Drafting Chuck Foreman was just huge for me...then Moss...98, 87, 75...
My first Viking game at the frozen Met in 1977 when rookie Tommy Kramer ran from the bench and threw three fourth-quarter touchdown passes for an unbelievably great 28-27 comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
I'll never forget that game - it was so awesome!
I'm 43, but nothing will top the Minneapolis Miracle.
Flew to Mpls from Oregon, stayed 3 nights in Minneapolis Fri-Sun. Absurdly cold, never got above -10. Saturday we were at MOA.
Gameday rolls around, Met up with a mutual friend from "the other board". We had beers. Went to our seats. We were in the 300 level A-E rows, that's a mini-level with only 5 rows, slightly below the rest of the 300 sections. Just amazing views, perfect to take in the entire field. The atmosphere was electric. Did the skol chant. Goosebumps during player intro's. The first half went flawless. Then the wheels start to fall off. Saints keep coming back. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, like we all knew what was coming. Saints kick that FG to go ahead and I'm thinking I just blew $2000 on flights, hotel and tickets for nothing.
Vikings have one TO and about 30 secs. First play, false start. Move back 5. The old guy in front of me in his 60's loses his shit. Rips his Vikings hat off and chucks it down below. "Goddammit I'm sick of this f**king shit!" His wife tells him to calm down. "No I'm not going to calm down, every f**king year it's the same f**king shit!! I've seen this f**king movie before and I know how it ends!!". I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, but I knew he was right. I patted him on the shoulder. We get a 1st down at the 40, call our last TO. Then incomplete pass, but what you guys missed at home on TV is that Keenum got absolutely blasted by a D-lineman on that play, I mean he got rocked. He gets up wobbly, oh please just get on your feet and don't let them put you in concussion protocol. 10 secs left. Last play. Then before the final snap, someone in our section behind us sang out .... "Do something MAGICAL!" I thought yeah, magical my ass.
We're sitting down in our section as are most people. Ball is snapped. From the formation we have Rudy, Wright and Diggs in Trips right with Thielen left. As the ball is snapped and Rudy peels off short I'm thinking "Wow, Saints have a funny defensive call with all man coverage ... they're going to have Diggs in single coverage vs. a safety, a rookie safety". Wright peels off on his route and the CB goes with him. We all have a perfect view of the play unfolding. That moment that Case threw the ball, everyone stood up in unison because we can see the full field and see Diggs lined up in single coverage. I shit you not, there were these moments in the stadium that you just had to have been there and writing about them just doesn't do it justice. When Keenum let that pass fly, literally all the oxygen in the building got sucked out at precisely the same moment. It was like time stopped and that pass floated through the air for an hour while we all held our collective breath. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody cheering, nobody clapping, just silence and 65,000 prayers. Then Diggs goes up to make the catch. We can all see the safety is way, way early and to avoid a P.I. just clips him and shoots past him. Then came the exhale. Diggs lands on his feet, and it was like a shotgun blast - oh my God he caught it! But what we can see in the stands, that TV viewers can't see, is there is absolutely nobody within 30 yards of him. So while most people are thinking "get out of bounds", we're all screaming in our heads "Run Forrest ruuunnnnn!". As the Saints player whiffs past Diggs, he cannonballs his own teammate, Diggs spins off and puts his hand down and then the 2nd blast hits, except this time it was 1000x louder and less like a shotgun going off it was like an artillery cannon. That precise moment when everyone in the stadium saw him all alone, ball in hand, nothing between him and the endzone, I'm telling you we probably registered on the richter scale. By the time he hit the endzone I grabbed my girlfriend off her feet and started hugging her while jumping up and down and screaming. I blacked out, don't even remember putting her down. The entire stadium is going bonkers. Screaming, crying, what just happened?!?!? It was like 5 decades of choke jobs and blown leads and bad karma just flushed right out the door. First playoff game in our home stadium and that's how it ended? Jeeeeezus ...
Nobody left. Took a while to confirm the TD and kick the extra point. Don't care, we're not leaving. 30 minutes later the stadium is still packed, we're dancing, snapping selfies, high 5'ing everyone. Then they start showing the replays on the jumbotrons. NHL Wild fans were watching across town, we saw their reactions as they went bonkers. NBA T-wolves were also at home, we saw their reactions. 3 pro sports team playing at home in Minneapolis that night, after the game we went to the bars to join the entire city of Minneapolis partying that night. History was made.
