Tag: Chuck Foreman

44 days until Vikings season opener: Every player to wear No. 44

Currently worn by safety Josh Metellus, here is every player who has worn No. 44 for the Minnesota Vikings.

It’s the final countdown…

Well, sort of.

The Minnesota Vikings will kick off their 2023 regular season in 44 days at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sept. 10.

From now until then, we will take a trip down memory lane and count each day by revisiting the players that have worn that specific jersey number.

Safety Josh Metellus currently wears the No. 44 for the Minnesota Vikings.

With 44 days until kickoff, here’s a look at every player to wear No. 44 with the Vikings (via Pro Football Reference):

Jordan Addison forges special historical connection with legendary Viking

Jordan Addison–from Frederick County, Maryland–made local history at the #NFLDraft, joining a famous Minnesota Viking.

Jordan Addison is the latest USC football receiver to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft. He follows Drake London, who was picked in the first round of the 2022 draft.

Addison’s selection by the Minnesota Vikings enables him to join the great Ron Yary as a USC Trojan taken in the first round of the NFL draft by the Minnesota franchise.

There’s another historical layer attached to Addison’s selection. It connects him to another Viking, but this is less a piece of Vikings history and more a piece of local history connected to where Addison grew up.

Addison is a product of Frederick County, Maryland, a son of the DMV area. Addison is the first Frederick County prospect to be taken in the first round of the NFL draft since Chuck Foreman in 1973.

As Viking fans and historians will tell you, Foreman is one of the great Vikings of all time, a running back known for his spin moves in the open field and an ability to make defenders miss in one-on-one situations. Foreman helped the Vikings make three Super Bowls — VIII, IX, and XI — in his first four seasons in the NFL. If Addison helps the Vikings make even one Super Bowl, he will be remembered for a very long time in the Great North.

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25 SKOL’s of Christmas: The 1977 playoff Mud Bowl

The Vikings won a wild and messy game in the 1977 playoffs

Welcome to the 25 SKOL’s of Christmas!

In a similar vein to how Freeform has done the 25 days of Christmas, we will look back at different moments in Vikings history to bring a little extra joy to you this holiday season.

It’s that simple. The holidays can be a trying time for some people and we want to put a smile on people’s faces by reminiscing about some truly joyous times in Vikings’ history.

On the twenty-second SKOL of Christmas, the Vikings gave to me: a victory in the 1977 Mud Bowl over the Los Angeles Rams

After losing starting QB Fran Tarkenton to a broken leg earlier in the season, the Vikings still found themselves atop the NFC Central and headed to the playoffs for the fifth straight season. They were headed to Los Angeles to take on the Rams in the NFC Divisional round. Keep in mind, the Vikings had played the Rams earlier in the season at home before Tarkenton went down, and they got throttled 35-3.

Now the Vikings were headed out west to face this same team, but this time they’d be without their starting quarterback. The Rams felt confident after what had already taken place earlier this season, and the betting line had the Rams favored by ten points. But in the days leading up to the game as well as on gameday, there was an immense amount of rain, which made the field conditions horrendous. This is where head coach Bud Grant came into play. He had a strategy for the Vikings in these conditions, and it proved beneficial.

“We wanted to throw early and get any passing advantages we could because late in the game we knew it would be difficult to throw the ball. “On a good field, a seven- or 14-point lead isn’t very much, but on a bad field, it gets to be monumental.” -Bud Grant

That’s exactly what the Vikings did. Back-up quarterback Bob Lee helped lead an efficient 70-yard drive capped off by a five-yard touchdown run by running back Chuck Foreman, and the Vikings never looked back.

The Vikings continued to lean on Foreman and Robert Miller to pound the rock in field conditions that were less than ideal. The Vikings’ defense also capitalized on three turnovers from Rams quarterback Pat Haden, including an interception by safety Jeff Wright to end the game.

The Vikings would go on to upset the Rams 14-7 and take on the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship Game where they’d eventually lose 23-6.

