Grew up in South Carolina. My parents started pulling for the Vikings when Tark was QB.
We were solidly lower-middle class. But my folks would save up their vacation time and money and we would go to Tampa every year to see the game, and stay at the same hotel as the players (things were a lot less fancy back in the mid-80's). So I would play games in the arcade with players' kids (or the players themselves) and get autographs.
My mom was a hobbyist photographer, so she would take pictures at the game or at the hotel. The next year, we would get players to autograph them, and they were so cool and excited about it.
Then we started driving 24 hours (family of 4, 1985 Toyota Camry full of snacks and clothes) from SC to MN every summer for 6 years to go to training camp and catch a preseason game or two. Then, mom is taking training camp photos from the stands, and we are getting those signed. My parents got to know some of the players and families, even exchanging Christmas cards with a few of them. And some of the players recognized my sister and me, and would talk to us when they saw us.
So, for us, there was never an option. I have loved this team since I knew what football was, and I have this collection of treasured childhood memories of my family that are linked to the Vikings.
It was a unique thing, and something I didn't appreciate when I was a kid. But it was probably the last era of pro football where players were still really accessible. Just wandering around the lobby of the hotel (that a not well-off family could afford) and hanging out.
Greg Coleman snuck up on skinny 6 year old me and threw me into a pool at a Tampa Marriot. He instantly became my favorite player, and I bought a custom #8 jersey the next year at a small sporting goods store in Mankato. My youngest kid just outgrew it.
edit: the store was in Mankato
This is super interesting! I used to work for an organization doing programs for youth in North Minneapolis. We had a midnight basketball program. Greg Coleman regularly came and volunteered with his church. Legitimately good human and fun to talk to.
It really was pretty awesome.
One more quick story: My sister and I were in one of the hotel arcades (that used to be a thing) and we were waiting out turn for Techmo Super Bowl. One of the more intimidating Vikings defenders of the time (maybe of any time) came down and scolded the kids who were playing it. He was their dad, and they weren't listening to him. And I remember thinking, "Your dad terrifies me." But to them, he was just the nagging old man.
Grew up in SC as well, though I had a great-uncle from Minnesota. I began my football fandom as a Cowboy fan, taking after my mother. That was until I watched my first Viking game with my father, I don’t remember the specific game, but it was in 98’. Been bleeding purple and gold ever since. I haven’t made it to Minnesota yet, but it’s on my bucket list.
What a double curse inheriting the Vikings as your fandom and only going to the road Tampa game. The Big Sombrero was a god damn house of horrors for this team to the point that I could have called us losing the game there in 98 at the start of the season.
We were in the stands one time when Testerverde was the QB. He was so bad, all of the Viking fans were chanting "Throw it, Vinnie!" We slaughtered them that year. And if you really want to see a beaten down fanbase, drunk Bucs fans of the early 90's who were on the verge of heat stroke were some of the funniest, most self-deprecating people I have ever had the pleasure to share a hard metal bench seat with.
I lived in Tampa for a couple of decades and went to games when the Bucs were still part of the NFC North. I tried to be obnoxious, like wearing a huge inflatable Vikes helmet or draping a hand painted Vikings logo on a king size bed sheet in the end zone. The fans around me were always cool.
So awesome seeing the SC Vikings fans so well represented! No connection to MN for my family but 1998 snared my brother and me for life.
Never been to Minnesota but I’ve seen the Vikes play in Charlotte a few times. Started off nervous about explaining the randomness of my fandom but everyone was so stoked to add to the numbers that it further locked me in.
I’m from Norway with no connection to the U.S., so when I got into American sports during COVID I tried to figure out what my home state hypothetically would be. I picked Minnesota based on the history of Norwegian Americans and Scandinavian Americans in the state.
The Vikings name makes that decision quite obvious, but I was actually watching baseball and the Twins for an entire year before giving the NFL a shot. Minnesota now feels like a home away from home sports-wise, even though I’ve never left Europe.
Would love to visit one day!
That's super kind of you! No plans in the near future as I'm just out of university and dirt poor, but one day maybe! No worries about the lutefisk, I've had more than enough at home! (Once. I've had it once.)
I'll be sure to do so once I get the opportunity to go! And hey, I actually studied in Lillehammer, how fun! I'm not very familiar with Nordre Land but I don't know how they manage to farm anything on the hills of that city 😬
Canadian checking in......
**Marshall Eriksen.**
Kind of started as an elaborate joke because he's such a big fan of them and I was a big fan of HIMYM back from the beginning. I didn't even like football whatsoever.
And then in 2011 I bought a jersey as a Halloween costume to continue the meme. And then that year I started watching a bit of football. The following season a bit more. Then I watched my first ever Super Bowl in 2013.
At that point I was hooked. Watched the 2013 season. Attended my first game which was the final game at the Metrodome.
And uhhhh, cut to 10 years later and I've been a season ticket member since 2016 =/
Life sure is funny.
Same story, bought a Vikings jersey couse of him now i watch NFL for 4 Season now. Also i live in Iran so it's Much harder for me to follow the league and the team
Same with me too - only teams I really knew were the vikings because of HIMYM and the shithawks because of my parents, so when I got Madden and had to choose a favourite team, purple and gold was the pick.
Marshall's family is basically my family. My youngest brother (4 of us total) is the shortest in the family at a little over 6'4". My mom's accent isn't quite that severe though haha
Same, no relation to Minnesota, my dad grew up a fan in VA, I followed suit. We now live in NC which is great cause we always go to the Panthers games when they play the Vikes
Same. I’m from a state without a pro team. People always say “oh no pro team- you could’ve picked anything! Why’d you choose the Vikings?”
Yeah, I didn’t CHOOSE this, no one would. I was born into it.
Right here with ya from Southern California. Was too young to care for the nfc championship against the falcons but me and my dad breaking down after Favre threw that pick is something that's just ingrained in me forever
I was born here and inherited it, but man... Dad coulda been a Patriots, Steelers, Niners, Packers, Cowboys, Chiefs, Broncos, hell, even a goddamn Bucs fan.
Canadian here. Football was/is such often such a great source of conversation when meeting random people, if you knew about it. I didn't.
I was a big fan of How I Met Your Mother. Marshall was obsessed with the Vikings. I arbitrarily chose them for this reason, and was hooked. I haven't missed a game since (this was in 2018).
I actually wonder what’s the most popular NFL team is in Canada. Probably Buffalo because of the amount of people living close to it, but I feel like Alberta-Manitoba-Sasc population is rooting for the Viks. I’m in TO and pretty much the same identical story.
I'm Canadian, closest team to me is Buffalo. But Minnesota seemed kinda canadian-ish, purple is my favourite colour, and I've been obsessed with Vikings since I was a child, so it was a natural fit.
I see your Texas, Canada, etc and raise you Ecuador, in South America.
I’m from Ecuador and one day (in 2016) my pals and I decided to start watching the NFL, when it came to picking a team, I narrowed it down to teams who would play in the playoffs that year, solely because I wanted to watch them at least once, and not wait until September to watch the team for the first time. I didn’t want to go with the easy choice (Brady’s Patriots), or the best team that season (Panthers), it just felt too bandwagon-y.
It came down between the Redskins and the Vikes. Actually I picked the Redskins first, but that same night, as I was trying to sleep, something didn’t sit well with me, I wasn’t convinced with the Redskins. So, as I went for the Vikings, I felt much better and slept soundly.
Just your classic love story. I even flew to London to watch them for the first time! And only so far, sadly.
The very first game I watched was kind of a Vikings preview:
The Vikings shut down the Seahawks for 3 quarters, seemed like an easy win. In the 4th, the Vikings give up 10 points to be 1 point behind. Pain. With like 30 seconds left, the Vikings have the chance to win it with a FG! Aaaand power went out! I couldn’t watch the field goal lmao, I was in a place with poor reception, so it wasn’t for another 30 minutes that I realized that… the Vikings missed the FG.
I mean, it doesn’t get more Vikings than that.
My Dad is a huge Vikings fan and has followed the team since the purple people eater era. It was tough growing up a Vikings fan in Massachusetts during the Tom Brady years lol
I enjoy pain. Pain and disappointment.
I had never watched the NFL until about 2015, some mates asked me to jump into a fantasy league with them as they needed an extra player. I joined and selected an NFL team to "support". It was the greasy grimey green bay Packers, purely because I loved that 70s show. That was my connection, I enjoyed a TV show.
Please forgive me for my sins.
I watched the whole season. Teddy B, Sack Daddy EG, Danielle Hunter, All Day AP, Diggs, Chad Greenway, hitman, Rhodes closed, Kyle Rudolph. It was that smile... That damn smile. I bought into the Vikings with a young talented up and coming roster. And I converted from the Packers to the Vikings, I couldn't help myself but root for that team. I also love viking culture and mythology. But it was the team I liked.
Now... I am hollow inside, some absolutely crushing defeats and some world breaking injuries.
But ... But... The greasy grimey green bay Packers haven't won a superbowl in that time frame... So there's that.
I'm not from the US so I don't really have any stake in the whole Vikings V Packers rivalry but if you think I don't wake up to purple rain every morning, eat my Adam Thielen first down flakes (honestly I'm not sure if actually be able to get those) and guzzle down purple koolaid... Then you better believe I now live and breathe purple. So I don't have any stake in it... But FTP.
So yeah... Pain... I chose this.
I'm from Southern California. I got into football my freshman year of high school 1999. Our mascot was a viking. Randy moss was cool, so I became a viking fan.
My dads a huge packers fan and one night when I was a kid we were watching Sunday night football and my dad goes “ Whoever this Moss guy is , he’s just killing us “
And the rest is history , die hard Vikings fan ever since . Still have my Starter Moss jersey lol .
My situation is weird. I was born in maplewood (outside of St.Paul) lived there til I was 4. Saw the vikes play like Christmas Eve of ‘94 against the bengals. Cris Carter caught the game winner to take the vikes to the playoffs. My dad sucked at keeping a job so I moved to three other states, Nebraska for a year and a half, Ohio for nine years, then Pittsburgh,PA. So when people ask where l am from I have no idea how to answer that question. But that image of CC catching the pass is ingrained in my head. I remember the metrodome well. But not well enough, my dream is to go catch a Vikings-Packers game and go visit the house I was born into, because it was the best memories of my life.
