Greatest Viking Of All Time Tournament: (3) Jim Marshall vs (6) Scott Studwell

This second round match-up in our Greatest Viking Of All Time Tournament is quite an interesting one. It pairs up a couple of guys that had pretty long tenures with the Minnesota Vikings, and are known for their toughness and leadership ability. One of these two men will get an opportunity to take on Randy Moss in our next round.

Jim Marshall

Alma Mater: THE. . .dramatic pause. . .Ohio State University
Acquired by Vikings: Acquired via trade with Cleveland Browns before 1961 NFL Draft
Seasons in Minnesota: 19 (1961-1979)
Position: Defensive end
How He Got Here: Defeated Blair Walsh 181-8 in Round 1

The NFL's original iron man, Jim Marshall played in a record 282 consecutive games, including 270 consecutive starts. All of the starts came in Minnesota. His streak overcame such things as injury, being stranded during an off-season snowmobile trip (during which Marshall, literally, burned his money to survive), and a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Yes, the man shot himself in the side while cleaning his gun during the week and played for the Vikings that Sunday. He is unofficially the Vikings' second-leading sack artist with 127, holds the NFL record for fumble recoveries with 30, and his #70 is one of just six numbers that have officially be retired by the Minnesota Vikings. He also holds the record for the NFL's shortest play at negative-66 yards for that one play that we've all seen a million damn times (and is, unfortunately, in the video below). The fact that Jim Marshall is not in the Hall of Fame is a travesty, to say the least.

By the way, the game that featured that wrong-way run? The Vikings won that game, 27-22, thanks to a Carl Eller fumble return for a touchdown on a sack by. . .Jim Marshall.

Scott Studwell

Alma Mater: University of Illinois
Acquired by Vikings: Round 9, 1977 NFL Draft
Seasons in Minnesota: 36 (not a typo. . .Player - 1977-1990, Player Relations - 1991, Player Personnel Coordinator - 1992-2001, Director of College Scouting - 2002-present)
Position: Linebacker, and everything else you see above
How He Got Here: Defeated Sammy White 168-27 in Round 1

When it comes to time with the Minnesota Vikings, I believe that only Fred Zamberletti and Bud Grant have more tenure in this tournament field than Studwell does. But Studwell has been a part of the Vikings' organization for a very long time. He was a standout middle linebacker during his time with the Vikings, retiring as the Vikings' all-time leading tackler with 1,981. He also holds the team records for tackles in a season (230 back in 1981) and in a game (24 against the Detroit Lions in 1985). He moved on to the front office after retiring following the 1990 season, and is now helping Rick Spielman and company put together some outstanding drafts.

Couldn't find any embeddable Studwell videos from YouTube or anything, so here's a bio on him from Vikings.com.

If you need a primer on how the voting for our contest works, we have one for you at this link here. Remember, rec the comments to register your vote. Putting "Vote - Name" in the subject line of a post does not count.

If you want to vote for Jim Marshall, rec the comment that says "Vote - Jim Marshall"
If you want to vote for Scott Studwell, rec the comment that says "Vote - Scott Studwell"

Voting is open for 24 hours, just like always, folks. Have at it!