A bit of history for the Minnesota Vikings on Saturday

A special milestone in the history of the franchise

With most of us focused on this season and the playoff chase for the Minnesota Vikings, we almost missed that tomorrow’s game is a special one in the history of the franchise.

When the Vikings take to the field at U.S. Bank Stadium tomorrow to battle the Indianapolis Colts, it will mark the 1,000th game in franchise history (regular season and postseason).

As we know, the Vikings first took the field at Metropolitan Stadium on 17 September 1961 to face a team that would become their division rivals, the Chicago Bears. In that game, a third-round pick named Fran Tarkenton came off the bench in relief of starter George Shaw and threw four touchdown passes in a 37-13 blowout victory.

Since then, the Vikings have compiled a record of 513 wins, 424 losses, and 11 ties in the regular season. They also have 21 victories and 30 losses in the postseason, adding up to a total of 999 games played.

As we also. . .unfortunately. . .know, the Vikings have the title of most successful franchise in professional sports without a championship. (Yes, there’s the 1969 NFL Championship, but we can’t get anyone to actually acknowledge it or anything.) One day they’ll get there, and we’ll hopefully be here to talk about all of it with you when it happens.

You can read a bit of a retrospective about the team and their first 999 games from Patrick Reusse of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, who has covered a great number of those 999 games. . .I’m not sure exactly how many, but I’m sure it’s a lot. The Star-Tribune has also broken down the first 999 games in a very unique manner that’s worth checking out if you have some time.

So, tomorrow afternoon. . .on a Saturday, no less. . .we’ll be witness to a little bit of Minnesota Vikings history. Here’s hoping that the game will have an ending that will make all of us happy and let us celebrate a division championship.

How many of the first 999 games in Vikings history have you seen? (You don’t need to have exact numbers or anything. . .an approximate guess is fine.)