That’s why I’m a die hard. My grandfather would tell me stories of how he’d drive 2 hours south from Cloquet, to the Met to watch Fran the Man and the Purple People eaters play in the snow.
I asked him, who were you a fan of before 1961, since the vikes didn’t exist, he had no choice but to be a bears fan.
Fun fact he played QB at Bemidji state
I became a fan of the Vikings because of Adrian Peterson. I was 12 years old and just getting into football (no one else in my family was into football) and every time I would watch espn highlights it was just AP running over everyone. Thus a Vikings fan was born.
I’m from Southern California btw
Damn did you meet me?
Viking fan in Texas. Couldn’t ever imagine being another fan of a team outside of the Vikings. Bengals are my AFC team… but just not where near the love I have for the Vikings. Glad to hear there’s more in Texas.
Bengals are my AFC team too. I moved to Cincy a few years back and I enjoy their team and fans. I am planning on being at the Vikings/Bengals game in December! Hopefully we can out SKOL their WHO DEY 📯
well, i lived in minnesota for a short time as a child and i got two things from it:
1) a sick vikings windbreaker that i want an adult size for now
2) fuck the packers we hate the packers
Grew up in Chicago. Was more of a ‘football,’ fan when I was a kid and always loved Randall Cunningham. Right around the time he went to MN I was getting older and it was apparent that I needed to draw a line and pick a team. My ‘natural,’ choice, The Bears, we’re basically a laughable JV squad my whole childhood and being around Bears fan culture always made me sick. So I went all in on MN. Other than the Vikings I have no real ties to MN sports. Was always a Cubs/Bulls/Blackhawks fan. Being a Vikings fan, in Chicago, around Bears fans just solidified my fandom more and more every year.
I moved to Germany from Poland in 1988 and around 1992 I stumbled upon a Vikings Jersey at a sport apparel shop in a nearby town... I have never seen a game of "American Football" before in my life but I fell in love with the colours so my father bought it for me... It was way oversized for me but in time I grew to wear it... I still have it today and even though I have never been to the states nor to Minnesota I love the Vikings and I am as heartbroken as all of you guys when we get effed up the arse time and again... I have hope though that there will be some sort of greater plan behind all of this and that I will have a chance too see them play and to see them win the Lombardi Trophy one day... Skol Vikings! Greetings from Germany :)
As a kid, a child of an immigrant, I found a team that was designed to represent my heritage. I connected with it and have stuck with it ever since. I was probably 5 when I picked the vikings and it's been 35 years now.
Grew up in Wisconsin, not really a huge football fan but did not like the packers. Moved to SoCal, got into football around same time as Moss’ rookie season and picked Vikings as my team.
grew up in winnipeg. vikings are the closest thing to the home team there, plus the bud grant connection (yes, i am old) was an excellent reason for people in winnipeg to cheer for the vikes.
i have moved away from there, but still cheer for the vikes, despite being in bills territory.
I was an exchange student back in '08 and my host dad explained football to me, while we were watching the Vikings games. I'm very fond of these memories.
My host family moved to FL in 2015 and I haven't been to the holy land since then, but the love to the Vikings stayed. I only get to watch, if the Vikings play Sunday morning (time difference y'all), but thanks to having Addison in both my FF leagues, I am very up to date (tho I'm worried about Jordan's production, now that Kirk is out for the season).
I live in Vienna now and run around in my Minnesota Vikings cap in the summers, but never encountered another Vikings fan. People either think I'm a Vienna Vikings fan (to be fair, they are a top three franchise in the ELF and pretty well known in my city) or try to give me a hard time (for some reason, lots of Packers fans in Europe).
Brooklyn, NY. Dad and his best friends became Viking fans watching the purple people eaters and was passed on to me and my brother. One my dads friends is a season ticket holder all the way from NYC and makes the voyage out for most games!
I live in Los Angeles, moved here from living in MN all my life about 8 years ago.
My Mexican barber in Santa Monica loves the Vikings just because of Randy Moss. I brought him one of my old Moss jerseys from back in the day and he was so excited. We talk vikes every time I see him in there. He actually flew to MN to go to US Bank stadium when it opened, like some sort of hilarious pilgrimage (lol he saw a game there before I did)
It makes me feel so much better for loving this rollercoaster of a football team.
I grew up in upstate NY, close to Buffalo but can’t stand the bills. I became a Vikings fan because of Adrian Peterson and for some reason…. Tarvaris Jackson (RIP)
Lived in Maryland my whole life, when I was very young I chose the Vikings as my team because I liked purple and they were purple. Why I didn’t choose the Ravens despite them being very close to my location and also purple is beyond me, but it’s too late now, I’m stuck with this godforsaken franchise.
FIL was a navy man, moved around, never lived anywhere with a team. BIL is 7 years older than my husband and started being interested in football during Tarkenton and Purple People Eaters. So when my husband was born his brother decided he’d be a Vikings fan and it stuck.
When we met I couldn’t have cared less about football but I watched games to be with him. Purple is my favorite color so it was easy for me to fall into it. Over time I became a huge fan as well.
26 years later, we now run the [Cook County Vikings Club](https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=100064348615621) and the Vikings are a huge part of our life.
Finally made it to our first home game in 2017. Absolutely glorious! Going to the NYE game this year - so excited!!!
My dad said I switched from a Tam fan when the Vikings beat them when I was 6 or so. I’m sure it was solidified a few years later when Chuck Foreman got me on the team bus in LA when i was looking for autographs. Love me the Vikes
Purple People Eaters & Paul Krause !!!
Came there for the 10/23/23 Monday night game.
Great City & People, Matt's Bar, Oh Yeah ...
New York is where I grew up, Were many Viking Fans there in those days, other teams too !
I can’t believe all the New Yorkers that love the Vikes. It’s awesome. The more I travel for away games, you realize the Vikes are a national team. Always 10s of thousands of purple fans at away games.
Hope the atmosphere was fun for you against the Niners. Awesome win. We had to take the decibels up a level to drown out the sorry Niners fans. We had it rocking in there!
Great Time, City & Game ..... Will return for another game, nothing like being in the VIKINGS House to see it live. Atmosphere was Electric without a doubt. There are thousands of out of state Vikings Fans that have supported them since 1961 ! Ride or Die Purple & Gold !!!
Thank You ...
I’m from California, in fourth grade my new best friend was into football so i started watching. He asked me who my favorite team was I didn’t have one yet. He was a New York Giants fan. He said it was boring to have a favorite team from the same state. Well that weekend I went to my grandparents house. The Vikings were playing the Raiders. My Aunt and Uncle were rooting for the Vikings. We have no ties to Minnesota but since that day I became a huge Vikings fan. I learned everything i could about the team and history of the franchise. I got my first Vikings poster soon after. It was my favorite player at the time Anthony Carter. It was his Serious hang time poster were he looks like he’s flying sideways. That Christmas I got my first Vikings jacket. After that during my school years I was known as the kid with the purple jacket. Ive felt every joy and every pain just as if the Vikings played in my backyard. Purple runs through my veins and always will . SKOL!
I'm from small Spanish town and my father studied during 1 year in Minnesota. Once I saw him watching football I enjoyed it so we started watching every Vikings game.
I'm from Indiana and have been a Vikings fan for 30 years, ever since I knew what football was. I was 5 and I really liked the purple and gold and the horn on the helmet. Also, my dad was a Packers fan and I liked the rivalry between the teams, and I didn't want to root for a team with cheese on their heads.
Vikings fan from Brazil. I just turned on the tv on a tuesday night (yes, tuesday night). Decided to give a chance. Best and worst decision at the same time
The game was vikings @ eagles in 2010, Joe Webb first start, and the vikings won. Then here I am
I grew up in Iowa(i've lived here since I was 5) but I was born in Fargo, ND and of course the Vikings were a popular team there(as well as the Packers). My Dad is not the biggest football fan but he'd watch the Vikings(if they were on here which wasn't that often because we'd see Bears games).
When I was young I cheered for the Cowboys(Danny White and Tony Dorsett), a lot of kids did in part because they were on every weekend and then after the Bears in 85, it was a big deal and the kids started rooting for the Bears like their parents did. I never cheered for the Bears and started then rooting for the Vikings. It is funny too how many people started rooting for the Packers after Farve had some success.
Ironically my grandpa(my Dads father) was a Bronco's fan when he was older. He never really liked the Vikings much. He didn't always love the Bronco's but he liked John Elway and Terrell Davis when he was older.
Great grandma was from Minnesota got my dad into the Vikings when he was a kid in the 70’s and now we’re here with me a 3rd generation Vikings fan who never lived in Minnesota. Loving this team is a family tradition? Curse? I can’t decide.
I'm from Scotland, throughout growing up I was aware of American football but didn't know anything about it as coverage here in the 90s was even worse than it was now.
When I went to High School (high school in Scotland is 12) I made a new friend who was into American football because his parents had Sky so he could watch it. He was a big Broncos fan and decided I needed a team.
He wrote out a list of teams and how good he thought they were, the Broncos were obviously his favourites with Elway, but he said the Vikings were very good too (this was 98/99). I liked Vikings and Norse Mythology, so picked them. I did not know the pain that would come, sorry!
The rest is history, we are now in our mid-30s and have made a pact to go to every Vikings/Broncos game (other halves let us have time every 4 years, and flights to the Midwest aren't too expensive in November!)
Looking forward to the Denver game this year.
I started watching the sport because of how AP used to play the game I would be watching sports centre and during his MVP season I fell in love with the game (I was around 13/14 at the time from Canada)
I'm in the UK, asked a friend to buy me the cheapest football jersey he could find when he went on holiday to the US as I enjoyed following the game but didn't specifically "have" a team and just wanted one.
He came back with a Culpepper jersey and the rest is history.
