The 1964 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

' fourth in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

. Under head coach

Norm Van Brocklin Norman Mack Van Brocklin (March 15, 1926 – May 2, 1983), nicknamed "the Dutchman", was an American professional football player, coach and executive. He played as a quarterback and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for 12 seasons. ...

, the team finished with an 8–5–1 record for their first winning season and a franchise-best until

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

. They tied with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

for second place in the Western conference, who gained the berth in the third-place

Playoff Bowl The Playoff Bowl (officially known as the Bert Bell Benefit Bowl) was a post-season game for third place in the National Football League (NFL), played ten times following the through seasons, all at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida. It was o ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

on January 3. The two teams had split their season series, with the road teams winning, but the Packers won the tiebreaker on point differential: the Vikings' victory was by just one point, while Green Bay won by over four touchdowns. In the season opener, the Vikings upset eventual Western champion

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

. To date, this is the only season the Vikings wore white jerseys for all their home games. In January 1964, the NFL owners had approved a new rule which allowed home teams to wear the jersey color of their choice. This was the first season for the forty-man roster, an increase of three.

Offseason

1964 draft

Notes

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27–22 on October 25 in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Kezar Stadium Kezar Stadium () is an outdoor athletics stadium in San Francisco, California, United States, located adjacent to Kezar Pavilion in the southeastern corner of Golden Gate Park. It serves as the home of San Francisco City FC of USL League Two ...

, but not before defensive end Jim Marshall made one of the most embarrassing errors in NFL history. In the fourth quarter, 49er halfback

Billy Kilmer William Orland Kilmer Jr. (born September 5, 1939) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, New Orleans Saints, and Washington Redskins. He was ...

caught a pass from rookie quarterback

George Mira George Ignacio Mira (born January 11, 1942) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in eight National Football League (NFL) seasons for four teams. He then played five seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) an ...

and fumbled the ball forward, which was scooped up in stride by Marshall. He unknowingly ran 66 yards with it the wrong way into his own end zone; thinking he scored a touchdown, he tossed the ball in the air throwing it out of bounds, resulting in a safety. The Vikings had a 27–17 lead at the time, and it narrowed the gap to eight points. On the previous possession, Marshall had forced a Mira fumble in the collapsing pocket and defensive end

Carl Eller Carl Eller (born January 25, 1942) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and played college f ...

had scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Just before that, Viking linebacker

Roy Winston Roy Charles Winston (September 15, 1940 – March 5, 2022) was an American professional football player. He played 15 seasons as a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings. Winston graduated from Louisiana St ...

had intercepted a Mira pass early in the fourth quarter and returned it to the 49er eleven-yard line, setting up a touchdown run by quarterback

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940), nicknamed "the Scrambler", is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He is wi ...

to take the lead. Two weeks later in Minnesota, the Vikings defeated the 49ers again, by a score of 24–7.
YouTube
– NFL Films – Jim Marshall's Wrong Way Run

Standings

Statistics

Team leaders

''Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.''

League rankings

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:1964 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...