1998 Vikings went 15-1 during the regular season before “crashing” in the NFC title game at the Metrodome.
2. The 2017 Vikings have been defeated by the Steelers, 26-19; the Lions, 14-7; and the Panthers, 31-24. They have won 10 of their last 11 games heading into Sunday’s season-closing game against the Bears.
3. Linebacker Anthony Barr, defensive end Everson Griffen, cornerback Xavier Rhodes and wide receiver Adam Thielen are the four Vikings selected for the Pro Bowl. Admirers of safety Harrison Smith lie awake at night trying to figure out how he was left out.
4. Thielen’s home town is Detroit Lakes, Minnesota where he played football, basketball, baseball and golf. Three other native Minnesotans on the Vikings roster are wide receiver Michael Floyd, fullback C.J. Ham and kick return specialist Marcus Sherels.
5. Winter Park is the name of the team’s practice facility and front office headquarters. The Vikings will move into a new state-of-the-art complex in Eagan next year.
6. Mike Zimmer has reportedly had eight surgeries on his right eye in the last 12-plus months. A difficult ordeal, but he’s a tough guy.
7. With the Vikings offensive struggling in November of 2016, Norv Turner resigned as offensive coordinator. Assistant tight ends coach Pat Shurmur was promoted to coordinator, and this year his name is mentioned for possible 2018 head coaching vacancies in the NFL.
8. It was, of course, Anthony Barr who made the now infamous tackle on Rodgers that has sidelined him for most of the season. This was a “layup” answer so presumably most everyone scored a point.
9. The three former “Golden Domers” are wide receiver Michael Floyd, tight end Kyle Rudolph and safety Harrison Smith. All are 28 years old and were teammates in South Bend.
10. You are a Purple trivia genius if you got this one correct. The answer is TCF Bank Stadium (2014 and 2015 seasons), U.S. Bank Stadium (2016 to present) and Memorial Stadium. The Vikings were forced to play one regular season game at the University of Minnesota’s old Memorial Stadium in 1969 because of a scheduling conflict at Met Stadium.
11. I am guessing that five years from now a lot of Vikings fans will still remember Minnesota dominated the Packers last Saturday night in a 16-0 win. Christmas came early for all Green Bay-hating Vikings fans.
12. Kevin McDermott’s replacement was David Morgan, a backup tight end and the reserve long snapper. Morgan got the job done without a miscue at Green Bay.
13. Case Keenum was an NCAA record-setting quarterback at the University of Houston where his coaches included former Gopher wide receiver Tony Levine who was assistant head coach of the Cougars.
14. Red McCombs, who made his fortune in the car business in Texas, sold the Vikings in 2005 for a reported $625 million after purchasing the franchise for supposedly $250 million about seven years earlier. McCombs used to preach that the Metrodome had “the loudest fans in the NFL.” Would you buy a used car from this man?
15. The legendary former Vikings head coach has been known as Bud for most of his 90 years but his real name is Harry Peter Grant.
16. The Vikings’ win at Soldier Field this fall was only the team’s second in the last 10 games there. The other victory was in 2015.
17. Five Vikings scored touchdowns in the team’s 38-30 win against the Redskins. That is the second highest total in team history.
18. Sam Bradford set an NFL record for completion percentage last season after being acquired by the Vikings but this year his troublesome left knee has kept him sidelined for all but two games.
19. Greg Coleman, who punted for the Vikings from 1978-87, is heard on gamedays giving his analysis including his “Sunday Sermon” where he mixes Biblical and football metaphors.
20. Ouch. I couldn’t resist ending with a difficult question. D.J. Dozier, a former Penn State running back drafted No. 1 by the Vikings in 1987, later played outfield for the New York Mets.