Embarking on one of the most critical offseasons in team history, the
Minnesota Vikings are looking for ways to change the direction of a team
that has slipped precipitously the past two seasons.
When
Minnesota finished 3-13 in 2011, it matched the 1984 team's record for
futility. The Vikings now hope to undergo as quick of a rise as the
sudden fall they experienced after reaching the NFL Championship game
two years ago.
If the current coaches, players and staff are
searching for examples of ways to reverse their fortunes in a hurry,
they need only look at the organization's history. When the current team
finished the season with a 17-14 loss at home against Chicago, it
wasn't happy about joining the 1984 squad in infamy. But if the Vikings
can replicate what happened after 1984, 2011 could soon be an
afterthought.
Following the disappointment of 1984, Minnesota
went 7-9 the next season. Four straight winning seasons, including a
trip to the NFC title game, followed.
"To say the least, it was
an embarrassment," former Vikings punter Greg Coleman said of the 1984
season. "You're a professional, and we took that to heart. Guys worked
their tails off, with (coach Bud Grant) coming back there was that
familiarity and it didn't take much to turn it around. And I think, with
that, this time it won't take that much to turn it around. You look at
how many games they lost by seven points or less. If you win half of
those, it's a totally different season.
"You look at the Giants
who were 7-7 at one point and are now having a ticker-tape parade in
Manhattan. It doesn't take long to turn it around. They have a good
bunch of guys with a heck of a lot of talent. They have some holes to
fill, obviously, but I've gotten to know some of these guys and see
their resolve. I expect them to turn it around, without question."
Coleman,
the team's punter from 1978-87, offers the perspective knowing what
both the 1984 and 2011 teams had gone through. He is now a sideline
reporter for the Vikings' radio network and said he has talked with many
of the current players about the similarities between the two teams.
Another
resource is right down the hallway at Winter Park. Scott Studwell, the
Vikings' director of college scouting, was a Vikings linebacker from
1977-90 and led the team in tackles from 1980-85 and again in 1988 and
1989. Studwell said he has refrained from making too many comparisons,
though he believes it may be easier to turn things around in today's NFL
than it was back in 1985.
"You can probably turn things around a
little quicker these days with free agency, the player movement and the
fact people are committed to younger players now," Studwell said. "It
still boils down to how good your roster is. We all have to take our
piece in this, too. We have to get better players, too. The onus is on
everybody in turning a team around."
The players from 1984 attribute
that team's turnaround to a few key aspects. The switch back to Bud
Grant after Les Steckel's lone season as coach played a big role.
Coleman also said the team learned from what it went through in 1984.
"That
left a very, very bitter taste and nobody wanted to swallow that
again," Coleman said. "You called upon those ugly memories of how things
went down and how it happened every now and then as a reminder of how
bad previous year was. Nobody wanted to re-live that, and it made guys
work harder in practice, watch extra film, do more in the weight room.
We pushed each other as a team."
Roster turnover also helped. New
players came aboard and the Vikings became a younger team. Reports have
circulated that current general manager Rick Spielman would like to
accomplish the same thing heading into 2012.
Coleman and Studwell
both believe the 2011 team was more talented than the 1984 squad, but
the addition of players in 1985 played a big role in the team's
turnaround. With the fourth-overall pick in 1985, Minnesota drafted
Chris Doleman, who was just elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Studwell and general manager Rick Spielman can only hope to have as big
of a hit with the No. 3 overall selection this season.
Other
players such as defensive tackle Keith Millard and receiver Anthony
Carter also joined the Vikings in 1985, and the burden is on Minnesota
to find similar talent upgrades this time around.
"The biggest
thing to us turning it around so quickly was getting players," said
Tommy Kramer, the team's starting quarterback in 1984 and following two
seasons. "Over the years, drafting people and when you make bad
decisions, you pay for it. But when you get good people then you get on a
roll."
One former Viking believes talent offers another reason to believe in a quick recovery.
"You
know, the one good thing about really good players is they can have a
short memory," said former running back Darrin Nelson, who was on the
1984 team and then led Minnesota in rushing from 1985-88. "I wasn't even
thinking about 3-13 the next year. I think everybody else does that.
Good players have short memories. If you run across middle and get hit
in head, you have to forget it because later in game you'll have to do
it again. A whole new year brings a different perspective."
The Vikings can only hope so, following the trend started in 1985.
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