Author: David Shama

With news this week about a collapsing roof and team, Sports Headliners is still in the mood to celebrate 50 seasons of Vikings football.  In September Sports Headliners produced 25 trivia questions to test your Purple knowledge, now we offer 25 more to total 50.

See how you do without consulting a friend or reference source.  Here’s how the grading goes:

Ring of Honor: That’s where you belong by answering 22 or more questions correctly.

Stellar performance: Answering 16 to 21 questions right is impressive.

Keep your horns: 12 to 15 correct answers means you’re still considered a Vikings fan.

Find the nearest research library: 6 to 11 right answers is a clear directive for more homework.

Become a Packers fan: Only 0 to 5 correct answers? Ouch!

Now it’s on with the questions in this section and the next.  Answers (no peeking ahead) in the third section.  Good luck.

1. Who is the only Vikings quarterback in memory to injure both himself and his running back on the same play?

2. What college or university had sent the Vikings the most players as they entered their 50th season in 2010?

3. What Vikings player was named to the most Pro Bowl teams?

4. Who was the quarterback that led the Vikings to their first Super Bowl?

5. Who was the Vikings player infamously known for this: “I play when I want to play.”

6. This Viking was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 1986.  Who was he?

7. This former Vikings tight end used his name to enter the local sports bar and restaurant business.  Who is he?

8. In addition to the Metrodome, the Vikings have either played regular season or exhibition games in two other stadiums in Minneapolis.  What are those stadiums?

9. Prior to being named interim head coach of the Vikings, Leslie Frazier had last been a head coach of what college?

10. What year did Adrian Peterson lead the NFL in rushing?

11. What was the Vikings regular season record last year?

12. Where did Fran Tarkenton play college football?

13. Who is the former Viking now working as an ESPN in-studio college football host?

14. Who was Bud Grant’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction?

15. Kicker Fred Cox is the Vikings all-time leading scorer.  Who ranks second?

16. What NFL team did Brett Favre start his career with?

17. What team did the Vikings play against in their first regular season game ever at the Metrodome?

18. Who was the Vikings running back known as “Boom-Boom”?

19. In which of their four Super Bowl losses did the Vikings lose by the closest score?

20. Who was the Vikings coach that resembled actor Burgess Meredith?

21. Name the current Vikings player whose passion for cars is well-publicized.

22. Which was the only team to defeat the Vikings during the 1998 regular season?

23. The media has referred to this Vikings executive as “Remarkable Mike” and he executed the infamous trade that brought Herschel Walker here.  Who was “Remarkable Mike”?

24. This former Gophers quarterback, who later went into pro coaching, was twice cut by the Vikings after he tried to make the team as a defensive back.  Who was he?

25. Who is the former Vikings linebacker player now doing game analysis on the Vikings radio network?

The answers to the trivia questions are:

1. Sports Headliners couldn’t resist this one.  On Monday night quarterback Tarvaris Jackson and running back Adrian Peterson banged knees so hard on a handoff both had to leave the game.

2. At the beginning of the 50th season the Golden Gophers (honest) had sent the Vikings the most players, 28.  Southern California was next at 26.

3. Vikings guard Randall McDaniel was selected 11 times for the Pro Bowl.

4. Joe Kapp left the Canadian Football League to become coach Bud Grant’s quarterback and he led the Vikings to the 1970 Super Bowl.

5. Randy Moss uttered those infamous words, “I play when I want to play,” during his first tour of duty with the Vikings.  Guess he doesn’t want to play this year because he’s been with three teams, the Patriots, Vikings and Titans.

6. Tommy Kramer was the highest-rated quarterback in the NFL for the 1986 season and was named Comeback Player of the Year.  He threw for 490 yards in a game against Washington.

7. Joe Senser’s local sports bars have kept the former Vikings tight end’s name in front of the public for years.

8. In 1962 the Vikings played an exhibition game at Parade Stadium and in 1969 played a regular season game at Memorial Stadium.

9. Leslie Frazier started the football program at Trinity College (Illinois) in 1988 and was head coach there through the 1996 season.

10. Adrian Peterson led the NFL in rushing in 2008, his second season in the league.

11. Last year’s regular season record was 12-4, the franchise’s best record of the decade.  Sounds pretty sweet compared with this year’s 5-8 record with three games to play.

12. Fran Tarkenton played college football at the University of Georgia and was a third round draft choice of the Vikings in 1961.

13. Robert Smith, who rates with the best Vikings running backs ever, is an in-studio college football analyst for ESPN.

14. Sid Hartman, the local newspaper columnist and radio personality, met Bud Grant back in the 1940s and was Grant’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in Canton, Ohio in 1994.

15. Fred Cox, with 1,365 points, is the all-time leading scorer for the Vikings and Cris Carter, with 670, ranks second.

16. Brett Favre was a 1991 second round draft choice of Atlanta and was with the Falcons for one season.

17. The Vikings defeated Tampa Bay, 17-10, in their first regular season game ever played at the Metrodome.

18. Bill Brown, a bow-legged, violent runner, was known as “Boom Boom” and played for the Vikings from 1962-1974.

19. The Vikings lost in Super Bowl IX to Pittsburgh by a score of 16-6, their closest loss in four Super Bowl defeats.

20. Jerry Burns, Vikings head coach from 1986-1991, was a look-a-like for the late Burgess Meredith who had a long career film including the “Rocky” movies.

21. Defensive tackle Pat Williams has a passion for automobiles including customizing cars.

22. The Vikings lost to Tampa Bay, 27-24, for their only loss during their 15-1 regular season in 1998.

23. Vikings executive Mike Lynn was the franchise’s boss for years including in 1989 when the Vikings sent five players and future draft picks to Dallas for Herschel Walker and also received draft choices as part of the deal, the biggest in NFL history.

24. Minneapolis-born Marc Trestman, who played college football with Tony Dungy at Minnesota and now coaches in Canada, tried twice to make the Vikings roster as a defensive back before deciding to attend law school at the University of Miami.

25. Pete Bercich, who played for the Vikings from 1995-2000, provides game analysis on the radio with play-by-play man Paul Allen.