Minnesota Vikings By The Numbers: #3

In the history of the Minnesota Vikings, there have been six players that have worn the number 3. Four of those six players were on the team for just one season, and one of the remaining two was only on the team for two years. Still, even with a lack of history, there are still a couple of worthy options at this spot.

The Vikings had big expectations in 1999, even after the awful loss they had to end their 1999 season. They had a lot of the same players back, but quarterback Randall Cunningham couldn’t recapture the magic of the previous season. With the team having traded Brad Johnson during the offseason, the backup quarterback they had to turn to was former #1 overall pick Jeff George. After a 2-4 start, George was inserted into the starting lineup and the team went on a tear, finishing the season 8-2 and making the NFC playoffs. The Vikings won their Wild Card game, but got thumped by The Greatest Show on Turf in the divisional round. George only had 10 starts for the Vikings, but almost single-handedly saved an entire season with his efforts.

The other one is. . .yes. . .kicker Blair Walsh. With the way Walsh finished his career with Minnesota, it might be easy to forget just how good he was early on. As a rookie, he made an impression early, hitting four field goals in his first NFL game, including a 55-yarder at the gun to send it to overtime and a 38-yarder to win it. He went 10-of-10 on field goals of 50+ that season, and has more than twice as many 50+ yard field goals as the next closest player in team history. His 84.2% field goal percentage is third in team history behind Ryan Longwell and Gary Anderson.

Honorable mention goes to Rick Karlis, who was only with the Vikings for a season, but set an NFL record with seven field goals in one game. Lest anyone has forgotten, that was the game that gave us this:

Vikings that have worn the number 3:

• Jan Stenerud (1984 - 1985)
• Rich Karlis (1989)
• Eddie Murray (1997)
• Jeff George (1999)
• Spergon Wynn (2001)
• Blair Walsh (2012 - 2016)

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Only a couple more numbers to go before the conclusion of our series and the start of the 2017 NFL regular season!