Minnesota Vikings By The Numbers: #19

The number 19 is a bit of a tricky one for the Minnesota Vikings, as I’d imagine it is for most teams. The phenomenon of wide receivers wearing numbers in the teens is still fairly recent, and there aren’t a lot of other opportunities for players to wear it. Still we have a few guys that could potentially be considered.

The first name up for consideration actually served in two roles for the Vikings, that of quarterback and punter. That was Bob Lee, who had two separate stints for the Vikings, both of which saw him don the number 19. A seventeenth-round pick. . .yes, 17th round. . .in 1968, he was the team’s backup quarterback during that stretch, and was also the team’s punter in both 1969 and 1971. In 1971 he even led the NFL in punting yardage. He punted in Super Bowl IV and threw a touchdown pass in Super Bowl XI. He spent two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons in 1973 and 1974, and came back to Minnesota for four more seasons before finishing his career with the Los Angeles Rams.

We also have a couple of wide receivers in the mix, starting with Bobby Wade. Wade came to the Vikings from the Chicago Bears in 2007, and led the team in receiving that year. He was second on the team in receiving yardage in 2008 and that. . .well, that sort of says something about how effective the Vikings’ passing game was in those two seasons. Wade played for one season after leaving Minnesota, landing with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Most recently, we have receiver Adam Thielen. We all know Thielen’s story. He grew up in Detroit Lakes and played his college ball at Minnesota State University in Mankato. The Vikings signed him to the practice squad in 2014, and he battled his way up from the practice squad into a role on special teams, and finally a spot in the wide receiver rotation. He really came into his own this past season, leading the Vikings in receiving yardage with 967 yards and scoring five touchdowns. He got a big contract extension this offseason, so it appears that he’ll be carrying the number 19 for this team for a while.

Vikings that have worn the number 19:

• Lance Rentzel (1965 - 1966)
• Bob Lee (1968 - 1972, 1975 - 1978)
• Yo Murphy (1999)
• Troy Williamson (2005)
• Bobby Wade (2007 - 2008)
• Hank Baskett (2010)
• Devin Aromashodu (2011 - 2012)
• Adam Thielen (2014 - present)

That’s what we’ve got for the first number in the teens, ladies and gentlemen. We’ll move along to number 18 tomorrow!