# 1963 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1963 season was the Minnesota Vikings' third in the National Football League (NFL). Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with a 5–8–1 record. Five wins in a season represented the most in the franchise's three-year history. 22-year-old Paul Flatley of Northwestern University was named the NFL's Rookie of the Year, a first for the fledgling franchise.

## Offseason
### 1963 draft

* Pro Bowler
* Hall of Famer
1963 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 3 | Jim Dunaway | Defensive tackle | Ole Miss | |
| 2 | 16 | Bobby Bell | Defensive tackle | Minnesota | |
| 3 | 31 | Ray Poage | Running back | Texas | |
| 4 | 44 | Paul Flatley | Wide receiver | Northwestern | |
| 5 | 59 | Gary Kaltenbach | Offensive tackle | Pittsburgh | |
| 6 | 72 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | |
| 7 | 87 | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | Traded to the New York Giants | |
| 8 | 100 | Jim O'Mahoney | Linebacker | Miami (FL) | |
| 9 | 115 | Bob Hoover | Running back | Florida | |
| 10 | 128 | Terry Kosens | Running back | Hofstra | |
| 11 | 143 | John Campbell | Linebacker | Minnesota | |
| 12 | 156 | John Sklopan | Running back | Southern Miss | |
| 13 | 171 | Dave O'Brien | Offensive tackle | Boston College | |
| 14 | 184 | Ralph Ferrisi | Running back | Southern Connecticut | |
| 15 | 199 | John Murio | End | Whitworth | |
| 16 | 212 | Rex Mirich | Offensive tackle | Arizona State–Flagstaff | |
| 17 | 227 | Tom Munsey | Running back | Concord | |
| 18 | 240 | Tom McIntyre | Offensive tackle | St. John's (MN) | |
| 19 | 255 | Frank Horvath | Running back | Youngstown | |
| 20 | 268 | Mailon Kent | Running back | Auburn | |
Notes
* ↑ The Vikings traded their sixth-round selection (72nd overall) to the Browns in exchange for CB Tom Franckhauser, OT Errol Linden, TE Charley Ferguson and K Fred Cox.
* ↑ The Vikings traded their seventh-round selection (87th overall) to the Giants in exchange for DE/LB Jim Leo.

## Preseason

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 10 | San Francisco 49ers | W 43–28 | 1–0 | Multnomah Stadium (Portland, OR) | 20,837 |
| 2 | August 17 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 27–3 | 2–0 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 42,966 |
| 3 | August 25 | New York Giants | W 17–16 | 3–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 29,815 |
| 4 | August 31 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 27–34 | 3–1 | Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA) | 15,861 |
| 5 | September 6 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 35–0 | 4–1 | Busch Stadium | 30,842 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 15 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 24–20 | 1–0 | Kezar Stadium | 30,781 |
| 2 | September 22 | Chicago Bears | L 7–28 | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 33,923 |
| 3 | September 29 | San Francisco 49ers | W 45–14 | 2–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 28,567 |
| 4 | October 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 14–56 | 2–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 30,220 |
| 5 | October 13 | Green Bay Packers | L 28–37 | 2–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 42,567 |
| 6 | October 20 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 24–27 | 2–4 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 30,555 |
| 7 | October 27 | at Detroit Lions | L 10–28 | 2–5 | Tiger Stadium | 44,509 |
| 8 | November 3 | Los Angeles Rams | W 21–13 | 3–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 33,567 |
| 9 | November 10 | at Green Bay Packers | L 7–28 | 3–6 | City Stadium | 42,327 |
| 10 | November 17 | Baltimore Colts | L 34–37 | 3–7 | Metropolitan Stadium | 33,136 |
| 11 | November 24 | Detroit Lions | W 34–31 | 4–7 | Metropolitan Stadium | 28,763 |
| 12 | December 1 | at Chicago Bears | T 17–17 | 4–7–1 | Wrigley Field | 47,249 |
| 13 | December 8 | at Baltimore Colts | L 10–41 | 4–8–1 | Memorial Stadium | 54,122 |
| 14 | December 15 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 34–13 | 5–8–1 | Franklin Field | 57,403 |

