In the early years, the Minnesota Vikings were like many new franchises of the time: dysfunctional, bad at football, and often intoxicated. And then a former NBA champion came back home to Minnesota and changed the identity of this franchise forever.

For the Vikings, the 1970s were so full of comedy, drama, and doomed snowmobiling expeditions that we had to split this decade into two episodes. And we STILL had to leave stuff out! What a team.

The Minnesota Vikings of the 1970s were among the greatest football teams ever assembled. Entering 1974, Bud Grant’s teams had reached two Super Bowls, but lost them both. The good times don’t last forever. It’s time to cash in.

It’s the 1980s. The Vikings’ storied Fran Tarkenton/Purple People Eaters era has ended. Seems like the party’s over, right? Believe it or not, though, the truly wild times are just now beginning. This is when we begin to understand who the Minnesota Vikings truly are.

The 1990s Minnesota Vikings were like a fireworks display gone wrong in all the right ways. They smoked, popped, and fizzled out. And just as you thought you had a dud on your hands, they set off every car alarm on the block, exploding into a team the likes of which the sport of football has never seen before or since.

This is a super-sized episode of The History of the Minnesota Vikings, dedicated to perhaps the most dramatic decade a football team has ever had. Featuring Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, Mike Tice, Adrian Peterson, and you-know-who.

In this series finale of The History of the Minnesota Vikings, our heroes sail into the present and future. It was easy to wonder whether one day, the Vikings would run out of stories to tell. Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, they’ve made it very clear: they are only getting started.