Former Viking Daunte Culpepper is the only quarterback in NFL history to have four seasons of 3,000 passing yards and 400 rushing yards. He can add a fifth season to that record with Miami this year.
The Vikings have the fourth easiest schedule this season, according to strength of schedule information from the NFL. The Vikings’ 2006 opponents had a won-loss percentage of .457 last season. Only seven of the teams on the schedule played at .500 or above, and only six made the playoffs. Seattle, Green Bay and Chicago have easier schedules.
Former Vikings coach Bud Grant said he has 18 grandchildren living within 20 miles of his house in Bloomington.
Tom Wistrcill, responsible for Gopher marketing, predicts attendance of 45,000 to 50,000 for Saturday’s home game against Temple. He said on Sunday that 2,000 tickets at $10 each had been sold as part of the special $10 promotion the University is offering for the Temple game to draw “new fans.” The $10 promotion is still available and will be offered at the Metrodome on Saturday, too. Wistrcill also said over 5,000 new public season tickets have been sold, but about 2,000 public season tickets weren’t renewed. Student season ticket sales are again expected to exceed 10,000.
Eden Prairie High School football coach Mike Grant said his team is one of four or five schools that could win the big school state championship. “We have enough talent to go all the way,” he said. “We feel we could have been state champions the last 10 years. We have had enough talent. You gotta be lucky; the ball has to bounce your way.”
KARE TV’s Randy Shaver reports that his fund-raising earlier this year generated $405,000 for Minnesota cancer patient aid and research. Fund-raising came from the Moneygram International Randy Shaver Celebrity Golf Classic at Rush Creek in Maple Grove and at the Myth Nightclub in Maplewood where REO Speedwagon entertained. Shaver’s event dates back to 1994 and he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease in 1998 but has been considered “cured” since December of 2003.