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Chad Greenway gave fans of the Minnesota Vikings everywhere a big thrill on Sunday afternoon, as he put the capper on the Vikings' thrashing of the San Diego Chargers with a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. That made the score 31-7 and basically put the game out of reach.
That was the second pick-six of Greenway's career in Minnesota, and after further review, it turns out that it's one of the five longest interception returns in Minnesota Vikings history.
Here is a quick list of the longest interception returns in the history of the Minnesota Vikings.
Date | Player | Opponent | Distance | Game Result |
15 December 1991 | Reggie Rutland | Los Angeles Rams | 97 yards | W 20-14 |
19 December 1988 | Walker Lee Ashley | Chicago Bears | 94 yards | W 28-27 |
25 November 2007 | Dwight Smith | @ New York Giants | 93 yards | W 41-17 |
13 November 2005 | Darren Sharper | @ New York Giants | 92 yards | W 24-21 |
27 September 2015 | Chad Greenway | San Diego Chargers | 91 yards | W 31-14 |
Strangely enough, Rutland. . .who later changed his name to Najee Mustafaa. . .also once held the record for longest interception return in Cleveland Browns' history. That return was also 97 yards, and was the only interception he ever recorded for Cleveland. (He had 10 in his five seasons with Minnesota.)
Greenway's other career pick-six, a 37-yarder, came in the same game as Dwight Smith's 93-yarder listed above. It's the sixth-longest overall defensive touchdown in franchise history as well, behind the other four interceptions listed above and Dwayne Rudd's 94-yard fumble return against the Chicago Bears on 6 December 1998.
Chad Greenway's role with the Vikings has diminished a bit over the early portion of this season, but it's hard to deny that his big play today brought fans of the team everywhere to their feet. Congratulations to him on collecting another spot in the Vikings' record books.