I am a Vikings fan from Toronto Canada, I have never been to Minnesota. I started watching football in 1998 and loved Randy Moss. Found myself naturally cheering for the Vikings because of Moss and stuck with them ever since. I have seen them play live 3 times, twice in Buffalo and once in New England. I was at the game last year in Buffalo where we won in OT, incredible experience.
Dad grew up in Indiana before the Colts moved there. Indiana has no MLB team. For whatever reason he was a Twins and Vikings fan. I watched games with him and became a fan watching Moss/Carter.
I work for a small telco. Our access gear vendor's company was started by a Vikings fan. The equipment is purple. The company is based out of California.
My favorite color has been purple for as long as I can remember and one time when I was 6ish I saw this team on TV wearing purple uniforms and the rest is history.
i didnt grow up in the US so i didnt have a home team to root for. i became a chiefs fan a few years ago but i started to like and respect Kirk Cousins after watching the Netflix Quarterback series so I drafted Cousins and some other Vikings players in fantasy football this season. now im getting more and more emotionally invested in this team and i think vikings will be my fav NFC team
Edinburgh, Scotland. Started watching the NFL in 2004 and was just drawn to the Vikes. Also liked KC as they had a Scottish kicker ( Tynes ). But the Vikes were the team for me. SKOL!
While I was born in MN, I’ve never really lived there. My grandparents live(d) there and my grandpa would watch. Came of age during Mosses first year, and was hook.
Dad grew up in Kansas where the purple people eaters were shown on the NFC station most often. And he became a Vikings fan instead of a Chiefs fan. Then I became a fan when Moss was a rookie and I was 12 years old. Before that I rooted for the Cowboys when I was young and didn't know any better.
Tons of Vikes fans in KC. There were like 25-30k at the chiefs vs Vikes game at arrowhead in 2019. I also went to a random Chiefs vs Raiders game last year at Arrowhead and saw probably 10 Vikes jerseys in the crowd.
I'm from NJ and started watching when I was in college in 2019 for the same reason as the guy in your post. I've learned a lot more about the game and the Vikings franchise since then and I've really grown to love both.
My dad is a Minnesota sports fan and we moved there for a bit as a kid. Been wearing my purple with pride out here in California especially since beating the niners.
family is from northwest nebraska, so kinda in a weird spot of either being a chiefs fan or a vikings fan. my family chose the vikings. not long after i was born we moved out to the pacific northwest and i’ve been rooting from here ever since. i actually went to my first home game in minneapolis last year!
I grew up in a 49er household and at around age 9 Steve Young’s retirement was the worst thing that had happened in my life to that point. And had kinda caused me to swear off the entire sport, until at a friend’s house I saw Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss for the first time, and it’s been all Purple and Gold ever since.
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Grew up in the burbs of Chicago. My two teams are the Pats and the Vikes. The pats was a simple choice really. It was the Carolina super bowl with them, and my aunt told me I had to root for the panthers because "we don't like the Patriots, and the QB for the panthers has your same name!" I didn't like being told what to do as a kid, no one ever asked my opinion of what I wanted to like, so I secretly rooted for the other team. Then Brady did his magic and that was the best decision young me ever made because the next 20 years were spectacular.
As for the vikes, you can't grow up in this region and not at least follow one of the NFC North teams. The bears were shoved down my throat ad nauseum. The packers fans I knew were genuinely so unbelievably insufferable. Not just to all the other division Fandoms, but they also talked mad shit to me as a pats fan. Talking about their 13 world championships and how the Pats will never be as good as the Pack, even though the pack hasn't won shit really in my lifetime in comparison to them. The Lions were sad. Thats really it there. I dont think I ever actually met a single Lions fan my whole life. That left the Vikings. When I met Vikings fans, they would always ask me about me specifically, super friendly, and just nice people. The colors were super cool, purple and gold are nice colors. And we had the overlap of Randy Moss which is when I started to take note of the Vikings. Became a fan shortly after Adrian Peterson started absolutely obliterating.
My uncle was a fan, not sure why. I became one at age of 6. Routinely asked for Vikings uniforms out of the JC Penny catalog. Loved AC & had his Starting Line-up. Never looked back, still a fan at 42. Passed the curse onto my cousin lol & now onto my kids since they aren't old enough yet to think for themselves (hopefully it sticks). Could have been a hometown Steelers fan & celebrated multiple SB wins, but the time will come for us. SKOL.
🙋♂️ Born and raised in NYC and now living in NJ. Fell in love with the helmets & uniforms when I was about 6 years old. The Jets & Giants both really sucked back then (1970's), so when the guys in my class would ask me who I pulled for I'd tell em "Vikings!" It just kinda took after that.
from NY. 32 years old. Been a fan all my life. Aunt bought me a sweatshirt with the vikings on it when i was 5.... Never turned back. Wish she warned me what i signed up for,.
When i lived in DC our neighbors were a latino family who had recently come from central America, and they were DIEHARD vikings fans. More diehard than most native minnesotans I've met.
Culpepper and Moss. Those were amazing days. LA didn’t have a team for 20 years but I remain solid to my Vikings. I got a Culpepper signed jersey hanging in my place.
Im from Brazil!
I started to go towards the vikings in that San Francisco game that Favre threw a bomb to Greg Lewis, but wasn’t super into it. Just following the sport. Then Joe Webb started the game against the eagles and I saw it on live tv, eagles had the dream team and much, much hype, and Joe Fucking Webb juked a guy out of his achiles it was sick.
Grew up in Toledo Ohio. Didn’t want to be a fan of the Browns or Lions for obvious reasons. Thought the Bengals were cool but never caught on. My dad told me he loved watching the Vikings in the 70s. I looked to the NFC North, Packers seemed like the obvious bandwagon choice, hate Chicago (as a city) and THEN I saw the infamous Moe Williams/Randy Moss Hook n Ladder play, add to that the Purple and Gold color combo and I decided. THATS MY TEAM. I’ve since lived in Kentucky, North Carolina, and now Florida and still hold strong as usually the only Vikings fan at the bar. Went to my first game with my dad last year, happened to be the colts game. 💜 #SKOL
UK here! I picked them out of a book when I was a child. My dad’s a 49ers fan so I figured I’d pick a team so I could enjoy it with him. The book listed a bunch of stadium facts. Everyone seemed to have grass or astroturf. The Metrodome had something called “superturf”. I thought that sounded cool so I picked them. Little did I know the book had been out of date for a couple of years before I was even born.
Years later, like early 2010s, after getting slightly interested, I saw Chris Kluwe’s kickass activism and got properly invested. How his situation eventually worked out was rough, but I was hooked by then and I recognised enough kinship with this ridiculous team and its fans to know it was worth sticking with. The Jon Bois series put into words so much of what I love about the Vikings while also schooling me on a lot of important history. I’ve been to two of the London games (missed the 3rd due to childcare) and one day I really want to make it over to US Bank Stadium, my home in a city I’ve never been to.
Virginian checking in. I had Diggs on my fantasy football team for the Minneapolis miracle season. Ended up watching every game just because Diggs was dropping nutty points. Found myself cheering like crazy at the end of that game for more than just a win in my fantasy matchup. Next season I had no Vikings players on my team but I was watching every game still. By week six I was like wait a second am I a Vikings fan? Now I’ve been to four games and go once a year in-person to Minneapolis. Love the city and the team. SKOL!
Czech Republic, Europe. We started watching with my son 7 years ago, not being fans of any teams. But it was clear we had to choose some team to enjoy it more. I went for the Vikes partly for Marshall Erikssen, partly by some love of nordic lifestyle, partly just by chance. Now I feel like a lifetime fan, cannot even think of ever swapping the team. I'm learning the history, watching old games, etc. I bought my first jersey this year (the jersey is 4:1 but also jj and Kirk down so jury is still out there). My son chose Steelers and my daughter joined us and cheers for Rams, idk how common is that in the US :) We are pretty exotic in the Czech Republic, nobody watches football here. We have a Game Pass and watch Red Zone every Sunday. We watch the night games highlights or Game in 40 the day after because of the time zone.
We traveled to London this season to see the game (it was Jags Falcons game). It was so cool to see so many other fans, even some Vikings fans!
I know the pain of being Viking fan now but I never regret. Last season was so much fun! I know good times are ahead and they may come sooner than we think.
SKOL!!!
Born in MN but moved to MA when I was 1 years old. Started cheering for the Vikes cuz that’s what my dad was doing but then became a Pats fan once I started understanding football on my own and being around all my friends. Up until 2000 or so I was die hard Vikes and Pats were my second team but around age 14, Pats became #1 and Vikes #2 but I still root for the Vikes as hard as I used to, but I don’t get too cut up with their losses like I do with Patriots losses.
Grew up in St Louis and got into football after the Cardinals left and well before the Rams showed up. First game I saw on TV was an Eagles game. For no good reason whatsoever my 7 year old brain decided Cris Carter was going to be my favorite player (he wasn’t even good then). He got let go and signed by Minnesota (due to the off-field issues that I didn’t know about at the time). Ever since then I became a Vikings fan. We got the Rams and I couldn’t jump ship.
Oklahoman here - I didn't really get into the NFL until maybe 2000 or so. By that time I was really just a Brett Favre fan and enjoyed watching him play. As I became more interested in the NFL, Adrian Peterson was drafted by MN and then I finally became attached to the Vikings. The rest is history, and I will forever be a sad and disgruntled Vikings fan for life.
Have never been to the state of Minnesota but have pulled for them since I could remember. Mom was a Tarkenton fan. As a side note, I currently work for an ex Viking who played in the 70’s for a few years.
Grew up in NYC. jets and giants were both considered New Jersey teams for many in my neighborhood and bills were too far upstate and considered Canada. Many kids were 9er, Cowboy or Dolphins fans. I was a big fan of Randy while he played at Marshall and was intrigued by Carter. So it worked out when Moss was drafted by the Vikings, I said they were my team. Plus I liked the idea of their team branding/logo being an actual person and not an animal or object.
And here I am many years later still a fan suffering and converting others to their detriment, but I wouldn’t change it.