That plane ride home the next day I had my Diggs jersey on. our layover was in Chicago. Yeah you Bears fans, you can bite me for one day. I had 15-20 people out of nowhere, mostly Bears fans, give me random high 5's on the concourses and just say "holy crap you saw that right?". "Yeah, I was there in the stadium". "Duuuuuuuude, what a game!"
For me nothing will ever top that night until we win a SB.
Quote: @SFVikeFan said:
I'm 43, but nothing will top the Minneapolis Miracle.
Flew to Mpls from Oregon, stayed 3 nights in Minneapolis Fri-Sun. Absurdly cold, never got above -10. Saturday we were at MOA.
Gameday rolls around, Met up with a mutual friend from "the other board". We had beers. Went to our seats. We were in the 300 level A-E rows, that's a mini-level with only 5 rows, slightly below the rest of the 300 sections. Just amazing views, perfect to take in the entire field. The atmosphere was electric. Did the skol chant. Goosebumps during player intro's. The first half went flawless. Then the wheels start to fall off. Saints keep coming back. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, like we all knew what was coming. Saints kick that FG to go ahead and I'm thinking I just blew $2000 on flights, hotel and tickets for nothing.
Vikings have one TO and about 30 secs. First play, false start. Move back 5. The old guy in front of me in his 60's loses his shit. Rips his Vikings hat off and chucks it down below. "Goddammit I'm sick of this f**king shit!" His wife tells him to calm down. "No I'm not going to calm down, every f**king year it's the same f**king shit!! I've seen this f**king movie before and I know how it ends!!". I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, but I knew he was right. I patted him on the shoulder. We get a 1st down at the 40, call our last TO. Then incomplete pass, but what you guys missed at home on TV is that Keenum got absolutely blasted by a D-lineman on that play, I mean he got rocked. He gets up wobbly, oh please just get on your feet and don't let them put you in concussion protocol. 10 secs left. Last play. Then before the final snap, someone in our section behind us sang out .... "Do something MAGICAL!" I thought yeah, magical my ass.
We're sitting down in our section as are most people. Ball is snapped. From the formation we have Rudy, Wright and Diggs in Trips right with Thielen left. As the ball is snapped and Rudy peels off short I'm thinking "Wow, Saints have a funny defensive call with all man coverage ... they're going to have Diggs in single coverage vs. a safety, a rookie safety". Wright peels off on his route and the CB goes with him. We all have a perfect view of the play unfolding. That moment that Case threw the ball, everyone stood up in unison because we can see the full field and see Diggs lined up in single coverage. I shit you not, there were these moments in the stadium that you just had to have been there and writing about them just doesn't do it justice. When Keenum let that pass fly, literally all the oxygen in the building got sucked out at precisely the same moment. It was like time stopped and that pass floated through the air for an hour while we all held our collective breath. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody cheering, nobody clapping, just silence and 65,000 prayers. Then Diggs goes up to make the catch. We can all see the safety is way, way early and to avoid a P.I. just clips him and shoots past him. Then came the exhale. Diggs lands on his feet, and it was like a shotgun blast - oh my God he caught it! But what we can see in the stands, that TV viewers can't see, is there is absolutely nobody within 30 yards of him. So while most people are thinking "get out of bounds", we're all screaming in our heads "Run Forrest ruuunnnnn!". As the Saints player whiffs past Diggs, he cannonballs his own teammate, Diggs spins off and puts his hand down and then the 2nd blast hits, except this time it was 1000x louder and less like a shotgun going off it was like an artillery cannon. That precise moment when everyone in the stadium saw him all alone, ball in hand, nothing between him and the endzone, I'm telling you we probably registered on the richter scale. By the time he hit the endzone I grabbed my girlfriend off her feet and started hugging her while jumping up and down and screaming. I blacked out, don't even remember putting her down. The entire stadium is going bonkers. Screaming, crying, what just happened?!?!? It was like 5 decades of choke jobs and blown leads and bad karma just flushed right out the door. First playoff game in our home stadium and that's how it ended? Jeeeeezus ...
Nobody left. Took a while to confirm the TD and kick the extra point. Don't care, we're not leaving. 30 minutes later the stadium is still packed, we're dancing, snapping selfies, high 5'ing everyone. Then they start showing the replays on the jumbotrons. NHL Wild fans were watching across town, we saw their reactions as they went bonkers. NBA T-wolves were also at home, we saw their reactions. 3 pro sports team playing at home in Minneapolis that night, after the game we went to the bars to join the entire city of Minneapolis partying that night. History was made.
That plane ride home the next day I had my Diggs jersey on. our layover was in Chicago. Yeah you Bears fans, you can bite me for one day. I had 15-20 people out of nowhere, mostly Bears fans, give me random high 5's on the concourses and just say "holy crap you saw that right?". "Yeah, I was there in the stadium". "Duuuuuuuude, what a game!"
