# 1964 Minnesota Vikings season

The 1964 season was the Minnesota Vikings' fourth in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with an 8–5–1 record for their first winning season and a franchise-best until 1969. They tied with the Green Bay Packers for second place in the Western conference, who gained the berth in the third-place Playoff Bowl in Miami 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.
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

* Pro Bowler
* Hall of Famer
1964 Minnesota Vikings Draft :
| Draft order | Draft order | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| Round | Selection | Player name | Position | College | Notes |
| 1 | 6 | Carl Eller | Defensive tackle | Minnesota | |
| 2 | 19 | Hal Bedsole | Wide receiver | USC | |
| 3 | 34 | George Rose | Running back | Auburn | |
| 4 | 47 | Traded to the Chicago Bears | Traded to the Chicago Bears | Traded to the Chicago Bears | |
| 4 | 53 | Tom Keating | Defensive tackle | Michigan | from Giants |
| 5 | 62 | John Kirby | Linebacker | Nebraska | |
| 6 | 75 | Bob Lacey | Wide receiver | North Carolina | |
| 7 | 90 | Wes Bryant | Defensive tackle | Arkansas | |
| 8 | 103 | Bill McWatters | Fullback | North Texas State | |
| 9 | 118 | Darrell Lester | Fullback | McNeese State | |
| 10 | 131 | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | Traded to the Los Angeles Rams | |
| 11 | 146 | H. O. Estes | Guard | East Central State | |
| 12 | 159 | Sandy Sands | Wide receiver | Texas | |
| 13 | 174 | Russ Vollmer | Running back | Memphis State | |
| 14 | 187 | Tom Michel | Running back | East Carolina | |
| 15 | 202 | Monte Kiffin | Defensive tackle | Nebraska | |
| 16 | 215 | Carleton Oats | Wide receiver | Florida A&M | |
| 17 | 230 | Jerry McClurg | Wide receiver | Colorado | |
| 18 | 243 | Carl Robinson | Defensive tackle | Prairie View A&M | |
| 19 | 258 | Dick Schott | Wide receiver | Louisville | |
| 20 | 271 | Milt Sunde | Offensive tackle | Minnesota | |
Notes
* ↑ The Vikings traded their fourth-round selection (47th overall) to the Bears in exchange for RB Bill Brown.
* ↑ The Vikings traded RB Hugh McElhenny to the Giants in exchange for a fourth-round selection (53rd overall) and a 1965 second-round selection (15th overall).
* ↑ The Vikings traded their 10th-round selection (131st overall) to the Rams in exchange for RB Tommy Wilson.

## Preseason

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | August 8 | New York Giants | W 21–7 | 1–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 31,581 |
| 2 | August 15 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 24–10 | 2–0 | Cheney Stadium (Atlanta, GA) | 10,000 |
| 3 | August 22 | San Francisco 49ers | W 24–21 | 3–0 | Ute Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT) | 20,207 |
| 4 | August 29 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 34–23 | 4–0 | L.A. Memorial Coliseum | 39,938 |
| 5 | September 5 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 21–20 | 5–0 | Hershey Stadium (Hershey, PA) | 9,212 |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Game | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 13 | Baltimore Colts | W 34–24 | 1–0 | Metropolitan Stadium | 35,563 | Recap |
| 2 | September 20 | Chicago Bears | L 28–34 | 1–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 41,387 | Recap |
| 3 | September 27 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 13–22 | 1–2 | L.A. Memorial Coliseum | 50,009 | Recap |
| 4 | October 4 | at Green Bay Packers | W 24–23 | 2–2 | City Stadium | 42,327 | Recap |
| 5 | October 11 | Detroit Lions | L 20–24 | 2–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,840 | Recap |
| 6 | October 18 | Pittsburgh Steelers | W 30–10 | 3–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 39,873 | Recap |
| 7 | October 25 | at San Francisco 49ers | W 27–22 | 4–3 | Kezar Stadium | 31,845 | Recap |
| 8 | November 1 | Green Bay Packers | L 13–42 | 4–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 44,278 | Recap |
| 9 | November 8 | San Francisco 49ers | W 24–7 | 5–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 40,408 | Recap |
| 10 | November 15 | at Baltimore Colts | L 14–17 | 5–5 | Memorial Stadium | 60,213 | Recap |
| 11 | November 22 | at Detroit Lions | T 23–23 | 5–5–1 | Tiger Stadium | 48,291 | Recap |
| 12 | November 29 | Los Angeles Rams | W 34–13 | 6–5–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 31,677 | Recap |
| 13 | December 6 | at New York Giants | W 30–21 | 7–5–1 | Yankee Stadium | 62,802 | Recap |
| 14 | December 13 | at Chicago Bears | W 41–14 | 8–5–1 | Wrigley Field | 46,486 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||||

### Game summaries
#### Week 7: vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Vikings defeated the 49ers 27–22 on October 25 in San Francisco at Kezar Stadium, 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 caught a pass from rookie quarterback George Mira 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 had scooped up the loose ball and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Just before that, Viking linebacker Roy Winston 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 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

NFL Western Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Baltimore Colts | 12 | 2 | 0 | .857 | 10–2 | 428 | 225 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 6–5–1 | 342 | 245 | T1 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 8 | 5 | 1 | .615 | 6–5–1 | 355 | 296 | W3 |
| Detroit Lions | 7 | 5 | 2 | .583 | 6–4–2 | 280 | 260 | W2 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 5 | 7 | 2 | .417 | 3–7–2 | 283 | 339 | T1 |
| Chicago Bears | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 260 | 379 | L2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 4 | 10 | 0 | .286 | 3–9 | 236 | 330 | L1 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.
* ↑ Green Bay was awarded the Playoff Bowl berth from the Western Conference by outscoring Minnesota 65–37 in their two meetings.
NFL Eastern Conference :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| Cleveland Browns | 10 | 3 | 1 | .769 | 9–2–1 | 415 | 293 | W1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 9 | 3 | 2 | .750 | 8–2–2 | 357 | 331 | W4 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 6–6 | 312 | 313 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6 | 8 | 0 | .429 | 5–7 | 307 | 305 | L2 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 4–7–1 | 250 | 289 | W1 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 5–7 | 253 | 315 | L1 |
| New York Giants | 2 | 10 | 2 | .167 | 2–8–2 | 241 | 399 | L4 |
    Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

## Statistics
### Team leaders

| Category | Player(s) | Value |
| Passing yards | Fran Tarkenton | 2,506 |
| Passing touchdowns | Fran Tarkenton | 22 |
| Rushing yards | Bill Brown | 866 |
| Rushing touchdowns | Bill Brown | 7 |
| Receiving yards | Bill Brown | 703 |
| Receiving touchdowns | Bill Brown | 9 |
| Points | Fred Cox | 103 |
| Kickoff return yards | Bill Butler | 597 |
| Punt return yards | Bill Butler | 156 |
| Interceptions | George Rose | 6 |
| Sacks | Jim Marshall | 11.5 |
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 | 2,123 | 151.6 | 11th |
| Rushing offense | 2,183 | 155.9 | 2nd |
| Total offense | 4,306 | 307.6 | 6th |
| Passing defense | 2,724 | 194.6 | 13th |
| Rushing defense | 1,616 | 115.4 | 5th |
| Total defense | 4,340 | 310.0 | 10th |