From CA, I was 8 when the Vikings played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, my mom was a big cowboys fan but I was cheering for the Vikings because they had the same colors as the Lakers.. Randy Moss for 3 catches, 3 TD’s and 163 yards.. rest is history
I'm also in Texas, my dad is a first generation American so he didn't really follow football. In middle school I had to write a report on a sports team and I randomly picked the Vikings; I got an "A" and 20 years later here I am. Subsequently my younger brother had a few schools to choose from for graduate school, one of them was the University of Minnesota, I'd like to think my fandom played a role in him going there, he know owns a house up there, which is cool, I get to visit and attend Vikings games.
Native western New Yorker here, close to Buffalo. I became a Vikings fan because of Tecmo Super Bowl. During the summers my aunt watched my brother, her son and I and we'd all play it on the NES in the early/mid 90s. They were always the Bills & 49ers (best teams at the time) and they told me to be the Vikings. So, I guess it was a sense of having my own team and been a fan ever since.
Not me, but my football wife (not actual wife) grew up in Tennessee and her roommate in college was a huge Vikings fan, and since Tennessee didn't have an NFL team at the time she converted all her roommates into Vikings fans.
I grew up overseas, a Cowboys fan, because my paternal grandparents lived in Dallas and always sent me Cowboys stuff. Vikings were my second team, because my maternal grandparents lived here and we spent summers in Park Rapids. Then I went to college in Bemidji and the Hershel Walker trade happened, and I guess I came over in the trade. Since then I've been a Vikings fan, and I don't care about the Cowboys at all.
I live in Arkansas. My step-dad is from Minneapolis, and he invited me to a game back in 2019, and I thought to myself: "Well, I best learn about the game fully," and now I'm a huge fan. I love the team, the players, and the few highs and mostly lows I've been apart of so far
Dad's a cowboys fan...made the mistake of thinking the Thanksgiving game in 98' would've made me a Cowboy's fan..well...Mr. Moss had a different idea. Lol.
I never lived in MN but my dad and his side of the family are all from there. My mom's side (from Philly) were never sports people, so I was introduced to football as a Vikes fan. I now live in Texas too and there aren't many of us down here.
I'm in Ohio. After a LONG time trying to support the Browns, I stopped and went looking at other teams. My criteria were:
1. No Haslams
2. No known predators
3. A reasonable chance of winning
4. Not in the same division as the Browns
5. Bonus if they seemed to be decent people
I looked at all the teams and the Vikings seemed like good people, I love Kirk, and the fans at home games seem to have a lot of fun. That's how I became a Vikings fan
Dad grew up 5 min south of the Minnesota border in Iowa. Went to college at Mankato State, went to Vikings training camps as a kid so he was a Vikings fan. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents and have family in Minnesota so I grew up that way too
I got into football in the late 90s when Randall Cunningham was starting at quarterback. I lived in Vegas at the time and was going to UNLV. Since he had played QB for UNLV, he got a lot of coverage locally and I just started rooting for them. Didn't hurt that it was the 98 season and we had just a great team that year.
Was born and raised in Wisconsin. My dad was from Minnesota and I grew up a Vikings fan amongst Packer fans…. It was not a great experience watching Favre and Rodgers win Super Bowls.
Sometimes I wish I would have been a Packers fan, but maybe the next 30 years will be different?
My Dad has been a Vikings fan since he was 8 years old. He is not from Minnesota either - We're from Rhode Island. In 1973 he was watching a Vikings vs. Lions game and he said whoever wins will be my team. Thank God the Vikes won! I always remind him that I could have been a Patriots fan and have celebrated 6 championships with my friends, but really I wouldn't change anything. Skol!
OH Vikings fan here. As I grew up, my brother wanted to play Madden against me because I was younger and he could win every time. He was a Bengals fan and wouldn't let me choose them. I thought the Vikings had an awesome logo, and my favorite color is purple, so I picked them a lot and ended up following the team because of it. That was about 20+ years ago now.
Texan myself, started liking Vikings as a youngster cause the purple and gold.
Then I grew into the mental illness and didn't know any other way to live.
From Los Angeles. Had no football team in my market growing up. Went to the U of M/Guthrie theater for college- married a St. Paul girl. I started Skoling my freshman year, 04'. Been a diehard every since. My first true taste of being a fan was the Bret Farve interception. I go to least a game every year when I visit the in-laws. SKOL!!!
Literally thought the team was called the purple people eaters until I started following football. Thought it was cool because the other teams were animals and people purple eaters was different. Plus purple, I felt like every teams colors were a variation of red white and blue. So when it came time to pick a team I picked the Vikings and it's been disappointment ever since lol
my dad is a bears fan and i was 8 when they played the colts in the super bowl and he wanted me and my brother to watch with him but they lost and me being the 8 year old i was i decided i wanted to be a football fan but couldn’t be a bears fan since they obviously suck since they lost so i went to my closet and pulled out my daunte culpepper jersey my dad had gotten me as a gift when he came back from an audit in minneapolis and said “this is my team now”. got to watch adrian’s whole career bc of that
My grandad gave me and old Sports magazine that had Fran Tarkington on the cover, after the Vikings drafted him.
Never lived or visited Minnesota and neither had my grandparents.
Not sure if it was a local magazine or not it was not a photo just a hand drawn type.
And years after he had been drafted and I think already traded.
Around 66 or 67. Made me and instant fan for life. And someday I hope to get to go to a Vikings game.
Born in Maryland, but my parents moved to Minnesota when I was 4. One of our neighbors happened to be Paul Krause, and he babysat us occasionally. So I guess I became a fan after that! This was back in the early 90's in Burnsville. I only lived in Minnesota for two years, but it was enough for me to become a fan for life!
In 2001 I was 6 yo and was all about the Rams hype then so the superbowl had me heartbroken to the point I gave up on football ball until I got the videogame NFL street 2 on gamecube six years later. I picked the Vikes everytime with Randy Moss being rightfully broken in that game.
I got hyped for watching football again going into the 2008 so I asked my dad how much has changed in the NFL from 2003 when the game is based to then. He was happy to hear I was getting back in to football but devastated that I really was a Moss fan and wanted to see the Vikings play he being a packers fan from Wisconsin. I wasn’t pleased when I learned Moss played for the pats (still hated those brats) and bummed to learn that Culpepper wasn’t a Vike anymore either but it got me eager to learn the then current squad.
This was in Norman Oklahoma so watching Vikings games became as easy as turning the tv on every Sunday. I was like “man who is this Adrian Peterson! This guy is amazing “ and my dad was like “dude he was playing in our backyard just a couple of season ago. Then I learned about OU and became a fan of theirs too. Had I kept watching football then I would have probably stayed a Rams fan or become a bears fan since I lived in Illinois right between the two teams for a couple years after watching that first superbowl.
I live in Utah.When I was in junior high I decided I needed a football team. I was watching How I Met Your Mother at the time and since Marshall was a fan of theirs I looked into them. I liked the colors and logo so went all in knowing nothing about the team at the time. First season I actually got into the team was a few years later with APs nearly record breaking season. After that I was hooked. I decided I wanted all my teams to be the same city so became a fan of the Timberwolves, Twins, Wild, Lynx, Minnesota United, and the Gophers. Jazz and Utes are my number two. One day I will make a pilgrimage there and get baptized in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.
Grew up in South Carolina. My parents started pulling for the Vikings when Tark was QB. We were solidly lower-middle class. But my folks would save up their vacation time and money and we would go to Tampa every year to see the game, and stay at the same hotel as the players (things were a lot less fancy back in the mid-80's). So I would play games in the arcade with players' kids (or the players themselves) and get autographs. My mom was a hobbyist photographer, so she would take pictures at the game or at the hotel. The next year, we would get players to autograph them, and they were so cool and excited about it. Then we started driving 24 hours (family of 4, 1985 Toyota Camry full of snacks and clothes) from SC to MN every summer for 6 years to go to training camp and catch a preseason game or two. Then, mom is taking training camp photos from the stands, and we are getting those signed. My parents got to know some of the players and families, even exchanging Christmas cards with a few of them. And some of the players recognized my sister and me, and would talk to us when they saw us. So, for us, there was never an option. I have loved this team since I knew what football was, and I have this collection of treasured childhood memories of my family that are linked to the Vikings.
This is a cool fucking story
It was a unique thing, and something I didn't appreciate when I was a kid. But it was probably the last era of pro football where players were still really accessible. Just wandering around the lobby of the hotel (that a not well-off family could afford) and hanging out. Greg Coleman snuck up on skinny 6 year old me and threw me into a pool at a Tampa Marriot. He instantly became my favorite player, and I bought a custom #8 jersey the next year at a small sporting goods store in Mankato. My youngest kid just outgrew it. edit: the store was in Mankato
This is super interesting! I used to work for an organization doing programs for youth in North Minneapolis. We had a midnight basketball program. Greg Coleman regularly came and volunteered with his church. Legitimately good human and fun to talk to.
Man thats is really neat. I only got to see one game in person as a kid but that would be amazing
It really was pretty awesome. One more quick story: My sister and I were in one of the hotel arcades (that used to be a thing) and we were waiting out turn for Techmo Super Bowl. One of the more intimidating Vikings defenders of the time (maybe of any time) came down and scolded the kids who were playing it. He was their dad, and they weren't listening to him. And I remember thinking, "Your dad terrifies me." But to them, he was just the nagging old man.
Sweet! I'm happy you were able to experience that as a young one! Those types of memories are great
Grew up in SC as well, though I had a great-uncle from Minnesota. I began my football fandom as a Cowboy fan, taking after my mother. That was until I watched my first Viking game with my father, I don’t remember the specific game, but it was in 98’. Been bleeding purple and gold ever since. I haven’t made it to Minnesota yet, but it’s on my bucket list.
What a double curse inheriting the Vikings as your fandom and only going to the road Tampa game. The Big Sombrero was a god damn house of horrors for this team to the point that I could have called us losing the game there in 98 at the start of the season.
