Facts About Fanbases: Minnesota Vikings

PackFan2005 Well, it’s been almost a year since the last episode, so I know I have to make this one. We have a long NFL offseason ahead of us, so this could fill in that void from May to August. So, these are Facts About Fanbases.

Today’s Team: Minnesota Vikings

The four fanbases of the NFC North differ greatly. Of them, I’d say the Vikings are the most hopeful. Unfortunately, hope doesn’t always translate to on-field success, and it starts up the wrath of Vikings fans.

Arrogance Origins

The Vikings originally came onto the scene in 1960, as an NFL expansion team. There weren’t many fans at the time, but they would soon hop onto the bandwagon in the early 1970s when Fran Tarkenton got them to three Super Bowls. Unfortunately for them, they lost them all, being essentially the Buffalo Bills of the 70s. Let’s not forget 1969, when the Chiefs let out their frustration on them in Super Bowl IV after losing the first Super Bowl. Yep, these fans were probably a bit disgruntled from the start. But, they had a long period of success after these four Super Bowl losses. From 1977-2000, they made the playoffs 14 times, which if you think about it, is pretty good. Despite that, they never got to the Super Bowl. At one point, they were a Morten Anderson kick away from the big game, but they still could never get there. Then came the 2000s. It was the start of a sucky age for this franchise, and fans weren’t exactly happy. Yet they remained hopeful, but it never worked. They choked in two NFC Championship games in 2009 and 2017. Yep, things were going wrong in Minnesota, but whenever they were good, they loved to brag about it. We have seen that especially in the 2010s. That’s where our story begins.

Getting to Know the Current Fans

2010s Vikings fans have been pretty obnoxious to tell the truth. This may be coming from my biased mouth, but some people are bound to agree. They have always acted like they have been one of the NFC North’s elite teams for years, which, in reality, hasn’t been the case. Anytime there’s a discussion or argument between two fans of different NFC North teams, a Vikings fan is bound to barge in and say something like, “both of those teams don’t size up to Minnesota, SKOL.” To be honest, every team in the NFC North has had more success than the Vikings. Heck, even the Lions have had more success in their franchise history, which is really saying something. They make terrible arguments when they do debate with other fans. Yeah, you made four Super Bowls, but did you win any of them? Can you even win a playoff game? It’s laughable whenever Vikings fans try to compare their team to the Packers or Bears, two franchises with more success then they could ever dream of having.

Evidence of Arrogance

The 2017 season put the arrogance of the Vikings fanbase on full display. In the early part of the season, they expressed a lot of self pity, saying stuff like, “why us? Why are we stuck with Case Keenum at quarterback?” Then as the Vikings kept winning, their cockiness grew, saying that they will be Super Bowl champions, failing to see another better team in the NFC rising up ahead of them, the Philadelphia Eagles. As the season wore on, the skol chants grew louder, their bragging on social media increased, and they ended up at 13-3. They figured, “we’re Super Bowl champions!” Unfortunately, the excited fans failed to remember their previous follies in other NFC Championship games. It was after the Minneapolis Miracle that they were at their worst, storming into Philadelphia and flooding the streets of the “City of Brotherly Love,” chanting skol as loud as they could. But Eagles fans, another fanbase I previously discussed, would not take this in their city. Their faith in the Eagles is what propelled the Eagles to pummel Minnesota 38-7, and the fans went silent. Only for a bit though. They thought they were still kings of the north before 2018, and then proceeded to fall to the mighty Bears.

Conclusion

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate all Vikings fans. Some of my best friends are Vikings fans. Anyway, this was not one of my better posts. I’m a bit rusty, but I hope I improve over time. Next time, we will look at the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the more recent teams in NFL history, and despite their mediocrity, they still have bad fans.

Comments

One thing I still don’t get is what their skol chant means.. - visitor (6/27/2019)

Neither do I. - PackFan2005 (6/28/2019)

Our fans are always drunk because we need to survive the winter somehow so yeah and the Skol chant is for intimidation mostly the other part is some sort of war chant from the Viking era - RawIsgore (7/23/2019)

One of the most disheartening things I’ve seen as a Packers fan are Vikings fans starting the Skol chant at Lambeau while shutting us out in 2017. Green Bay has hit rock bottom. - PackFan2005 (7/24/2019)