For me nothing will ever top that night until we win a SB.
Dude, that is an awesome recap. I'm so happy for you. I couldn't believe it. I got extremely emotional, I really surprised myself. A lot of pent up frustrations over the years came flooding out of me. I watched the replay of that catch at least 40 times later than night and that may be underestimating it....another 100 over the course of the next few days. It was cathartic. I know I would have burst into tears of joy and relief if I were at the stadium to see it live. Weird to say, but long time Viking fans have eaten a lot of shit pie over the years.
Happiest was Moss's coming out party against Green Bay on Monday night. Bunch of Packer fans decided they would invade the Viking bar in Denver and dickishly got there early and set up camp at the front table in front of the big screen. They were gone in the 3rd quarter.
Coolest was meeting Terry Allen at the Albatross.
Quote: @Vanguard83 said:
I think for me it was beating the Niners during that '87 run.
I gave them no chance to win and Anthony Carter just took over that day.
I still think '87 was more devastating to me than '98 or '09
The moment I saw the title in the thread, thats exactly what came to my mind. Especially living here in the Bay Area and through out the 80's is was Niner / Montana Mania. ALL my friends were huge Niner fans and telling my how they were going to kick our asses, that the game was over before even being played. Hell, that was what the National media was saying as well. Burnsie had a great game plan for our D as well as our O - Carter just slaughtered them! Our D rush was awesome - Millard was a beast - and Montana looked like a deer in the headlights. Got benched for Young! At the end of the game, my friends were in complete shock - and I gave them so much shit - you have no idea!! Man, I thought after the game that we were going to the SB - just a Nelson drop away. I agree, I think that 87' was more devastating for me as well compared to 98' or 09'
Quote: @SFVikeFan said:
I'm 43, but nothing will top the Minneapolis Miracle.
Flew to Mpls from Oregon, stayed 3 nights in Minneapolis Fri-Sun. Absurdly cold, never got above -10. Saturday we were at MOA.
Gameday rolls around, Met up with a mutual friend from "the other board". We had beers. Went to our seats. We were in the 300 level A-E rows, that's a mini-level with only 5 rows, slightly below the rest of the 300 sections. Just amazing views, perfect to take in the entire field. The atmosphere was electric. Did the skol chant. Goosebumps during player intro's. The first half went flawless. Then the wheels start to fall off. Saints keep coming back. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, like we all knew what was coming. Saints kick that FG to go ahead and I'm thinking I just blew $2000 on flights, hotel and tickets for nothing.
Vikings have one TO and about 30 secs. First play, false start. Move back 5. The old guy in front of me in his 60's loses his shit. Rips his Vikings hat off and chucks it down below. "Goddammit I'm sick of this f**king shit!" His wife tells him to calm down. "No I'm not going to calm down, every f**king year it's the same f**king shit!! I've seen this f**king movie before and I know how it ends!!". I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, but I knew he was right. I patted him on the shoulder. We get a 1st down at the 40, call our last TO. Then incomplete pass, but what you guys missed at home on TV is that Keenum got absolutely blasted by a D-lineman on that play, I mean he got rocked. He gets up wobbly, oh please just get on your feet and don't let them put you in concussion protocol. 10 secs left. Last play. Then before the final snap, someone in our section behind us sang out .... "Do something MAGICAL!" I thought yeah, magical my ass.
We're sitting down in our section as are most people. Ball is snapped. From the formation we have Rudy, Wright and Diggs in Trips right with Thielen left. As the ball is snapped and Rudy peels off short I'm thinking "Wow, Saints have a funny defensive call with all man coverage ... they're going to have Diggs in single coverage vs. a safety, a rookie safety". Wright peels off on his route and the CB goes with him. We all have a perfect view of the play unfolding. That moment that Case threw the ball, everyone stood up in unison because we can see the full field and see Diggs lined up in single coverage. I shit you not, there were these moments in the stadium that you just had to have been there and writing about them just doesn't do it justice. When Keenum let that pass fly, literally all the oxygen in the building got sucked out at precisely the same moment. It was like time stopped and that pass floated through the air for an hour while we all held our collective breath. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody cheering, nobody clapping, just silence and 65,000 prayers. Then Diggs goes up to make the catch. We can all see the safety is way, way early and to avoid a P.I. just clips him and shoots past him. Then came the exhale. Diggs lands on his feet, and it was like a shotgun blast - oh my God he caught it! But what we can see in the stands, that TV viewers can't see, is there is absolutely nobody within 30 yards of him. So while most people are thinking "get out of bounds", we're all screaming in our heads "Run Forrest ruuunnnnn!". As the Saints player whiffs past Diggs, he cannonballs his own teammate, Diggs spins off and puts his hand down and then the 2nd blast hits, except this time it was 1000x louder and less like a shotgun going off it was like an artillery cannon. That precise moment when everyone in the stadium saw him all alone, ball in hand, nothing between him and the endzone, I'm telling you we probably registered on the richter scale. By the time he hit the endzone I grabbed my girlfriend off her feet and started hugging her while jumping up and down and screaming. I blacked out, don't even remember putting her down. The entire stadium is going bonkers. Screaming, crying, what just happened?!?!? It was like 5 decades of choke jobs and blown leads and bad karma just flushed right out the door. First playoff game in our home stadium and that's how it ended? Jeeeeezus ...