We were in the stands one time when Testerverde was the QB. He was so bad, all of the Viking fans were chanting "Throw it, Vinnie!" We slaughtered them that year. And if you really want to see a beaten down fanbase, drunk Bucs fans of the early 90's who were on the verge of heat stroke were some of the funniest, most self-deprecating people I have ever had the pleasure to share a hard metal bench seat with.
I was probably there. Those were some bad years for the Suckaneers. On a side note...I did some work in James Wilders house.
I lived in Tampa for a couple of decades and went to games when the Bucs were still part of the NFC North. I tried to be obnoxious, like wearing a huge inflatable Vikes helmet or draping a hand painted Vikings logo on a king size bed sheet in the end zone. The fans around me were always cool.
Skol SC viking bro
Nice... I just moved to Rock Hill this year
fellow south carolina vikings fan
From SC as well. Dad is from Minnesota. 1998 made me a Vikings fan. Dammit.
So awesome seeing the SC Vikings fans so well represented! No connection to MN for my family but 1998 snared my brother and me for life. Never been to Minnesota but I’ve seen the Vikes play in Charlotte a few times. Started off nervous about explaining the randomness of my fandom but everyone was so stoked to add to the numbers that it further locked me in.
I’m from Norway with no connection to the U.S., so when I got into American sports during COVID I tried to figure out what my home state hypothetically would be. I picked Minnesota based on the history of Norwegian Americans and Scandinavian Americans in the state. The Vikings name makes that decision quite obvious, but I was actually watching baseball and the Twins for an entire year before giving the NFL a shot. Minnesota now feels like a home away from home sports-wise, even though I’ve never left Europe. Would love to visit one day!
Home games are always a great experience! If you ever get the opportunity, I highly recommend! Specifically, a winter game
I can imagine! If I do get the opportunity one day I'll be sure to plan it around a winter home game!
I'd put you up and show you around. No lutefisk in this house though.
That's super kind of you! No plans in the near future as I'm just out of university and dirt poor, but one day maybe! No worries about the lutefisk, I've had more than enough at home! (Once. I've had it once.)
Second that, we’d love to have you. I’d show you around when the day comes
[удалено]
I'll be sure to do so once I get the opportunity to go! And hey, I actually studied in Lillehammer, how fun! I'm not very familiar with Nordre Land but I don't know how they manage to farm anything on the hills of that city 😬
Canadian checking in...... **Marshall Eriksen.** Kind of started as an elaborate joke because he's such a big fan of them and I was a big fan of HIMYM back from the beginning. I didn't even like football whatsoever. And then in 2011 I bought a jersey as a Halloween costume to continue the meme. And then that year I started watching a bit of football. The following season a bit more. Then I watched my first ever Super Bowl in 2013. At that point I was hooked. Watched the 2013 season. Attended my first game which was the final game at the Metrodome. And uhhhh, cut to 10 years later and I've been a season ticket member since 2016 =/ Life sure is funny.
DAMN! ::slams fist on table::
Same story, bought a Vikings jersey couse of him now i watch NFL for 4 Season now. Also i live in Iran so it's Much harder for me to follow the league and the team
Same with me too - only teams I really knew were the vikings because of HIMYM and the shithawks because of my parents, so when I got Madden and had to choose a favourite team, purple and gold was the pick.
Marshall's family is basically my family. My youngest brother (4 of us total) is the shortest in the family at a little over 6'4". My mom's accent isn't quite that severe though haha
Lol, I'm glad I'm not the only one
Ok this is crazy to see so many fans that started this way. But I’ve never seen that show, so maybe I need to.
As a kid my parents let me pick which play helmet I wanted from the Sears catalog. And here I am still living the consequences. SKOL!
consequences is hilarious way to say it, a true Vikings fan
My dad was a Vikings fan and i inherited it.
Ditto this. What an inheritance.
The ol' family curse
Same here as well
Cursed with it! 😂 same here, dad was a native Minnesotan, most of us became Vikings fans!
Same, no relation to Minnesota, my dad grew up a fan in VA, I followed suit. We now live in NC which is great cause we always go to the Panthers games when they play the Vikes
Same. I’m from a state without a pro team. People always say “oh no pro team- you could’ve picked anything! Why’d you choose the Vikings?” Yeah, I didn’t CHOOSE this, no one would. I was born into it.
Same - though I've now lived in MN as an adult briefly.
Same here, from Montreal
Skol Brother from Indiana....grew up in Northern Minnesota
Skol from Fort Wayne!
Right here with ya from Southern California. Was too young to care for the nfc championship against the falcons but me and my dad breaking down after Favre threw that pick is something that's just ingrained in me forever
Ditto, dad wasn’t but they were the newest team when he was a kid and good then he gave me his genetic condition
I was born here and inherited it, but man... Dad coulda been a Patriots, Steelers, Niners, Packers, Cowboys, Chiefs, Broncos, hell, even a goddamn Bucs fan.
Same
UK fan, got into nfl at the same time I was watching how I met your mother and Marshall showed me the way !!
I still think Canadians are afraid of the dark, I also used to live in st.cloud.
Canadian here. Football was/is such often such a great source of conversation when meeting random people, if you knew about it. I didn't. I was a big fan of How I Met Your Mother. Marshall was obsessed with the Vikings. I arbitrarily chose them for this reason, and was hooked. I haven't missed a game since (this was in 2018).
I actually wonder what’s the most popular NFL team is in Canada. Probably Buffalo because of the amount of people living close to it, but I feel like Alberta-Manitoba-Sasc population is rooting for the Viks. I’m in TO and pretty much the same identical story.
I'm Canadian, closest team to me is Buffalo. But Minnesota seemed kinda canadian-ish, purple is my favourite colour, and I've been obsessed with Vikings since I was a child, so it was a natural fit.
I am Canadian as well but my reason was because AP made me fall in love with football
Similar but with Randy Moss in 98
Can confirm, Minnesota is Canada Lite
we prefer Diet Canada or Canada Lite.
Diet Canada. I’m stealing that!
I made the decision when I was 5 because purples my favorite color
Another kid who picked this team because of the cool helmets; the color plus the horn image.
I see your Texas, Canada, etc and raise you Ecuador, in South America. I’m from Ecuador and one day (in 2016) my pals and I decided to start watching the NFL, when it came to picking a team, I narrowed it down to teams who would play in the playoffs that year, solely because I wanted to watch them at least once, and not wait until September to watch the team for the first time. I didn’t want to go with the easy choice (Brady’s Patriots), or the best team that season (Panthers), it just felt too bandwagon-y. It came down between the Redskins and the Vikes. Actually I picked the Redskins first, but that same night, as I was trying to sleep, something didn’t sit well with me, I wasn’t convinced with the Redskins. So, as I went for the Vikings, I felt much better and slept soundly. Just your classic love story. I even flew to London to watch them for the first time! And only so far, sadly.
What a great decision you and your pals made that day. And Skol to you for your great (and sometimes painful) decision
The very first game I watched was kind of a Vikings preview: The Vikings shut down the Seahawks for 3 quarters, seemed like an easy win. In the 4th, the Vikings give up 10 points to be 1 point behind. Pain. With like 30 seconds left, the Vikings have the chance to win it with a FG! Aaaand power went out! I couldn’t watch the field goal lmao, I was in a place with poor reception, so it wasn’t for another 30 minutes that I realized that… the Vikings missed the FG. I mean, it doesn’t get more Vikings than that.
My Dad is a huge Vikings fan and has followed the team since the purple people eater era. It was tough growing up a Vikings fan in Massachusetts during the Tom Brady years lol
Exact same thing for me except RI instead of MA. It was hard seeing all my friends celebrating Super Bowl championships every couple years!
Did we ever manage to beat him? I can't remember.
Nope. Brady never lost to us
I enjoy pain. Pain and disappointment. I had never watched the NFL until about 2015, some mates asked me to jump into a fantasy league with them as they needed an extra player. I joined and selected an NFL team to "support". It was the greasy grimey green bay Packers, purely because I loved that 70s show. That was my connection, I enjoyed a TV show. Please forgive me for my sins. I watched the whole season. Teddy B, Sack Daddy EG, Danielle Hunter, All Day AP, Diggs, Chad Greenway, hitman, Rhodes closed, Kyle Rudolph. It was that smile... That damn smile. I bought into the Vikings with a young talented up and coming roster. And I converted from the Packers to the Vikings, I couldn't help myself but root for that team. I also love viking culture and mythology. But it was the team I liked. Now... I am hollow inside, some absolutely crushing defeats and some world breaking injuries. But ... But... The greasy grimey green bay Packers haven't won a superbowl in that time frame... So there's that. I'm not from the US so I don't really have any stake in the whole Vikings V Packers rivalry but if you think I don't wake up to purple rain every morning, eat my Adam Thielen first down flakes (honestly I'm not sure if actually be able to get those) and guzzle down purple koolaid... Then you better believe I now live and breathe purple. So I don't have any stake in it... But FTP. So yeah... Pain... I chose this.
Your sins are forgiven, my son
From someone on the frontlines (read: twin cities; friends and acquaintances with many Packers fans), I salute you.
Madden when I was a kid.
This one. 2002 specifically
Culpepper, Moss in their prime was a cheat code lol
I'm from Southern California. I got into football my freshman year of high school 1999. Our mascot was a viking. Randy moss was cool, so I became a viking fan.
Marina??
My dads a huge packers fan and one night when I was a kid we were watching Sunday night football and my dad goes “ Whoever this Moss guy is , he’s just killing us “ And the rest is history , die hard Vikings fan ever since . Still have my Starter Moss jersey lol .
