Throwback Thursday: Vikings In The Middle

In the 1960s the Minnesota Vikings were forced to compete in a division populated by teams with ridiculous talent at the middle linebacker position. The Chicago Bears had Bill George and Dick Butkus. The Green Bay Packers had Ray Nitschke. The Detroit Lions had Joe Schmidt and Mike Lucci. All but Lucci are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The talent in the middle of these defenses set the bar high. As an expansion team the Vikings had to reach that bar. Even with those high standards the Vikings did all right for themselves. Rip Hawkins was the second pick in team history. Sandwiched between the selections of Tommy Mason and Fran Tarkenton. Hawkins handled the middle of the defense for the first half of the decade. He was even elected to a Pro Bowl despite all of the talent on the teams around him. Lonnie Warwick manned the middle of the Vikings defense for the last half of the decade. He didn't earn any Pro Bowl nods but he had to go against the best years of Butkus and Nitschke. Hawkins and Warwick started a modest but solid Minnesota Vikings tradition at the middle linebacker position.

Rip Hawkins 1961-65

Lonnie Warwick 1966-70

Carl Gersbach 1971

Jeff Siemon 1972-81

Scott Studwell 1980-90

Ray Berry 1991

Jack Del Rio 1992-95

Jeff Brady 1995-97

Ed McDaniel 1998-2001

Greg Biekert 2002-03

E.J. Henderson 2004-11

Jasper Brinkley 2012

Erin Henderson 2013

Jasper Brinkley 2014

The middle linebacker talent trotted out by the Chicago Bears over the decades should be illegal. Bulldog Turner, George Connor, Bill George, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary. All are honored in Canton. Brian Urlacher should join them in a couple of years. A simply ridiculous run of talent at the position. They are tossed out as an outlier for any comparison is a joke. Except for the transitional year of Carl Gersbach in 1971, the Vikings run at the position from 1961-90 was terrific. Siemon is arguably the best middle linebacker in team history.  His career was highlighted by a fistful of Pro Bowls and a simply outstanding performance in a losing effort in Super Bowl XI. He was one of the best middle linebackers in the league through the middle of the 1970s. Scott Studwell didn't receive as many accolades as Siemon but he provided strong leadership and play throughout the 1980s. Jack Del Rio, Jeff Brady, Ed McDaniel, and Greg Biekert were solid. McDaniel was occasionally spectacular. E.J. Henderson was probably the best all-around middle linebacker that the Vikings have had since Siemon. His career was really never the same after a brutal leg injury late in the 2009 season. He made his single Pro Bowl after that injury but he really wasn't the same player. The Vikings have been trying to find Henderson's replacement ever since. They even tried his brother, Erin Henderson, at the position in 2013. It didn't work as well as hoped. The Vikings search for the next middle linebacker to continue their modest but solid tradition has hopefully come to an end. 

It was only fitting that E.J. Henderson was tapped as the former Minnesota Vikings player to announce the team's second round selection in the 2015 NFL Draft. Henderson announced the Vikings selection of UCLA linebacker Eric Kendricks. Hopefully, he's the next one. The best one.