Nobody left. Took a while to confirm the TD and kick the extra point. Don't care, we're not leaving. 30 minutes later the stadium is still packed, we're dancing, snapping selfies, high 5'ing everyone. Then they start showing the replays on the jumbotrons. NHL Wild fans were watching across town, we saw their reactions as they went bonkers. NBA T-wolves were also at home, we saw their reactions. 3 pro sports team playing at home in Minneapolis that night, after the game we went to the bars to join the entire city of Minneapolis partying that night. History was made.
That plane ride home the next day I had my Diggs jersey on. our layover was in Chicago. Yeah you Bears fans, you can bite me for one day. I had 15-20 people out of nowhere, mostly Bears fans, give me random high 5's on the concourses and just say "holy crap you saw that right?". "Yeah, I was there in the stadium". "Duuuuuuuude, what a game!"
For me nothing will ever top that night until we win a SB.
This is an absolutely awesome write-up, SF. Thank you for sharing it!!
Sticky, I like you was very emotional and I did cry. First, I yelled and cussed because I hate the Saints so much. Then I cried. My son didn't know what to think. He had put his head phones on and was looking at his tablet pouting about the game. All of a sudden, he sees his 48-year-old ma jump up and run into the bathroom like her hair was on fire, then come back out jumping up and down, yelling and cussing and crying...what a sight for him, I think I may have SCARRED him for life...
Quote: @SFVikeFan said:
I'm 43, but nothing will top the Minneapolis Miracle.
It was like 5 decades of choke jobs and blown leads and bad karma just flushed right out the door. First playoff game in our home stadium and that's how it ended?
For me nothing will ever top that night until we win a SB.
This right here. And against the Saints who cheated us out of our SB, it was all the sweeter.
Dude, that was an amazing write up. Yes, that slow motion in time. As we sat hoping against hope. Something could still happen. But it never does. that empty pit in the stomach after pissing away a great start. The missed FG. But it still could happen right? That is why we stay and watch till the end.
I have never lost it like that. Baby was sleeping and we were all just hunkered down, ready to add another layer of scar tissue. I screamed, I danced, I hugged everyone.
Thank you so much for sharing that.
Preseason game in 09. I took my son, who was 8 at the time. Right before halftime, a lady came up to our seats and asked if we wanted to compete in the halftime show. (my son was looking good with the horns and the braids) We were taken on the field, and we were standing next to Favre and Longewell. They left, and we had the little competition between the kids, then the parents. (we won,and it was very cool) A week later, I emailed the vikings and asked if there were an pictures of it we could get. They sent me a package of goodies, and a dvd of the event. Couldn't have been happier.
Quote: @SFVikeFan said:
I'm 43, but nothing will top the Minneapolis Miracle.
Flew to Mpls from Oregon, stayed 3 nights in Minneapolis Fri-Sun. Absurdly cold, never got above -10. Saturday we were at MOA.
Gameday rolls around, Met up with a mutual friend from "the other board". We had beers. Went to our seats. We were in the 300 level A-E rows, that's a mini-level with only 5 rows, slightly below the rest of the 300 sections. Just amazing views, perfect to take in the entire field. The atmosphere was electric. Did the skol chant. Goosebumps during player intro's. The first half went flawless. Then the wheels start to fall off. Saints keep coming back. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife, like we all knew what was coming. Saints kick that FG to go ahead and I'm thinking I just blew $2000 on flights, hotel and tickets for nothing.
