1964 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1964 season was the Minnesota Vikings' fourth in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with an 8–5–1 record for their first winning season and a franchise-best until 1969. They tied with the Green Bay Packers for second place in the Western conference, who gained the berth in the third-place Playoff Bowl in Miami on January 3. The two teams had split their season series, with the road teams winning, but the Packers won the tiebreaker on point differential: the Vikings' victory was by just one point, while Green Bay won by over four touchdowns.^[1] In the season opener, the Vikings upset eventual Western champion Baltimore.

1964 Minnesota Vikings season
General manager	Jim Finks
Head coach	Norm Van Brocklin
Home field	Metropolitan Stadium
Results
Record	8–5–1
Division place	T-2nd NFL Western
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	T Grady Alderman FB Bill Brown RB Tommy Mason QB Fran Tarkenton C Mick Tingelhoff
AP All-Pros	FB Bill Brown (2nd team) C Mick Tingelhoff (1st team)
Uniform
← 1963 Vikings seasons 1965 →

To date, this is the only season the Vikings wore white jerseys for all their home games. In January 1964, the NFL owners had approved a new rule which allowed home teams to wear the jersey color of their choice.^[2]

This was the first season for the forty-man roster, an increase of three.^[2]

Offseason

1964 draft

Main article: 1964 NFL draft

	Pro Bowler
	Hall of Famer

1964 Minnesota Vikings Draft
Draft order		Player name	Position	College	Notes
Round	Selection
1	6	Carl Eller	Defensive tackle	Minnesota
2	19	Hal Bedsole	Wide receiver	USC
3	34	George Rose	Running back	Auburn
4	47	Traded to the Chicago Bears[A]
	53	Tom Keating	Defensive tackle	Michigan	from Giants[B]
5	62	John Kirby	Linebacker	Nebraska
6	75	Bob Lacey	Wide receiver	North Carolina
7	90	Wes Bryant	Defensive tackle	Arkansas
8	103	Bill McWatters	Fullback	North Texas State
9	118	Darrell Lester	Fullback	McNeese State
10	131	Traded to the Los Angeles Rams[C]
11	146	H. O. Estes	Guard	East Central State
12	159	Sandy Sands	Wide receiver	Texas
13	174	Russ Vollmer	Running back	Memphis State
14	187	Tom Michel	Running back	East Carolina
15	202	Monte Kiffin	Defensive tackle	Nebraska
16	215	Carleton Oats	Wide receiver	Florida A&M
17	230	Jerry McClurg	Wide receiver	Colorado
18	243	Carl Robinson	Defensive tackle	Prairie View A&M
19	258	Dick Schott	Wide receiver	Louisville
20	271	Milt Sunde	Offensive tackle	Minnesota

Notes

1. The Vikings traded their fourth-round selection (47th overall) to the Bears in exchange for RB Bill Brown.
2. The Vikings traded RB Hugh McElhenny to the Giants in exchange for a fourth-round selection (53rd overall) and a 1965 second-round selection (15th overall).
3. The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (131st overall) to the Rams in exchange for RB Tommy Wilson.

Roster

1964 Minnesota Vikings roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Fran Tarkenton 15 Ron Vander Kelen Running backs (RB) 30 Bill Brown 33 Ted Dean FB 31 Darrell Lester (fullback) FB 20 Tommy Mason 32 Bill McWatters FB 21 Tom Michel HB Wide receivers (WR) 85 Paul Flatley 28 Tom Hall 88 Bob Lacey 89 Jerry Reichow Tight ends (TE) 86 Hal Bedsole 87 Gordon Smith

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Grady Alderman T 61 Larry Bowie G 66 Ken Byers G 73 Errol Linden T 74 Dave O'Brien T 69 Palmer Pyle G 64 Milt Sunde G 53 Mick Tingelhoff C Defensive linemen (DL) 75 Mike Bundra DT 62 Bob Denton DE 76 Paul Dickson DT 81 Carl Eller DE 70 Jim Marshall DE 79 Jim Prestel DT 78 Howard Simpson DE

Linebackers (LB) 55 John Campbell 58 Rip Hawkins 57 Bill Jobko 36 John Kirby 52 Bill Swain 60 Roy Winston Defensive backs (DB) 17 Charley Britt 22 Bill Butler S 23 Lee Calland CB 29 Karl Kassulke S 44 George Rose (American football) 45 Ed Sharockman CB 83 Larry Vargo Special teams 14 Fred Cox K 39 Bobby Walden P

Rookies in italics

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance[3]
1	August 8	New York Giants	W 21–7	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	31,581
2	August 15	St. Louis Cardinals	W 24–10	2–0	Cheney Stadium (Atlanta, GA)	10,000
3	August 22	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–21	3–0	Ute Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)	20,207
4	August 29	at Los Angeles Rams	W 34–23	4–0	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	39,938
5	September 5	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 21–20	5–0	Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA)	9,212

