What’s the Packer-Viking rivalry mean to the players and coaches? “I hear (about) it all the time,” said Viking tight end Jim Kleinsasser. “I just had my house built (finished last year) and one of the construction workers put ‘Packers rule…Favre rules’ on my insulation. So that’s the way it goes. …”
Ex-Packer Robert Ferguson, who joined the Vikings in August, said head coach Brad Childress talked to the team about the rivalry Wednesday morning. “He wanted to inform the young guys about how big this is and how long it’s been going on,” Ferguson told Sports Headliners. “The only way you can do that is to put those numbers in front of them. …It’s important.”
The 3-0 Packers and the 1-2 Vikings meet at noon Sunday in the Metrodome. It will be the 93rd time the two franchises have played in a series that goes back to 1961. Childress shared some of the history with the media earlier this week including the competitiveness of the series. The record favors the Packers at 46-45-1. In the last 10 regular season games, Childress said, both teams have scored 239 points. Nine of the last 13 division winners (NFC Central or NFC North) have been won by the Vikings or Packers.
Childress talked about the border rivalry, comparing it with the Gophers and Badgers. Their college rivalry dates back to 1890. “We can’t quite match that but it will feel the same as competing for Paul Bunyan’s axe,” Childress said.
While the players and coaches have to take a consistent business approach to every game, they’re certainly aware of the excitement that builds during Packer-Viking week (the Vikings are at Green Bay on November 11). “The crowd’s a little more electric (for the Packer game),” said Viking place kicker Ryan Longwell. “We just hope our fans show up wearing purple and scream their heads off on Sunday, and give us a huge home field advantage.”
The Vikings lost both games to the Packers last season and Green Bay will be favored to win Sunday. Yet in rivalry games played at home there are often surprise winners. “This is a great rivalry,” Childress said. “Good old fashioned black and blue division football. Our guys are looking forward to it.”
Longwell played nine seasons with the Packers and still knows some of the Green Bay players. He said there will be good natured comments after the game initiated by him if the Vikings win, and a loss means just the opposite. “I can give it to them just as well as I can take it,” he said. “It’s not a one-way street on that thing.”