Al Noga to be inducted into Polynesian Football Hall of Fame

For the second year in a row, a player that is most closely associated with the Minnesota Vikings will be inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.

Today, the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame announced that former Vikings’ defensive end Al Noga will be a part of their class of 2021. He will be joined by his brother Niko Noga and former high school football coach Charlie Wedemeyer. Wedemeyer’s induction is a posthumous one, as he passed away after a battle with pneumonia in 2010.

Al Noga was drafted by the Vikings in the third round of the 1988 NFL Draft out of the University of Hawai’i, where he was an Outland Trophy finalist and a first-team All-American. After playing sparingly as a rookie, he exploded onto the scene in his second season as a starter at defensive end, picking up 11.5 sacks in 1989. He spent five seasons with Minnesota, collecting 29.5 of his 34.5 career NFL sacks in purple. After leaving Minnesota, he spent one season with the artists formerly known as the Washington Redskins and one year with the Indianapolis Colts before leaving the NFL.

As mentioned earlier, this is the second season in a row that the Vikings have had a player inducted into the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame. Last season, guard David Dixon heard his name called for this honor.

Congratulations to the Noga brothers and the family of Charlie Wedemeyer on their selections to the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame!