The newest Minnesota Viking is a USC Trojan. Jordan Addison was taken at pick No. 23 by the Vikings in the first round of the 2023 NFL draft on Thursday. You will want to follow Vikings Wire for full coverage of Addison’s pro football journey.
Meanwhile, you might be wondering who is the greatest USC football player to suit up for the Vikings.
This one is not a close call. It’s Ron Yary.
He is part of our all-time USC football roster, which we compiled in 2022.
We wrote this about Yary in April of 2020:
“Ron Yary was a game-changing offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings. In his second season as a pro, the Vikings reached their first Super Bowl. This would not be the last time a USC offensive lineman joined a team and — in his first two seasons — helped that NFL team reach its first Super Bowl.
“Ron Yary’s first Super Bowl — IV, in January of 1970 — was merely the first of four Supes the Vikings would reach with a supremely reliable and stable offensive front. Yary made the All-Pro team eight straight years, six of them on the first team. He made seven straight Pro Bowls from 1971 through 1977.”
Viking fans don’t have to be reminded that Super Bowl XI — with Yary anchoring Minnesota’s offensive line — marks the last time the Vikings made the Super Bowl, 46 very long years ago.
Ron Yary was hugely influential, the ultimate indicator of his greatness. We will see if Jordan Addison can have even half of that level of impact in Minnesota.
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