Watching Brian Flores get so much out of what many consider a marginally talented group got me thinking about some of the underrated players in franchise history. This is an all-time Minnesota Vikings team made up of players that might not receive the attention that they deserve for the great career that they had. All-time teams are always a very subjective thing. This one has another layer of subjectivity to it. Just as not everyone will agree whether a player is an All-Timer, not everyone will agree whether a player’s career was underrated.
Minnesota Vikings All - Time Underrated Team
Offense
Quarterback
Tommy Kramer
Tommy Kramer was great. If injuries hadn’t popped up throughout his career, he wouldn’t be on this team.
Running Back
Tommy Mason
Tommy Mason was much more than the first pick in franchise history. Injuries cut his career short. In his six years in Minnesota, Mason was named All-Pro once and went to three Pro Bowls. When I visited the Vikings Museum at TCO, I was surprised and thrilled to find a Tommy Mason exhibit. I was surprised because I felt that history had forgotten him and thrilled because it hadn’t.
Fullback
Rick Fenney
In today’s NFL, fullbacks are always underrated. Rick Fenney was the last Vikings fullback that got more than the token carry.
Receivers
John Gilliam
Jake Reed
The Vikings have been blessed with a load of terrific receivers. John Gilliam was one of the league’s most explosive playmakers during the early 1970s. Jake Reed had four consecutive 1000-yard seasons. Unfortunately, he played with Cris Carter and lost his starting job to Randy Moss.
Tight End
Joe Senser
A knee injury ended Joe Senser’s career before it really got started. Seven touchdowns as a rookie. 1,004 yards and eight touchdowns as a sophomore. Senser was on the verge of joining the league’s first wave of great tight ends. Kellen Winslow, Ozzie Newsome, Dave Casper. Senser was in their league. Then he was suddenly and sadly done.
Offensive Tackles
Grady Alderman
Tim Irwin
Both were named 50 Greatest Vikings. Grady Alderman was recently inducted in the Pro Football Researchers Association’s Hall of Very Good. Neither was really underrated but each played a chunk of their career in the shadow of the best tackles in Vikings franchise history. Ron Yary and Gary Zimmerman.
Guards
Milt Sunde
David Dixon
Like fullbacks, guards are often underrated. Unless you’re Randall McDaniel or Steve Hutchinson. Milt Sunde and David Dixon weren’t McDaniel or Hutchinson but they were fine football players.
Center
Dennis Swilley
It isn’t the equal of receivers and defensive line but the Vikings have an excellent center tradition. It helps that Mick Tingelhoff played about 100 years. Dennis Swilley had the unfortunate task of replacing Tingelhoff. A team can’t have a strong tradition at a position with a single player. In that sense, Swilley started the Vikings excellent center tradition.
Defense
Defensive Ends
Doug Martin
Brian Robison
Doug Martin was the best of the players tasked with replacing the Purple People Eaters. He had two seasons of more than 10 sacks and two seasons of nine sacks. His 11.5 sacks in nine games during the strike-shortened 1982 season led the league. Brian Robison was much more than a fan-favorite. He might’ve received more attention league-wide if he didn’t play all of his career opposite Jared Allen and then Everson Griffen.
Defensive Tackles
Henry Thomas
Keith Millard
Henry Thomas and Keith Millard aren’t underrated. They just happened to play for a franchise that had Alan Page and John Randle. Thomas and Millard have Hall of Fame cases. Millard would already be in Canton if injuries hadn’t whittled away at his career.
Linebackers
Ed McDaniel
Lonnie Warwick
Ben Leber
All three were fun football players. Ed McDaniel was the best player on his Vikings defense not named John Randle. Lonnie Warwick played middle linebacker during the era of Dick Butkus, Ray Nitschke, and Joe Schmidt. Ben Leber simply made big plays.
Cornerbacks
Bobby Bryant
Nate Wright
Bobby Bryant and Nate Wright were the cornerbacks of my youth. I love them.
Safeties
Karl Kassulke
Tom Hannon
Karl Kassulke’s physicality was an excellent compliment to Paul Krause’s finesse. Kassulke’s football career ended with a motorcycle accident on this way to the Vikings 1973 training camp. The accident left him paralyzed. Tom Hannon had the unfortunate task of replacing Krause at the back of the Vikings defense.
Special Teams
Kicker
Ryan Longwell
Ryan Longwell was one of the league’s most reliable kickers for nearly all of his 16 seasons. Six of those were in Minnesota. The Vikings have a history of kicking atrocities. The six Longwell years were bright years.
Punter
Bobby Walden
Bobby Walden is better known for his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His first four seasons were in Minnesota. He led the league in yards/punt as a rookie.
Punt Returner
Leo Lewis
Leo Lewis was a fun football player. He didn’t have the football in his hands often. When he did, it felt like something fun was about to happen.
Kick Returner
Eddie Payton
Walter Payton’s older brother might’ve found his way to Minnesota because of what he did as a returner for the Detroit Lions. He returned a kick and a punt for touchdowns against the Vikings in 1977. He kept the Lions in a game that they had no business being in. Perhaps due to memories of that game, the Vikings signed him three years later. He led the league in kick return yards in 1980 and had a 99-yard kick return touchdown in 1981.
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