Regular season

Main article: 1964 NFL season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 13	Baltimore Colts	W 34–24	1–0	Metropolitan Stadium	35,563^
2	September 20	Chicago Bears	L 28–34	1–1	Metropolitan Stadium	41,387
3	September 27	at Los Angeles Rams	L 13–22	1–2	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	50,009
4	October 4	at Green Bay Packers	W 24–23	2–2	City Stadium	42,327
5	October 11	Detroit Lions	L 20–24	2–3	Metropolitan Stadium	40,840
6	October 18	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 30–10	3–3	Metropolitan Stadium	39,873
7	October 25	at San Francisco 49ers	W 27–22	4–3	Kezar Stadium	31,845
8	November 1	Green Bay Packers	L 13–42	4–4	Metropolitan Stadium	44,278*
9	November 8	San Francisco 49ers	W 24–7	5–4	Metropolitan Stadium	40,408
10	November 15	at Baltimore Colts	L 14–17	5–5	Memorial Stadium	60,213
11	November 22	at Detroit Lions	T 23–23	5–5–1	Tiger Stadium	48,291
12	November 29	Los Angeles Rams	W 34–13	6–5–1	Metropolitan Stadium	31,677
13	December 6	at New York Giants	W 30–21	7–5–1	Yankee Stadium	62,802
14	December 13	at Chicago Bears	W 41–14	8–5–1	Wrigley Field	46,486

^ Opening day attendance record at Metropolitan Stadium

* Single game attendance record at Metropolitan Stadium

Game summaries

Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27–22 on October 25 in San Francisco at Kezar Stadium, but not before defensive end Jim Marshall made one of the most embarrassing errors in NFL history. In the fourth quarter, 49er halfback Billy Kilmer caught a pass from rookie quarterback George Mira and fumbled the ball forward, which was scooped up in stride by Marshall. He unknowingly ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone; thinking he scored a touchdown, he tossed the ball in the air throwing it out of bounds, resulting in a safety. The Vikings had a 27–17 lead at the time, and it narrowed the gap to eight points.^[4][5]

On the previous possession, Marshall had forced a Mira fumble in the collapsing pocket and defensive end Carl Eller had scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Just before that, Viking linebacker Roy Winston had intercepted a Mira pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it to the 49er eleven-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by quarterback Fran Tarkenton to take the lead.^[6][7] Two weeks later in Minnesota, the Vikings defeated the 49ers again, by a score of 24–7.^[8]

• YouTube – NFL Films – Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run

Standings

NFL Western Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts	12	2	0	.857	10–2	428	225	W1
Green Bay Packers[a]	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	342	245	T1
Minnesota Vikings	8	5	1	.615	6–5–1	355	296	W3
Detroit Lions	7	5	2	.583	6–4–2	280	260	W2
Los Angeles Rams	5	7	2	.417	3–7–2	283	339	T1
Chicago Bears	5	9	0	.357	5–7	260	379	L2
San Francisco 49ers	4	10	0	.286	3–9	236	330	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

1. Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference
   by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.

Statistics

Team leaders

Category	Player(s)	Value
Passing yards	Fran Tarkenton	2,506
Passing touchdowns	Fran Tarkenton	22
Rushing yards	Bill Brown	866
Rushing touchdowns	Bill Brown	7
Receiving yards	Bill Brown	703
Receiving touchdowns	Bill Brown	9
Points	Fred Cox	103
Kickoff return yards	Bill Butler	597
Punt return yards	Bill Butler	156
Interceptions	George Rose	6
Sacks	Jim Marshall	11.5

Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.^[9]

League rankings

Category	Total yards	Yards per game	NFL rank (out of 14)
Passing offense	2,123	151.6	11th
Rushing offense	2,183	155.9	2nd
Total offense	4,306	307.6	6th
Passing defense	2,724	194.6	13th
Rushing defense	1,616	115.4	5th
Total defense	4,340	310.0	10th

References

1. Lea, Bud (December 14, 1964). "Packers tie Rams, gain bowl berth". Milwaukee Sentinel. p. 5, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
2. "NFL keeps ties same, ups rosters". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. January 29, 1964. p. 3, part 2.
3. "1964 Minnesota Vikings (NFL) - Pro Football Archives".
4. "Marshall runs 60 yards - backwards". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). Associated Press. October 26, 1964. p. 4B.
5. "Wrong way run shakes up coach". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. October 26, 1964. p. 4, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
6. "Wrong way run as Vikes edge 49ers". Milwaukee Sentinel. Associated Press. October 26, 1964. p. 3, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
7. "Viking opportunists rout 49ers by 27-22". Lodi News-Sentinel. (California). UPI. October 26, 1964. p. 12.
8. "Tarkenton fires 3 TDs in Vike win". Milwaukee Sentinel. UPI. November 8, 1964. p. 5, part 2.^{[permanent dead link]}
9. "Pre-1982 Sacks Added To Pro Football Reference". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved December 18, 2023.

• "1964 Draft". Pro Football Hall of Fame. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2007.
• "1964 Minnesota Vikings". DatabaseFootball. Archived from the original on April 9, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2007.