Kevin Williams was announced this week as the 26th member of the Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor. He’ll be formally inducted during halftime of a yet-to-be-announced home game this season. The Ring of Honor was started in 1998 to honor the very best of the Vikings past. Under the ownership of the Wilf family, the bestowing of the honor on at least one person has been a near annual event. During the construction of US Bank Stadium (2014-15), there were no inductions while the Vikings played home games at TCF Bank Stadium. There was no induction during the inaugural season of US Bank Stadium (2016). The Vikings made up for that season with two player inductions during the 2017 season. It was a fun two. Randy Moss and Ahmad Rashad. Of course, there were no inductions last season due to fan-less games during a global pandemic. It’ll be so damn sweet to see a full US Bank this year. It’ll be so damn sweet to see Kevin Williams take his deserved place among his fellow greats in the Vikings Ring of Honor.
Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
Fran Tarkenton (1998)
Alan Page (1998)
Jim Finks (1998)
Bud Grant (1998)
Paul Krause (1998)
Fred Zamberletti (1998)
Jim Marshall (1999)
Ron Yary (2001)
Korey Stringer (2001)
Mick Tingelhoff (2001)
Carl Eller (2002)
Cris Carter (2003)
Bill Brown (2004)
Jerry Burns (2005)
Randall McDaniel (2006)
Chuck Foreman (2007)
John Randle (2008)
Scott Studwell (2009)
Chris Doleman (2011)
Matt Blair (2012)
Joey Browner (2013)
Randy Moss (2017)
Ahmad Rashad (2017)
Dennis Green (2018)
Steve Jordan (2019)
Kevin Williams (2021)
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It doesn’t feel right to start thinking about who’s next to enter the Vikings Ring of Honor before Williams even receives his spiffy Purple Jacket. But that’s what fans do. So, who’s next? I always start with the players that have been waiting the longest and no player has been waiting longer than Grady Alderman. He was an original Viking and the team’s franchise left tackle from 1961-73. He was named to six Pro Bowls (1963-67, 1969) and selected first-team All-Pro in 1969. His strong presence on the left side put future Hall of Famer Ron Yary on the right side. My “who’s next?” starts with Grady Alderman. From there, it’s easy to move through the Vikings past and select players deserving of consideration for the Ring of Honor.
Grady Alderman
Dave Osborn
Bobby Bryant
Ed White
Jeff Siemon
Sammy White
Tim Irwin
Carl Lee
Gary Zimmerman
Anthony Carter
Keith Millard
Henry Thomas
Jake Reed
Ed McDaniel
Matt Birk
Antoine Winfield
Chad Greenway
Steve Hutchinson
Jared Allen
I could add more. The long-time linebacker trio of Wally Hilgenberg, Lonnie Warwick, and Roy Winston to name three. Karl Kassulke. Doug Martin. Jeff Christy. To name three more. Tommy Mason? The first first draft pick in team history was great until injuries started whittling away at his career. If I had to guess the 27th member Ring of Honor, Steve Hutchinson would be that guess. Vikings Ring of Honor inductions have often followed a Pro Football Hall of Fame induction. Hutchinson enters Canton this summer. He should soon have a Purple Jacket to go with that Gold Jacket. Perhaps the most curious omission in the Vikings Ring of Honor is Gary Zimmerman. He’s been a Hall of Famer for a while. He’s right there with Ron Yary as the best offensive tackles in Vikings history. He should’ve entered the Ring of Honor years ago. Is it the manner in which he left the Vikings? Is it his five years in Denver? If those were reasons to not put a player in the Ring of Honor then Fran Tarkenton shouldn’t be in it. Maybe Zimmerman does have ill feelings toward the Vikings. That was a different time in Minnesota. Mike Lynn was calling the shots and he was an idiot when it came to football. Who knows? I do know that Gary Zimmerman should be in the Vikings Ring of Honor.
If I had to shave the above list of former Vikings players deserving of consideration to the five most deserving of being #27, that short-list would look something like this:
Grady Alderman
Gary Zimmerman
Steve Hutchinson
Keith Millard
Antoine Winfield
But I believe that Steve Hutchinson will be #27.
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