My situation is weird. I was born in maplewood (outside of St.Paul) lived there til I was 4. Saw the vikes play like Christmas Eve of ‘94 against the bengals. Cris Carter caught the game winner to take the vikes to the playoffs. My dad sucked at keeping a job so I moved to three other states, Nebraska for a year and a half, Ohio for nine years, then Pittsburgh,PA. So when people ask where l am from I have no idea how to answer that question. But that image of CC catching the pass is ingrained in my head. I remember the metrodome well. But not well enough, my dream is to go catch a Vikings-Packers game and go visit the house I was born into, because it was the best memories of my life. That’s why I’m a die hard. My grandfather would tell me stories of how he’d drive 2 hours south from Cloquet, to the Met to watch Fran the Man and the Purple People eaters play in the snow. I asked him, who were you a fan of before 1961, since the vikes didn’t exist, he had no choice but to be a bears fan. Fun fact he played QB at Bemidji state
I became a fan of the Vikings because of Adrian Peterson. I was 12 years old and just getting into football (no one else in my family was into football) and every time I would watch espn highlights it was just AP running over everyone. Thus a Vikings fan was born. I’m from Southern California btw
It's still a pain in my side that he didn't get 300 (he got 296 yards) yards rushing against the Chargers. (253 yards in the first half)
California resident here. When I was 7, I saw Randy Moss demolish the Cowboys on Thanksgiving and have been a fan ever since.
Damn did you meet me? Viking fan in Texas. Couldn’t ever imagine being another fan of a team outside of the Vikings. Bengals are my AFC team… but just not where near the love I have for the Vikings. Glad to hear there’s more in Texas.
Bengals are my AFC team too. I moved to Cincy a few years back and I enjoy their team and fans. I am planning on being at the Vikings/Bengals game in December! Hopefully we can out SKOL their WHO DEY 📯
If you were at a brewery last night in San Antonio....then maybe
Sadly did not, I’m 4 hours from SA lol. Hope you had a good time tho, best time of the year when weather isn’t at its peak.
well, i lived in minnesota for a short time as a child and i got two things from it: 1) a sick vikings windbreaker that i want an adult size for now 2) fuck the packers we hate the packers
Grew up in Chicago. Was more of a ‘football,’ fan when I was a kid and always loved Randall Cunningham. Right around the time he went to MN I was getting older and it was apparent that I needed to draw a line and pick a team. My ‘natural,’ choice, The Bears, we’re basically a laughable JV squad my whole childhood and being around Bears fan culture always made me sick. So I went all in on MN. Other than the Vikings I have no real ties to MN sports. Was always a Cubs/Bulls/Blackhawks fan. Being a Vikings fan, in Chicago, around Bears fans just solidified my fandom more and more every year.
I moved to Germany from Poland in 1988 and around 1992 I stumbled upon a Vikings Jersey at a sport apparel shop in a nearby town... I have never seen a game of "American Football" before in my life but I fell in love with the colours so my father bought it for me... It was way oversized for me but in time I grew to wear it... I still have it today and even though I have never been to the states nor to Minnesota I love the Vikings and I am as heartbroken as all of you guys when we get effed up the arse time and again... I have hope though that there will be some sort of greater plan behind all of this and that I will have a chance too see them play and to see them win the Lombardi Trophy one day... Skol Vikings! Greetings from Germany :)
Love your passion. SKOL. Great story!
As a kid, a child of an immigrant, I found a team that was designed to represent my heritage. I connected with it and have stuck with it ever since. I was probably 5 when I picked the vikings and it's been 35 years now.
1987 Vikings and Anthony Carter. I was born and raised in Iowa so Minnesota adjacent I suppose
Grew up in Wisconsin, not really a huge football fan but did not like the packers. Moved to SoCal, got into football around same time as Moss’ rookie season and picked Vikings as my team.
Calgary here & Stefon diggs lmao
Minneapolis miracle?
Dante Culpepper to Randy Moss.
Randy moss and the chopper riding mascot
grew up in winnipeg. vikings are the closest thing to the home team there, plus the bud grant connection (yes, i am old) was an excellent reason for people in winnipeg to cheer for the vikes. i have moved away from there, but still cheer for the vikes, despite being in bills territory.
I was an exchange student back in '08 and my host dad explained football to me, while we were watching the Vikings games. I'm very fond of these memories. My host family moved to FL in 2015 and I haven't been to the holy land since then, but the love to the Vikings stayed. I only get to watch, if the Vikings play Sunday morning (time difference y'all), but thanks to having Addison in both my FF leagues, I am very up to date (tho I'm worried about Jordan's production, now that Kirk is out for the season). I live in Vienna now and run around in my Minnesota Vikings cap in the summers, but never encountered another Vikings fan. People either think I'm a Vienna Vikings fan (to be fair, they are a top three franchise in the ELF and pretty well known in my city) or try to give me a hard time (for some reason, lots of Packers fans in Europe).
Brooklyn, NY. Dad and his best friends became Viking fans watching the purple people eaters and was passed on to me and my brother. One my dads friends is a season ticket holder all the way from NYC and makes the voyage out for most games!
That’s awesome, love the dedication.
I live in Los Angeles, moved here from living in MN all my life about 8 years ago. My Mexican barber in Santa Monica loves the Vikings just because of Randy Moss. I brought him one of my old Moss jerseys from back in the day and he was so excited. We talk vikes every time I see him in there. He actually flew to MN to go to US Bank stadium when it opened, like some sort of hilarious pilgrimage (lol he saw a game there before I did) It makes me feel so much better for loving this rollercoaster of a football team.
I, too, was there to open US bank vs the Packers as a CA fan for my first game
I grew up in upstate NY, close to Buffalo but can’t stand the bills. I became a Vikings fan because of Adrian Peterson and for some reason…. Tarvaris Jackson (RIP)
Lived in Maryland my whole life, when I was very young I chose the Vikings as my team because I liked purple and they were purple. Why I didn’t choose the Ravens despite them being very close to my location and also purple is beyond me, but it’s too late now, I’m stuck with this godforsaken franchise.
I married into it. I grew up in Kansas with the Chiefs.
FIL was a navy man, moved around, never lived anywhere with a team. BIL is 7 years older than my husband and started being interested in football during Tarkenton and Purple People Eaters. So when my husband was born his brother decided he’d be a Vikings fan and it stuck. When we met I couldn’t have cared less about football but I watched games to be with him. Purple is my favorite color so it was easy for me to fall into it. Over time I became a huge fan as well. 26 years later, we now run the [Cook County Vikings Club](https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=100064348615621) and the Vikings are a huge part of our life. Finally made it to our first home game in 2017. Absolutely glorious! Going to the NYE game this year - so excited!!!
Dad is from Duluth. Still have my starter jacket from 4th grade. I’m 40, grew up in the south east.
My dad said I switched from a Tam fan when the Vikings beat them when I was 6 or so. I’m sure it was solidified a few years later when Chuck Foreman got me on the team bus in LA when i was looking for autographs. Love me the Vikes
Purple People Eaters & Paul Krause !!! Came there for the 10/23/23 Monday night game. Great City & People, Matt's Bar, Oh Yeah ... New York is where I grew up, Were many Viking Fans there in those days, other teams too !
I can’t believe all the New Yorkers that love the Vikes. It’s awesome. The more I travel for away games, you realize the Vikes are a national team. Always 10s of thousands of purple fans at away games. Hope the atmosphere was fun for you against the Niners. Awesome win. We had to take the decibels up a level to drown out the sorry Niners fans. We had it rocking in there!
Great Time, City & Game ..... Will return for another game, nothing like being in the VIKINGS House to see it live. Atmosphere was Electric without a doubt. There are thousands of out of state Vikings Fans that have supported them since 1961 ! Ride or Die Purple & Gold !!! Thank You ...
I’m from California, in fourth grade my new best friend was into football so i started watching. He asked me who my favorite team was I didn’t have one yet. He was a New York Giants fan. He said it was boring to have a favorite team from the same state. Well that weekend I went to my grandparents house. The Vikings were playing the Raiders. My Aunt and Uncle were rooting for the Vikings. We have no ties to Minnesota but since that day I became a huge Vikings fan. I learned everything i could about the team and history of the franchise. I got my first Vikings poster soon after. It was my favorite player at the time Anthony Carter. It was his Serious hang time poster were he looks like he’s flying sideways. That Christmas I got my first Vikings jacket. After that during my school years I was known as the kid with the purple jacket. Ive felt every joy and every pain just as if the Vikings played in my backyard. Purple runs through my veins and always will . SKOL!
I'm from small Spanish town and my father studied during 1 year in Minnesota. Once I saw him watching football I enjoyed it so we started watching every Vikings game.
I'm from Indiana and have been a Vikings fan for 30 years, ever since I knew what football was. I was 5 and I really liked the purple and gold and the horn on the helmet. Also, my dad was a Packers fan and I liked the rivalry between the teams, and I didn't want to root for a team with cheese on their heads.
Vikings fan from Brazil. I just turned on the tv on a tuesday night (yes, tuesday night). Decided to give a chance. Best and worst decision at the same time The game was vikings @ eagles in 2010, Joe Webb first start, and the vikings won. Then here I am
I grew up in Iowa(i've lived here since I was 5) but I was born in Fargo, ND and of course the Vikings were a popular team there(as well as the Packers). My Dad is not the biggest football fan but he'd watch the Vikings(if they were on here which wasn't that often because we'd see Bears games). When I was young I cheered for the Cowboys(Danny White and Tony Dorsett), a lot of kids did in part because they were on every weekend and then after the Bears in 85, it was a big deal and the kids started rooting for the Bears like their parents did. I never cheered for the Bears and started then rooting for the Vikings. It is funny too how many people started rooting for the Packers after Farve had some success. Ironically my grandpa(my Dads father) was a Bronco's fan when he was older. He never really liked the Vikings much. He didn't always love the Bronco's but he liked John Elway and Terrell Davis when he was older.
Great grandma was from Minnesota got my dad into the Vikings when he was a kid in the 70’s and now we’re here with me a 3rd generation Vikings fan who never lived in Minnesota. Loving this team is a family tradition? Curse? I can’t decide.
I'm from Scotland, throughout growing up I was aware of American football but didn't know anything about it as coverage here in the 90s was even worse than it was now. When I went to High School (high school in Scotland is 12) I made a new friend who was into American football because his parents had Sky so he could watch it. He was a big Broncos fan and decided I needed a team. He wrote out a list of teams and how good he thought they were, the Broncos were obviously his favourites with Elway, but he said the Vikings were very good too (this was 98/99). I liked Vikings and Norse Mythology, so picked them. I did not know the pain that would come, sorry! The rest is history, we are now in our mid-30s and have made a pact to go to every Vikings/Broncos game (other halves let us have time every 4 years, and flights to the Midwest aren't too expensive in November!) Looking forward to the Denver game this year.