### Game summaries
#### Week 2: vs Chicago Bears

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bears | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
| Vikings | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
at Metropolitan Stadium, Bloomington, Minnesota
* Date: September 22
* Game weather: 51 °F (11 °C)
* Game attendance: 33,923
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
First quarter
CHI – Ronnie Bull 24-yard pass from Bill Wade (Bob Jencks kick). Bears 7–0.
Second quarter
MIN – Jerry Reichow 24-yard pass from Fran Tarkenton (Fred Cox kick). Tie 7–7.
CHI – Mike Ditka 36-yard pass from Bill Wade (Bob Jencks kick). Bears 14–7.
Third quarter
No scoring plays.
Fourth quarter
CHI – Bill Wade 1-yard run (Bob Jencks kick). Bears 21–7.
CHI – Mike Ditka 10-yard pass from Bill Wade (Bob Jencks kick). Bears 28–7.
Top passers
CHI – Bill Wade – 23/32, 253 yards, 3 TD
MIN – Fran Tarkenton – 13/22, 167 yards, TD, 3 INT
Top rushers
CHI – Rick Casares – 7 rushes, 53 yards
MIN – Tommy Mason – 11 rushes, 60 yards
Top receivers
CHI – Mike Ditka – 8 receptions, 124 yards, 2 TD
MIN – Ray Poage – 5 receptions, 67 yards :

### Standings

NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Chicago Bears | 11 | 1 | 2 | .917 | 10–1–1 | 301 | 144 | W2 |
| Green Bay Packers | 11 | 2 | 1 | .846 | 9–2–1 | 369 | 206 | W2 |
| Baltimore Colts | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 7–5 | 316 | 285 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 4–7–1 | 326 | 265 | L1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 4–7–1 | 309 | 390 | W1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 210 | 350 | L2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 2 | 12 | 0 | .143 | 1–11 | 198 | 391 | L5 |
       Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Postseason

For the first time, the Vikings had starters in the East–West Pro Bowl, played January 12, 1964, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and won by the West squad. Halfback Tommy Mason, linebacker Rip Hawkins and tackle Grady Alderman each were voted to start on the West team coached by the Chicago Bears' George Halas.
Wide receiver Paul Flatley, who led the team in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, was named as the 1963 Rookie of the Year by the Associated Press (AP), United Press International (UPI) and The Sporting News (TSN).
Halfback Tommy Mason, in his third year, was named first-team All-Pro by the AP, UPI, TSN, the Newspaper Enterprise Association and the New York Daily News.
Middle linebacker Rip Hawkins was named second-team All-Pro by the UPI.

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Fran Tarkenton | 2,311 |
| Passing touchdowns | Fran Tarkenton | 15 |
| Rushing yards | Tommy Mason | 763 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Tommy Mason | 7 |
| Receiving yards | Paul Flatley | 867 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Paul Flatley | 4 |
| Points | Fred Cox | 75 |
| Kickoff return yards | Bill Butler | 713 |
| Punt return yards | Bill Butler | 220 |
| Interceptions | Ed Sharockman | 5 |
| Sacks | Don Hultz, Jim Marshall | 10.5 |
Note that sack totals from 1960 to 1981 are considered unofficial by the NFL.

### League rankings

| Category | Total yards | Yards per game | NFL rank (out of 14) |
| Passing offense | 2,169 | 154.9 | 12th |
| Rushing offense | 1,733 | 123.8 | 4th |
| Total offense | 4,011 | 286.5 | 11th |
| Passing defense | 2,998 | 214.1 | 10th |
| Rushing defense | 1,733 | 123.8 | 7th |
| Total defense | 4,731 | 337.9 | 9th |