Vikings have one TO and about 30 secs. First play, false start. Move back 5. The old guy in front of me in his 60's loses his shit. Rips his Vikings hat off and chucks it down below. "Goddammit I'm sick of this f**king shit!" His wife tells him to calm down. "No I'm not going to calm down, every f**king year it's the same f**king shit!! I've seen this f**king movie before and I know how it ends!!". I didn't know whether to laugh, cry, but I knew he was right. I patted him on the shoulder. We get a 1st down at the 40, call our last TO. Then incomplete pass, but what you guys missed at home on TV is that Keenum got absolutely blasted by a D-lineman on that play, I mean he got rocked. He gets up wobbly, oh please just get on your feet and don't let them put you in concussion protocol. 10 secs left. Last play. Then before the final snap, someone in our section behind us sang out .... "Do something MAGICAL!" I thought yeah, magical my ass.
We're sitting down in our section as are most people. Ball is snapped. From the formation we have Rudy, Wright and Diggs in Trips right with Thielen left. As the ball is snapped and Rudy peels off short I'm thinking "Wow, Saints have a funny defensive call with all man coverage ... they're going to have Diggs in single coverage vs. a safety, a rookie safety". Wright peels off on his route and the CB goes with him. We all have a perfect view of the play unfolding. That moment that Case threw the ball, everyone stood up in unison because we can see the full field and see Diggs lined up in single coverage. I shit you not, there were these moments in the stadium that you just had to have been there and writing about them just doesn't do it justice. When Keenum let that pass fly, literally all the oxygen in the building got sucked out at precisely the same moment. It was like time stopped and that pass floated through the air for an hour while we all held our collective breath. You could hear a pin drop. Nobody cheering, nobody clapping, just silence and 65,000 prayers. Then Diggs goes up to make the catch. We can all see the safety is way, way early and to avoid a P.I. just clips him and shoots past him. Then came the exhale. Diggs lands on his feet, and it was like a shotgun blast - oh my God he caught it! But what we can see in the stands, that TV viewers can't see, is there is absolutely nobody within 30 yards of him. So while most people are thinking "get out of bounds", we're all screaming in our heads "Run Forrest ruuunnnnn!". As the Saints player whiffs past Diggs, he cannonballs his own teammate, Diggs spins off and puts his hand down and then the 2nd blast hits, except this time it was 1000x louder and less like a shotgun going off it was like an artillery cannon. That precise moment when everyone in the stadium saw him all alone, ball in hand, nothing between him and the endzone, I'm telling you we probably registered on the richter scale. By the time he hit the endzone I grabbed my girlfriend off her feet and started hugging her while jumping up and down and screaming. I blacked out, don't even remember putting her down. The entire stadium is going bonkers. Screaming, crying, what just happened?!?!? It was like 5 decades of choke jobs and blown leads and bad karma just flushed right out the door. First playoff game in our home stadium and that's how it ended? Jeeeeezus ...
Nobody left. Took a while to confirm the TD and kick the extra point. Don't care, we're not leaving. 30 minutes later the stadium is still packed, we're dancing, snapping selfies, high 5'ing everyone. Then they start showing the replays on the jumbotrons. NHL Wild fans were watching across town, we saw their reactions as they went bonkers. NBA T-wolves were also at home, we saw their reactions. 3 pro sports team playing at home in Minneapolis that night, after the game we went to the bars to join the entire city of Minneapolis partying that night. History was made.
That plane ride home the next day I had my Diggs jersey on. our layover was in Chicago. Yeah you Bears fans, you can bite me for one day. I had 15-20 people out of nowhere, mostly Bears fans, give me random high 5's on the concourses and just say "holy crap you saw that right?". "Yeah, I was there in the stadium". "Duuuuuuuude, what a game!"
For me nothing will ever top that night until we win a SB.
Great recap. And I concur. When I read the title I was like "Duh" the answer is obvious isn't it? Not only is it my favorite Vikings memory it is one of my favorite memories in general. I was fortunate enough to be at the game as well with my dad and brother. And we have seen heartbreaking losses plenty of times. We were at the Seahawks Wild-card game loss. I swear to you that play seemed so much longer when it happened live than when I watch these replays. It was like 4 different parts for me. The drop-back and pass (like you said just silence in the stands); the catch and the safety trying to avoid PI; the planted his hand in the ground; then the realization he was all by himself. I was so fixated on them getting into field goal range that I didn't even fathom that. I was so hyperfocused on Diggs I didn't look to the rest of the field until he planted his hand in the ground and I realized he had the TD. Even then I was nervous he was going to trip or spike the ball before crossing lol. I just remember saying Oh my god a whole lot of times. But yes. I agree with you. This moment won't be number 2 until Vikes win a Superbowl. And even then it could be above it as a single moment if the Vikes win anti-climatically.
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