About four decades ago the Vikings split two games with the Dolphins within a period of five months. Unfortunately for the Vikings, their win came in the preseason of 1973. The loss was in the 1974 Super Bowl.
The Vikings defeated Miami 20-17 in a preseason game at Met Stadium during August of 1973. At Super Bowl VIII the Dolphins scored on their first two possessions and dominated the game in a 24-7 victory.
Forty years ago this month the Vikings were in Houston preparing for the Super Bowl and making news long before kickoff. The AFC Dolphins were allowed to use the Houston Oilers practice facilities but the NFC Vikings were assigned to a high school stadium.
Patrick Reusse recalled the high school facility in the 2008 book Minnesota Vikings, The Complete Illustrated History. “The Vikings were left with the locker room at James M. Delmar Stadium, a high school facility without lockers and only nails in the wall for hanging clothes,” Reusse wrote. He described the room as small, with barely enough space for the coaches, and outside there were no tackling dummies or blocking sleds. But the Dolphins were given superior facilities because both Miami and the Oilers were AFC teams.
The practice setup was so bad Vikings coach Bud Grant criticized NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Doug Kingsriter, a tight end on that Vikings Super Bowl team, said Grant was justified in his criticism even though the commissioner later fined him.
“There were birds not only in the shower but they were up in the corners in the locker room,” Kingsriter recalled. “It’s like you’ve gotta be kidding me. I don’t recollect there was even a door going from the workout facility to the outside. It just felt really rinky-dink. And, of course, it got Bud into trouble with Pete Rozelle. He fined him $5,000.”
Kingsriter told Sports Headliners he considered the fine on Grant “very unprofessional” given the status of the Super Bowl and the contrasting practice facilities. A year later the Vikings were back in the Super Bowl, this time in New Orleans and the NFL office did the Purple no favors again.
The Steelers stayed at the upscale Fontainebleau while the Vikings were assigned to a lesser hotel. “It was like a motel in a way,” Kingsriter said. “It was a two-story with a courtyard right under a runway at New Orleans International. We had planes going off all night long. We thought this is Pete Rozelle again. He’s got a chip on his shoulder and he’s gonna play it out with us.”
Kingsriter was married the week before the Super Bowl. He received permission from Grant to join the team late for Super Bowl preparations but couldn’t convince the coach to allow his buddy and teammate, linebacker Jeff Siemon, to attend the wedding in West Texas.
Kingsriter, the former Gophers All-American tight end from Richfield, recalls throwing a block in the game and injuring his nose. “So I was going on my honeymoon after the game with a broken nose,” he said laughing.
Worth Noting
Dave Osborn played on the first three Vikings Super Bowl teams including the club that faced the Dolphins. His opinion is the Dolphins were clearly superior to the Vikings and might have defeated Minnesota seven of 10 times. “Now the other Super Bowls we played, I think we were the better team,” he said. “We should have won some of those games.”
Include Osborn among many former Vikings who praise Grant. Earlier this month, when the Vikings were searching for a new head coach, Osborn suggested Grant should return to the team.
Osborn described the franchise as needing leadership and facing “turmoil” with challenges that include winning over the public and selling high price tickets in the new stadium opening in 2016. “I would do whatever possible to hire Bud Grant as an interim coach, whether it was for one year, or two max,” Osborn told Sports Headliners in early January.
“…Let Bud sit in the front office. Bud doesn’t have to go on the field. Just let Bud be in control. Let him hire some good assistants. I guarantee you this team would be better ready to move into that new stadium when the time came. I mean Bud is 86 but he could do it. That’s the confidence I got in Bud. Great leadership.”
Osborn said Grant used to review film to see if his players were lined up the way he wanted for the National Anthem.
Mike Tice owns a 2014 Kentucky Derby contender along with Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville. Midnight Hawk won the Sham Stakes earlier this month at Santa Anita. Tice, the former Vikings coach, led him into the winner’s circle. The Sham is the first in a series of 3-year-old races at Santa Anita serving as Derby qualifiers. The colt is trained by Bob Baffert.
Sophomore Philip Nelson played inconsistently during two years of trying to win the Gophers quarterback job but his announcement last week to leave the program means Mitch Leidner is the only QB on the roster with game experience. The situation is similar to about a year ago when Max Shortell left the Gophers after the 2012 season and Nelson was the only QB with game experience.
Could Nelson’s next school be either North Dakota State, San Diego State, Texas Tech or Wyoming?
Gophers coach Jerry Kill will be among the speakers at the MFCA Clinic March 27-29 at the DoubleTree in St. Louis Park. Last year’s annual clinic drew 1,200 attendees and 50 exhibitors. More details including registration are available at the Minnesota Football Coaches Association Website.
Gophers junior center Elliott Eliason averaged 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game as a sophomore. He’s improved those figures this season to 8.7 and 2.6, ranking second in both categories among Big Ten players. Big Ten Network analyst Shon Morris said on Sunday’s Minnesota-Iowa game telecast that Eliason is the most improved player in the conference.
If the Gophers can defeat Wisconsin at home tonight it will be their second consecutive win in Williams Arena against the Badgers. The Gophers won 58-53 in overtime last year and earlier in the 2013 season lost by one point in Madison. A win also means the Gophers will be 2-3 in five January games against Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin, all teams that either are or have been top 25 ranked this season.
Dan Kornbaum, who led a trio of wins last week by Augsburg when he averaged 23.3 and 10.3 rebounds, will be a player St. Thomas has to watch tonight when the Tommies (9-1) host the Auggies (7-3). Kornbaum also had 25 points and five rebounds in a 97-60 Augsburg win over Saint Mary’s on Monday night.