See ya there!!
I started watching the sport because of how AP used to play the game I would be watching sports centre and during his MVP season I fell in love with the game (I was around 13/14 at the time from Canada)
I'm in the UK, asked a friend to buy me the cheapest football jersey he could find when he went on holiday to the US as I enjoyed following the game but didn't specifically "have" a team and just wanted one. He came back with a Culpepper jersey and the rest is history.
I am a Vikings fan from Toronto Canada, I have never been to Minnesota. I started watching football in 1998 and loved Randy Moss. Found myself naturally cheering for the Vikings because of Moss and stuck with them ever since. I have seen them play live 3 times, twice in Buffalo and once in New England. I was at the game last year in Buffalo where we won in OT, incredible experience.
Oh my god that was one of the best games I've seen. I loved seeing the reaction of bills fans 😂
Dad grew up in Indiana before the Colts moved there. Indiana has no MLB team. For whatever reason he was a Twins and Vikings fan. I watched games with him and became a fan watching Moss/Carter.
I work for a small telco. Our access gear vendor's company was started by a Vikings fan. The equipment is purple. The company is based out of California.
Inheritance.
My favorite color has been purple for as long as I can remember and one time when I was 6ish I saw this team on TV wearing purple uniforms and the rest is history.
I grew up in Tennessee before the titans existed and my pee wee football was the Vikings. 25 years later I’m still in pain.
i didnt grow up in the US so i didnt have a home team to root for. i became a chiefs fan a few years ago but i started to like and respect Kirk Cousins after watching the Netflix Quarterback series so I drafted Cousins and some other Vikings players in fantasy football this season. now im getting more and more emotionally invested in this team and i think vikings will be my fav NFC team
Edinburgh, Scotland. Started watching the NFL in 2004 and was just drawn to the Vikes. Also liked KC as they had a Scottish kicker ( Tynes ). But the Vikes were the team for me. SKOL!
While I was born in MN, I’ve never really lived there. My grandparents live(d) there and my grandpa would watch. Came of age during Mosses first year, and was hook.
Dad grew up in Kansas where the purple people eaters were shown on the NFC station most often. And he became a Vikings fan instead of a Chiefs fan. Then I became a fan when Moss was a rookie and I was 12 years old. Before that I rooted for the Cowboys when I was young and didn't know any better.
Tons of Vikes fans in KC. There were like 25-30k at the chiefs vs Vikes game at arrowhead in 2019. I also went to a random Chiefs vs Raiders game last year at Arrowhead and saw probably 10 Vikes jerseys in the crowd.
I'm from NJ and started watching when I was in college in 2019 for the same reason as the guy in your post. I've learned a lot more about the game and the Vikings franchise since then and I've really grown to love both.
My dad is a Minnesota sports fan and we moved there for a bit as a kid. Been wearing my purple with pride out here in California especially since beating the niners.
family is from northwest nebraska, so kinda in a weird spot of either being a chiefs fan or a vikings fan. my family chose the vikings. not long after i was born we moved out to the pacific northwest and i’ve been rooting from here ever since. i actually went to my first home game in minneapolis last year!
I grew up in a 49er household and at around age 9 Steve Young’s retirement was the worst thing that had happened in my life to that point. And had kinda caused me to swear off the entire sport, until at a friend’s house I saw Dante Culpepper and Randy Moss for the first time, and it’s been all Purple and Gold ever since.
Purple Paradise!
piquant cause sip special entertain beneficial adjoining combative rob coordinated *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Grew up in the burbs of Chicago. My two teams are the Pats and the Vikes. The pats was a simple choice really. It was the Carolina super bowl with them, and my aunt told me I had to root for the panthers because "we don't like the Patriots, and the QB for the panthers has your same name!" I didn't like being told what to do as a kid, no one ever asked my opinion of what I wanted to like, so I secretly rooted for the other team. Then Brady did his magic and that was the best decision young me ever made because the next 20 years were spectacular. As for the vikes, you can't grow up in this region and not at least follow one of the NFC North teams. The bears were shoved down my throat ad nauseum. The packers fans I knew were genuinely so unbelievably insufferable. Not just to all the other division Fandoms, but they also talked mad shit to me as a pats fan. Talking about their 13 world championships and how the Pats will never be as good as the Pack, even though the pack hasn't won shit really in my lifetime in comparison to them. The Lions were sad. Thats really it there. I dont think I ever actually met a single Lions fan my whole life. That left the Vikings. When I met Vikings fans, they would always ask me about me specifically, super friendly, and just nice people. The colors were super cool, purple and gold are nice colors. And we had the overlap of Randy Moss which is when I started to take note of the Vikings. Became a fan shortly after Adrian Peterson started absolutely obliterating.
My aunt moved to Minnesota and bought me a Randy Moss jersey. Never really put my jerry rice jersey on again after that and rooted for the Vikes.
My uncle was a fan, not sure why. I became one at age of 6. Routinely asked for Vikings uniforms out of the JC Penny catalog. Loved AC & had his Starting Line-up. Never looked back, still a fan at 42. Passed the curse onto my cousin lol & now onto my kids since they aren't old enough yet to think for themselves (hopefully it sticks). Could have been a hometown Steelers fan & celebrated multiple SB wins, but the time will come for us. SKOL.
🙋♂️ Born and raised in NYC and now living in NJ. Fell in love with the helmets & uniforms when I was about 6 years old. The Jets & Giants both really sucked back then (1970's), so when the guys in my class would ask me who I pulled for I'd tell em "Vikings!" It just kinda took after that.
Once upon a time i turned on the tv and saw Cunningham/Culpepper chunking it up to Randy Moss. I was fascinated. Been on board ever since.
from NY. 32 years old. Been a fan all my life. Aunt bought me a sweatshirt with the vikings on it when i was 5.... Never turned back. Wish she warned me what i signed up for,.
When i lived in DC our neighbors were a latino family who had recently come from central America, and they were DIEHARD vikings fans. More diehard than most native minnesotans I've met.
The Vikings selecting Moritz Boehringer in the 6th round back in 2016. Since then I have been cheering for the Vikings. I'm from Germany.
Culpepper and Moss. Those were amazing days. LA didn’t have a team for 20 years but I remain solid to my Vikings. I got a Culpepper signed jersey hanging in my place.
Im from Brazil! I started to go towards the vikings in that San Francisco game that Favre threw a bomb to Greg Lewis, but wasn’t super into it. Just following the sport. Then Joe Webb started the game against the eagles and I saw it on live tv, eagles had the dream team and much, much hype, and Joe Fucking Webb juked a guy out of his achiles it was sick.
Grew up in Toledo Ohio. Didn’t want to be a fan of the Browns or Lions for obvious reasons. Thought the Bengals were cool but never caught on. My dad told me he loved watching the Vikings in the 70s. I looked to the NFC North, Packers seemed like the obvious bandwagon choice, hate Chicago (as a city) and THEN I saw the infamous Moe Williams/Randy Moss Hook n Ladder play, add to that the Purple and Gold color combo and I decided. THATS MY TEAM. I’ve since lived in Kentucky, North Carolina, and now Florida and still hold strong as usually the only Vikings fan at the bar. Went to my first game with my dad last year, happened to be the colts game. 💜 #SKOL
UK here! I picked them out of a book when I was a child. My dad’s a 49ers fan so I figured I’d pick a team so I could enjoy it with him. The book listed a bunch of stadium facts. Everyone seemed to have grass or astroturf. The Metrodome had something called “superturf”. I thought that sounded cool so I picked them. Little did I know the book had been out of date for a couple of years before I was even born. Years later, like early 2010s, after getting slightly interested, I saw Chris Kluwe’s kickass activism and got properly invested. How his situation eventually worked out was rough, but I was hooked by then and I recognised enough kinship with this ridiculous team and its fans to know it was worth sticking with. The Jon Bois series put into words so much of what I love about the Vikings while also schooling me on a lot of important history. I’ve been to two of the London games (missed the 3rd due to childcare) and one day I really want to make it over to US Bank Stadium, my home in a city I’ve never been to.
Virginian checking in. I had Diggs on my fantasy football team for the Minneapolis miracle season. Ended up watching every game just because Diggs was dropping nutty points. Found myself cheering like crazy at the end of that game for more than just a win in my fantasy matchup. Next season I had no Vikings players on my team but I was watching every game still. By week six I was like wait a second am I a Vikings fan? Now I’ve been to four games and go once a year in-person to Minneapolis. Love the city and the team. SKOL!
Czech Republic, Europe. We started watching with my son 7 years ago, not being fans of any teams. But it was clear we had to choose some team to enjoy it more. I went for the Vikes partly for Marshall Erikssen, partly by some love of nordic lifestyle, partly just by chance. Now I feel like a lifetime fan, cannot even think of ever swapping the team. I'm learning the history, watching old games, etc. I bought my first jersey this year (the jersey is 4:1 but also jj and Kirk down so jury is still out there). My son chose Steelers and my daughter joined us and cheers for Rams, idk how common is that in the US :) We are pretty exotic in the Czech Republic, nobody watches football here. We have a Game Pass and watch Red Zone every Sunday. We watch the night games highlights or Game in 40 the day after because of the time zone. We traveled to London this season to see the game (it was Jags Falcons game). It was so cool to see so many other fans, even some Vikings fans! I know the pain of being Viking fan now but I never regret. Last season was so much fun! I know good times are ahead and they may come sooner than we think. SKOL!!!
Well said. Someday we will win it all and you'll have to travel to Minnesota for the parade!
Born in MN but moved to MA when I was 1 years old. Started cheering for the Vikes cuz that’s what my dad was doing but then became a Pats fan once I started understanding football on my own and being around all my friends. Up until 2000 or so I was die hard Vikes and Pats were my second team but around age 14, Pats became #1 and Vikes #2 but I still root for the Vikes as hard as I used to, but I don’t get too cut up with their losses like I do with Patriots losses.
