Minnesota Vikings By The Numbers: #4

We have reached the number 4 in our Minnesota Vikings By The Numbers series. There have been a lot of players that have worn the #4 in team history, surprisingly enough, but there’s only one that made any sort of an impact. . .even if it was for a very short time.

We all know the story of how the Vikings came to acquire quarterback Brett Favre and the schism. . .see what I did there. . .that it initially created in the fan base. However, those concerns were quickly erased, as Favre would have his greatest statistical season in a Vikings’ uniform. For the 2009 season, Favre completed 68.4% of his passes, and had a pretty incredible radio of 33 touchdowns to just seven interceptions. He helped to lead the Vikings to a 12-4 record and a trip to the NFC Championship Game, where it took a concerted effort from the Vikings’ opponents to end his football career in order to slow him down.

Yes, it ended badly in 2010, but for that one season, it was pretty great.

Of the players on the list, I want to take a minute to point out kicker Dale Dawson. Dawson, according to Pro Football Reference, is one of two players in Vikings’ history to have a negative Approximate Value. Dawson kicked for the Vikings in three games in 1987, and went 1-for-5 on field goal attempts before being released.

But, when it comes to the best #4 in Vikings’ history, there’s really only one choice, so I’ll offer a preemptive request to stop crying about the lack of a poll already. (I should have put that disclaimer on every post in this series, but it’s a bit late now, I guess.)

Vikings that have worn the number 4:

• Archie Manning (1983 - 1984)
• Dale Dawson (1987)
• Donald Igwebuike (1990)
• Mike Saxon (1994 - 1995)
• Doug Brien (2002)
• Eddie Johnson (2003)
• Brett Favre (2009 - 2010)
• Chris Kluwe (2011)
• McLeod Bethel-Thompson (2012)
• Brad Sorensen (2016)
• Ryan Quigley (2017)

On to the number 3 tomorrow!