# 1967 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1967 season was the Minnesota Vikings' seventh in the National Football League. After the resignation of head coach Norm Van Brocklin at the end of the previous season, the Vikings hired Bud Grant, previously the head coach of the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who led the team to a 3–8–3 record.

## 1967 draft

* Pro Bowler
* Hall of Famer
1967 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 2 | Clint Jones | Running back | Michigan State | from Giants |
| 1 | 8 | Gene Washington | Wide receiver | Michigan State | |
| 1 | 15 | Alan Page | Defensive end | Notre Dame | from Rams |
| 2 | 28 | Bob Grim | Running back | Oregon State | from Giants |
| 2 | 33 | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | |
| 3 | 61 | Earl Denny | Wide receiver | Missouri | |
| 4 | 87 | Al Coleman | Defensive back | Tennessee A&I | |
| 5 | 115 | Ken Last | Wide receiver | Minnesota | |
| 6 | 140 | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 7 | 167 | Bobby Bryant | Cornerback | South Carolina | |
| 8 | 192 | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | Traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers | |
| 8 | 197 | John Beasley | Wide receiver | California | from Redskins |
| 9 | 219 | Bill Morris | Guard | Holy Cross | |
| 10 | 244 | Pete Tatman | Running back | Nebraska | |
| 11 | 271 | Bob Trygstad | Defensive tackle | Washington State | |
| 12 | 296 | Fred Cremer | Guard | St. John's (MN) | |
| 13 | 323 | Charles Hardt | Defensive back | Tulsa | |
| 14 | 348 | Jim Hargrove | Linebacker | Howard Payne | |
| 15 | 375 | Jim Shea | Defensive back | Eastern New Mexico | |
| 16 | 400 | Gene Beard | Defensive back | Virginia Union | |
| 17 | 427 | Dick Wagoner | Defensive back | Bowling Green | |
Notes
* 1 2 The Vikings traded QB Fran Tarkenton to the Giants in exchange for a first- (2nd overall), a second- (28th overall), a 1968 first- (1st overall) and a 1969 second-round selection (39th overall).
* 1 2 The Vikings traded their second-round selection (33rd overall), TE Hal Bedsole and RB Tommy Mason to the Rams in exchange for a first-round selection (15th overall) and TE/LB Marlin McKeever.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection (140th overall) to the Steelers in exchange for RB Phil King.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their eighth-round selection (192nd overall) to the Steelers in exchange for LB Dave Tobey.
* ↑ The Vikings traded DE Bill Briggs to the Redskins in exchange for an eighth-round selection (197th overall).

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 12 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 34–0 | 1–0 | Skelly Stadium (Tulsa, OK) | 24,500 |
| 2 | August 18 | at Denver Broncos (AFL) | L 9–14 | 1–1 | University of Denver Stadium | 31,850 |
| 3 | August 27 | at New York Giants | L 3–21 | 1–2 | Yale Bowl (New Haven, CT) | 43,584 |
| 4 | September 2 | Atlanta Falcons | W 16–3 | 2–2 | Cleveland Stadium (Cleveland, OH) | 84,236 |
| 5 | September 10 | Cleveland Browns | L 14–42 | 2–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,012 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 17 | San Francisco 49ers | L 21–27 | 0–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 39,638 |
| 2 | September 22 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 3–39 | 0–2 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 52,255 |
| 3 | October 1 | Chicago Bears | L 7–17 | 0–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 44,868 |
| 4 | October 8 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 24–34 | 0–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,017 |
| 5 | October 15 | at Green Bay Packers | W 10–7 | 1–4 | Milwaukee County Stadium | 49,601 |
| 6 | October 22 | Baltimore Colts | T 20–20 | 1–4–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,693 |
| 7 | October 29 | at Atlanta Falcons | L 20–21 | 1–5–1 | Atlanta Stadium | 52,859 |
| 8 | November 5 | New York Giants | W 27–24 | 2–5–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 44,960 |
| 9 | November 12 | Detroit Lions | T 10–10 | 2–5–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,032 |
| 10 | November 19 | at Cleveland Browns | L 10–14 | 2–6–2 | Cleveland Stadium | 68,431 |
| 11 | November 26 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | W 41–27 | 3–6–2 | Pitt Stadium | 23,773 |
| 12 | December 3 | Green Bay Packers | L 27–30 | 3–7–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 47,693 |
| 13 | December 10 | at Chicago Bears | T 10–10 | 3–7–3 | Wrigley Field | 40,110 |
| 14 | December 17 | at Detroit Lions | L 3–14 | 3–8–3 | Tiger Stadium | 44,874 |

### Standings

NFL Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Green Bay Packers | 9 | 4 | 1 | .692 | 4–1–1 | 6–3–1 | 332 | 209 | L2 |
| Chicago Bears | 7 | 6 | 1 | .538 | 3–2–1 | 5–4–1 | 239 | 218 | W1 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 1–3–2 | 3–5–2 | 260 | 259 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 3 | 8 | 3 | .273 | 1–3–2 | 1–6–3 | 233 | 294 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Joe Kapp | 1,386 |
| Passing touchdowns | Joe Kapp | 8 |
| Rushing yards | Dave Osborn | 972 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Bill Brown | 5 |
| Receiving yards | Gene Washington | 384 |
| Receiving touchdowns | John Beasley | 4 |
| Points | Fred Cox | 77 |
| Kickoff return yards | Clint Jones | 597 |
| Punt return yards | Bob Grim | 101 |
| Interceptions | Earsell Mackbee | 5 |

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 16) |
| Passing offense | 1,667 | 119.1 | 14th |
| Rushing offense | 1,811 | 129.4 | 9th |
| Total offense | 3,478 | 248.4 | 14th |
| Passing defense | 1,752 | 125.1 | 3rd |
| Rushing defense | 2,104 | 150.3 | 15th |
| Total defense | 3,856 | 275.4 | 6th |