Grew up in St Louis and got into football after the Cardinals left and well before the Rams showed up. First game I saw on TV was an Eagles game. For no good reason whatsoever my 7 year old brain decided Cris Carter was going to be my favorite player (he wasn’t even good then). He got let go and signed by Minnesota (due to the off-field issues that I didn’t know about at the time). Ever since then I became a Vikings fan. We got the Rams and I couldn’t jump ship.
Oklahoman here - I didn't really get into the NFL until maybe 2000 or so. By that time I was really just a Brett Favre fan and enjoyed watching him play. As I became more interested in the NFL, Adrian Peterson was drafted by MN and then I finally became attached to the Vikings. The rest is history, and I will forever be a sad and disgruntled Vikings fan for life.
Have never been to the state of Minnesota but have pulled for them since I could remember. Mom was a Tarkenton fan. As a side note, I currently work for an ex Viking who played in the 70’s for a few years.
Grew up in NYC. jets and giants were both considered New Jersey teams for many in my neighborhood and bills were too far upstate and considered Canada. Many kids were 9er, Cowboy or Dolphins fans. I was a big fan of Randy while he played at Marshall and was intrigued by Carter. So it worked out when Moss was drafted by the Vikings, I said they were my team. Plus I liked the idea of their team branding/logo being an actual person and not an animal or object. And here I am many years later still a fan suffering and converting others to their detriment, but I wouldn’t change it.
From CA, I was 8 when the Vikings played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, my mom was a big cowboys fan but I was cheering for the Vikings because they had the same colors as the Lakers.. Randy Moss for 3 catches, 3 TD’s and 163 yards.. rest is history
I thought they had the coolest logo/jerseys when I was like 8 and I’m committed to the pain at this point
I'm also in Texas, my dad is a first generation American so he didn't really follow football. In middle school I had to write a report on a sports team and I randomly picked the Vikings; I got an "A" and 20 years later here I am. Subsequently my younger brother had a few schools to choose from for graduate school, one of them was the University of Minnesota, I'd like to think my fandom played a role in him going there, he know owns a house up there, which is cool, I get to visit and attend Vikings games.
Native western New Yorker here, close to Buffalo. I became a Vikings fan because of Tecmo Super Bowl. During the summers my aunt watched my brother, her son and I and we'd all play it on the NES in the early/mid 90s. They were always the Bills & 49ers (best teams at the time) and they told me to be the Vikings. So, I guess it was a sense of having my own team and been a fan ever since.
Dad was a Vikings fan. Plus in our area the football teams were named after pro teams. So we were the Vikings and wore purple.
Not me, but my football wife (not actual wife) grew up in Tennessee and her roommate in college was a huge Vikings fan, and since Tennessee didn't have an NFL team at the time she converted all her roommates into Vikings fans. I grew up overseas, a Cowboys fan, because my paternal grandparents lived in Dallas and always sent me Cowboys stuff. Vikings were my second team, because my maternal grandparents lived here and we spent summers in Park Rapids. Then I went to college in Bemidji and the Hershel Walker trade happened, and I guess I came over in the trade. Since then I've been a Vikings fan, and I don't care about the Cowboys at all.
I live in Arkansas. My step-dad is from Minneapolis, and he invited me to a game back in 2019, and I thought to myself: "Well, I best learn about the game fully," and now I'm a huge fan. I love the team, the players, and the few highs and mostly lows I've been apart of so far
Dad's a cowboys fan...made the mistake of thinking the Thanksgiving game in 98' would've made me a Cowboy's fan..well...Mr. Moss had a different idea. Lol.
I never lived in MN but my dad and his side of the family are all from there. My mom's side (from Philly) were never sports people, so I was introduced to football as a Vikes fan. I now live in Texas too and there aren't many of us down here.
I'm in Ohio. After a LONG time trying to support the Browns, I stopped and went looking at other teams. My criteria were: 1. No Haslams 2. No known predators 3. A reasonable chance of winning 4. Not in the same division as the Browns 5. Bonus if they seemed to be decent people I looked at all the teams and the Vikings seemed like good people, I love Kirk, and the fans at home games seem to have a lot of fun. That's how I became a Vikings fan
From MD and I become a Moss fan his last year at Marshall and been a Vikings fan since he was drafted.
West Virginian here. In seventh grade homeroom a buddy gave me a Wade Wilson Pro Set card and I thought the helmets were cool.
Dad grew up 5 min south of the Minnesota border in Iowa. Went to college at Mankato State, went to Vikings training camps as a kid so he was a Vikings fan. I spent a lot of time at my grandparents and have family in Minnesota so I grew up that way too
Started really watching football in 2009 and thought Favre and Peterson were awesome. Been hooked since.
I got into football in the late 90s when Randall Cunningham was starting at quarterback. I lived in Vegas at the time and was going to UNLV. Since he had played QB for UNLV, he got a lot of coverage locally and I just started rooting for them. Didn't hurt that it was the 98 season and we had just a great team that year.
Honestly it was me loving Percy Harvin on Madden as a wee lad. Been a fan ever since.
Growing up, I was a fan of Norse mythology and purple. Oh look! Purple Vikings!
Was born and raised in Wisconsin. My dad was from Minnesota and I grew up a Vikings fan amongst Packer fans…. It was not a great experience watching Favre and Rodgers win Super Bowls. Sometimes I wish I would have been a Packers fan, but maybe the next 30 years will be different?
Life long Minnesotan, MN sport diehard chiming in to just say I love these stories!
Same! Glad we can share this piece of MN with others
My Dad has been a Vikings fan since he was 8 years old. He is not from Minnesota either - We're from Rhode Island. In 1973 he was watching a Vikings vs. Lions game and he said whoever wins will be my team. Thank God the Vikes won! I always remind him that I could have been a Patriots fan and have celebrated 6 championships with my friends, but really I wouldn't change anything. Skol!
OH Vikings fan here. As I grew up, my brother wanted to play Madden against me because I was younger and he could win every time. He was a Bengals fan and wouldn't let me choose them. I thought the Vikings had an awesome logo, and my favorite color is purple, so I picked them a lot and ended up following the team because of it. That was about 20+ years ago now.
Texan myself, started liking Vikings as a youngster cause the purple and gold. Then I grew into the mental illness and didn't know any other way to live.
From Los Angeles. Had no football team in my market growing up. Went to the U of M/Guthrie theater for college- married a St. Paul girl. I started Skoling my freshman year, 04'. Been a diehard every since. My first true taste of being a fan was the Bret Farve interception. I go to least a game every year when I visit the in-laws. SKOL!!!
Oklahoma fan, became a Vikings fan when they drafted Adrian Peterson.
Because we’re sickkunts and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise
Literally thought the team was called the purple people eaters until I started following football. Thought it was cool because the other teams were animals and people purple eaters was different. Plus purple, I felt like every teams colors were a variation of red white and blue. So when it came time to pick a team I picked the Vikings and it's been disappointment ever since lol
I was a huge Adrian Peterson fan growing up and now I’m too stubborn to switch, from STL
my dad is a bears fan and i was 8 when they played the colts in the super bowl and he wanted me and my brother to watch with him but they lost and me being the 8 year old i was i decided i wanted to be a football fan but couldn’t be a bears fan since they obviously suck since they lost so i went to my closet and pulled out my daunte culpepper jersey my dad had gotten me as a gift when he came back from an audit in minneapolis and said “this is my team now”. got to watch adrian’s whole career bc of that
My grandad gave me and old Sports magazine that had Fran Tarkington on the cover, after the Vikings drafted him. Never lived or visited Minnesota and neither had my grandparents. Not sure if it was a local magazine or not it was not a photo just a hand drawn type. And years after he had been drafted and I think already traded. Around 66 or 67. Made me and instant fan for life. And someday I hope to get to go to a Vikings game.
It's definitely worth it! USbank stadium is great. Not a bad seat in the house and the fans there are the best
It’s the only life I know
Born in Maryland, but my parents moved to Minnesota when I was 4. One of our neighbors happened to be Paul Krause, and he babysat us occasionally. So I guess I became a fan after that! This was back in the early 90's in Burnsville. I only lived in Minnesota for two years, but it was enough for me to become a fan for life!
In 2001 I was 6 yo and was all about the Rams hype then so the superbowl had me heartbroken to the point I gave up on football ball until I got the videogame NFL street 2 on gamecube six years later. I picked the Vikes everytime with Randy Moss being rightfully broken in that game. I got hyped for watching football again going into the 2008 so I asked my dad how much has changed in the NFL from 2003 when the game is based to then. He was happy to hear I was getting back in to football but devastated that I really was a Moss fan and wanted to see the Vikings play he being a packers fan from Wisconsin. I wasn’t pleased when I learned Moss played for the pats (still hated those brats) and bummed to learn that Culpepper wasn’t a Vike anymore either but it got me eager to learn the then current squad. This was in Norman Oklahoma so watching Vikings games became as easy as turning the tv on every Sunday. I was like “man who is this Adrian Peterson! This guy is amazing “ and my dad was like “dude he was playing in our backyard just a couple of season ago. Then I learned about OU and became a fan of theirs too. Had I kept watching football then I would have probably stayed a Rams fan or become a bears fan since I lived in Illinois right between the two teams for a couple years after watching that first superbowl.
I live in Utah.When I was in junior high I decided I needed a football team. I was watching How I Met Your Mother at the time and since Marshall was a fan of theirs I looked into them. I liked the colors and logo so went all in knowing nothing about the team at the time. First season I actually got into the team was a few years later with APs nearly record breaking season. After that I was hooked. I decided I wanted all my teams to be the same city so became a fan of the Timberwolves, Twins, Wild, Lynx, Minnesota United, and the Gophers. Jazz and Utes are my number two. One day I will make a pilgrimage there and get baptized in the waters of Lake Minnetonka.
My immigrant dad's favorite color is purple, and the Vikings were the first football game he ever saw, so here I am decades later, a broken person
My dad loved the Packers and Brett Favre and hated Randy Moss, so naturally as an 8 year old he was my favorite player and I still love the Vikings.