Previous SKOL’s of Christmas:

Drafting Randy Moss
Vikings 1997 Wild Card Comeback
Jarius Wright Walks Off the Jets
Jared Allen Traded to Vikings
Adrian Peterson Sets Rushing Record
Brett Favre Revenge Tour
Bud Grant Rocks a Polo in Freezing Temperatures
Adrian Peterson Stiff Arms Defender to Oblivion
Anthony Carter Dominates the 1987 Playoffs
Kirk Cousins’ First Major Comeback
Randy Moss Dominates Monday Night Football
Tuesday Night Joe Webb
Randy Moss Laterals to Moe Williams
Miracle At The Met
Cris Carter catches number 1,000
Resurgence of Randall Cunningham
Sam Bradford Opens Up U.S. Bank Stadium
Teddy Bridgewater’s Triumphant Return
Randy Moss on Thanksgiving
Bernard Berrian 99 Yard Touchdown
Jeff George’s Moonshots

Vikings’ most notable Hall of Fame snubs

From Jim Marshall to Jared Allen, the Minnesota Vikings have had some notable Hall of Fame snubs.

Minnesota is well represented in Canton, Ohio, but the team still has its share of Hall of Fame snubs.

From Fran Tarkenton to Randy Moss, plenty of Hall of Famers have donned the Purple and Gold. Still, the Vikings have had plenty of players deserving of being enshrined, only to fall short in recent years.

So here is a list of some of the more notable snubs to have played for the Vikings. Just a note: I left off some notable former Vikings whose great years didn’t overlap with the team. So players like Donovan McNabb will not be on this list.

Here it is:

Vikings running back Chuck Foreman talks being snubbed from Hall of Fame

“I’m laughing about it,’’ Vikings running back Chuck Foreman said, via the Pioneer Press .

Minnesota running back Chuck Foreman’s career put him in the Vikings Ring of Honor. He was a five-time Pro Bowler, an Offensive Rookie of the Year in 1973 and even led the NFL in receptions in 1975.

Despite all of those honors and achievements, Foreman was not named a senior finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He recently spoke with Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press about not being considered.

“I’m laughing about it,’’ he said, via the Pioneer Press. “That’s what I think about it. … I don’t know how they choose and pick but I have done a little research and I find that my stats are better than most. … I look at my time, and there’s a lot of ones that were good but there aren’t any that were better (at running back).’’

To make matters more difficult for Vikings fans, defensive end Jim Marshall was also not a senior finalist. He was a member of the “Purple People Eaters” and was recently listed as Minnesota’s top player to not be in the Hall of Fame.

But wait, it gets worse. Drew Pearson, the Cowboys wide receiver who caught the Hail Mary against the Vikings in that 1975 playoff game, was named a senior finalist. That catch is a point of contention for some Vikings fans, many of whom argue that Pearson committed offensive pass interference. So yeah, not great for Vikings fans.

Former Vikings RB Chuck Foreman praises Dalvin Cook, criticizes Kirk Cousins

“They signed Cousins but without Cook there to support him it’s not going to work.” Chuck Foreman had a lot to say about Dalvin Cook and Kirk Cousins.

From one running back to another, Chuck Foreman thinks “Dalvin Cook is the key to everything” for the Vikings.

Foreman, a former Vikings running back, had a lot to say to Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press about Cook and quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Here is part of what Foreman said:

“Without Dalvin Cook their offense is nothing. They gave Cousins all that money & he hasn’t proven anything as far as I’m concerned as far as being able to win big games.”

Foreman went on to say that Cook is key, given the way the running back position is set up in the Vikings’ current system. After Kirk Cousins dropped back quite often in 2018-19, the Vikings fully switched to a system that catered more to running the ball, and one that utilized Cousins’ passing ability in ways such as play-action passes and rollouts, and oftentimes play-action rollouts in 2019-20.

Foreman also said this to Tomasson:

“You overpaid the QB. He’s not in the top 20 QBs in the game. That’s just my personal opinion. I like Kirk. He’s hard-working and everything but he’s just limited in what he can do. They signed Cousins but without Cook there to support him it’s not going to work.”