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Vikings by the Numbers


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19 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

Ed might be a potential HOF'er, but the likelihood of him going in are quite small.  First, HOF voters are stingy when voting on offensive linemen.  When they do vote for linemen, they vote for Tackles and Centers.  There are only 8 pure guards in the Hall of Fame.  I don't think Ed ever makes it 9.

He may not, but I do think he has a far better shot at G than Christy does at C.  

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1 hour ago, swede700 said:

He may not, but I do think he has a far better shot at G than Christy does at C.  

I get your thinking here.  I just think differently.  I don't think either are hall possibilities, and their impact while Vikings was about equal.

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10 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

I get your thinking here.  I just think differently.  I don't think either are hall possibilities, and their impact while Vikings was about equal.

You bet...OG consideration for the HOF falls along the same lines as safeties, which is why it took so long for Krause to get in and why Harry will never get there.   They aren't the glamour positions...TE has often been the same, but now with how they are used, that position has been elevated.  

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Vikings that have worn the number 63:

  • Jim Battle (1963)
  • Jim Vellone (1966 - 1970)
  • Nick Bebout (1980)
  • Robert Cobb (1984)
  • Kirk Lowdermilk (1985 - 1992)
  • Kirk Ploeger (1987)
  • Frank Cornish (1994)
  • Corbin Lacina (1999 - 2002)
  • Bill Conaty (2004)
  • Brandon Fusco (2011 - 2016)
  • Danny Isidora (2017-2018)

The earliest prominent #63 was guard Jim Vellone, who wore the number from 1966 to 1970. After playing right guard in his first season with the team, Vellone spent four seasons at left guard, garnering the majority of the starts from 1967 to 1970. He was the starter at left guard for the Vikings’ first Super Bowl team.

Up next, we have center Kirk Lowdermilk, who played for the team from 1985 to 1992. After playing sparingly in his first two seasons, Lowdermilk grabbed the starting center spot in 1987 and started 84 of the team’s 92 games during that time. He started every non-strike game during the Vikings’ run to the 1987 NFC Championship Game against the Washington Redskins.

Corbin Lacina had a decent run with the Vikings from 1999 to 2002, coming to the Vikings after spending time with the Buffalo Bills and Carolina Panthers. He was the primary starter at left guard beginning in 2000, having the unenviable task of replacing all-timer Randall McDaniel at the position. He wasn’t great, but he wasn’t awful, either.

Most recently, the number belonged to guard Brandon Fusco and Danny Isidora. Fusco actually got off to a decent start with the Vikings in his first couple of seasons. Then he signed a big contract extension, got injured, and just wasn’t really the same afterwards. (Switching from right guard to left guard may have been a hindrance, too.) Still, for a couple of seasons, he was a solid starter on the offensive line for this team. (info from Vikings by the Number-2016) 

I'm giving the nod to Kirk Lowdermilk.

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Now that camp is beginning, and there are other things to talk about, I will suspend my posting in this thread until such time as there is another major gap.  If MOD's think I should take another approach, just let me know.

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19 minutes ago, Virginia Viking said:

Now that camp is beginning, and there are other things to talk about, I will suspend my posting in this thread until such time as there is another major gap.  If MOD's think I should take another approach, just let me know.

It's your thread. I think you should do it however you want. Thanks for the thread. I enjoyed it up to this point. I would still enjoy it during camp; I am happy to look forward to being able to enjoy it during other gaps in action too.

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I’m in the same boat. I’ve enjoyed reading these everyday. Aside from grading the best player to wear each number, it’s been fun to reminisce about lesser known players, or players that were unheralded guys that were still solid contributors.

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One more for the road!

 

Vikings that have worn the number 64:

  • Mike Rabold (1961 - 1962)
  • Milt Sunde (1964 - 1974)
  • Grant Feasel (1984)
  • Ted Million (1987)
  • Mark Hanson (1987)
  • Randall McDaniel (1988 - 1999)
  • Anthony Herrera (2005 - 2011)
  • Willie Beavers (2016)
  • Josh Kline (2019)

The number 64 features the man that might be the greatest player at his position in the history of the National Football League. Randall McDaniel.

The Vikings selected McDaniel in the first round in 1988, and he immediately became a fixture for the team on the offensive line. He missed just two starts in his entire Vikings’ career, and started every game at left guard for the Vikings from 1990 to 1999. How good was he? Well, he was named a first-team All-Pro seven times, and made the Pro Bowl eleven consecutive times as a member of the Vikings. . .every year except his rookie season.

McDaniel was also a member of the NFL’s 1990s All-Decade team, largely because he was not just good, he was a dominant force for the Vikings on the offensive line. His longevity and his ridiculous athletic ability (including his rumored sub-4.7 second 40-yard dash time) are just a couple of the things that make him, in this writer’s opinion, the best offensive lineman that has ever worn a Minnesota Vikings uniform.

Like a few others, McDaniel did eventually get a championship ring. Unfortunately, it was not with the Vikings, as he finished his career with the Bucs, and won a Super Bowl as a part of that franchise instead.

McDaniel was selected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009, is a member of the Vikings’ Ring of Honor, and was named one of the Fifty Greatest Vikings of All Time.  McDaniel, in my opinion, should be in the conversation as the greatest Viking of all time (I still think Page and Tarkenton are a notch above.)  He unquestionably gets the nod.

Honorable mention for this one goes to Milt Sunde, who played left guard for the Vikings for the better part of a decade and was a starter on the offensive line for two of the Vikings’ four Super Bowl appearances.

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