Minnesota Vikings By The Numbers: #13

There aren’t a lot of numbers in the history of the Minnesota Vikings that have been as thoroughly unproductive as the #13 has been. In fact, the #13 has been, almost exclusively, the number of the backup quarterback.

• Nobody in franchise history wore the number 13 until it was selected by quarterback Steve Bono in 1985. Bono was selected in the sixth round of the 1985 NFL Draft by the Vikings, and in his two years with the team had as many sacks taken as completed passes (2 of each). The team let him go in 1987, and he would go on to have a fairly lengthy NFL career.
• Gino Torretta won a Heisman Trophy at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Vikings in the 7th round of the 1993 NFL Draft. He didn’t make the team.
• Shaun Hill served two different stints as a Vikings’ backup, as he was with the team in 2005 (when he didn’t attempt a pass) and was also with the team in 2015 and 2016. He did see some action in those seasons, and even got a start (and a win) in the 2016 season opener, making him the only one of these four quarterbacks to be credited with a victory.
• Kelly Holcomb actually got three starts for the Vikings in Brad Childress’ weird quarterback season of 2007. He went 0-3 in those starts, and threw just two touchdown passes during that stretch.

Outside of the quarterback position, we have punter Bucky Scribner. Scribner played his first two seasons (1983 and 1984) with the Green Bay Packers, and then didn’t punt again until 1987 when he was signed by the Vikings. He appeared in 36 games for the team and averaged just over 40 yards per punt.

And, really. . .that’s it.

Vikings that have worn the number 13:

• Steve Bono (1985 - 1986)
• Bucky Scribner (1987 - 1989)
• Dave Bruno (1987)
• Gino Torretta (1993)
• Shaun Hill (2005, 2015 - 2016)
• Kelly Holcomb (2007)
• Juaquin Iglesias (2010)

So, yeah. . .pretty rough number overall. But we’ll throw a couple of choices out there for funsies.

On to the number 12 tomorrow. . .a number which, while not great, still isn’t as bad as 13. At least 12 had one player that actually did something in purple.