The worst college drafts in Minnesota Vikings history

Through the annual college draft the Minnesota Vikings selected some great players who went on to be selected to the NFL Hall of Fame (Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Ron Yary, Alan Page, Chris Doleman, Randall McDaniel) as well as many other players in both the early and late rounds of the draft who made major contributions to the team's success through the years.

However, there were many drafts where the Vikings selected mediocre players who contributed little, and led to losing seasons. Many of these drafts came under head coaches Dennis Green and Brad Childress, neither of whom was skilled in evaluating talent.

There were other drafts where Minnesota got virtually nothing from their picks. These are the worst drafts in team history, and are listed below.

10) 1990 - Running back Terry Allen had a couple of good seasons. The other players didn't make the team or were around only for a year or two. The team's scouts and coaches at this time had no idea what they were doing.

9) 1996 - Running back Moe Williams contributed a little bit. The remaining picks were total busts. Head coach Dennis Green was clueless.

8) 2000 - Pretty much a waste. Does anyone know what was going on in Coach Dennis Green's mind? An executive from a rival team commented, "I think the Vikings were drunk" while conducting this draft.

7) 2001 - Another Dennis Green disaster. Running back Michael Bennett had one good year, other than that, most draftees didn't even make the team.

6) 1963 - Wide receiver Paul Flatley had a few good seasons. None of the others made any impact, if they made the team at all.

5) 1971 - Safety Jeff Wright, taken in the 15th round, turned out to be a good player. The others were never heard from again.

4) 1966 - Running back Jim Lindsey stuck as a backup for seven years. Other than that, zero contributions from this group.

3) 2004 - Pretty much zero contributions from this draft class. Not sure what the Vikings scouts were thinking. I would imagine most are now in a different profession.

2) 2005 - Literally nothing from this group. Troy Williamson at number one was one of the team's worst first round picks ever, along with defensive end Erasmus James. Both are examples of scouts falling in love with athletic ability and ignoring whether or not the guy can play football.

1) 1989 - What a disaster. Not one player was with the team for longer than a year. Then Vikings executive Mike Lynn was a total moron when it came to football.

NFL offcials contributed to Vikings' loss on Sunday

No doubt that the Minnesota Vikings did not play well enough to win their game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. And of course the Seahawks are hardly pushovers; they're a pretty good team, better than their record indicates.

Still, the game officials made a number of questionable calls that hurt the Vikings chances for a win.  When a referee calls a defensive holding penalty on a cornerback who was run into by a receiver; when an offensive lineman is penalized for holding when he barely touches a defensive player; and when your defensive end is called for roughing the passer when it clearly was not roughing, like what happened to the Vikings' Brian Robison, well, that's a problem. Are they going to let these guys play football, or not?

The league needs to tell their officials to ease up on calling thse minor penalties. It's making the game boring and maling the NFL look silly.

NFL Owners Get What They Deserve with Replacement Referees

I Don't Feel Bad for the Green Bay Packers….The (mostly) men who own professional sports teams are certainly a group of odd ducks. It makes one wonder how they managed to make billions of dollars in their chosen professions, before they owned a team (unless you did nothing - just inherited your money, like the late George Steinbrenner).

Here we have the illustrious National Football League, a ten billion dollar business in itself, and the Scrooge-like owners refuse to part with an additional three million dollar contribution to the referees' pension fund.

Being a game official for a sport at any level is a difficult job, and of course even experienced NFL referees make mistakes. But not as many as the replacement refs have made in only three weeks of the new season.

Why would you degrade your product like this? NFL owners are a clueless bunch. Keeping experienced referees is an important part of pro football, so the billionaires need to be a little less tight-fisted and break the piggy bank. Time to take a .025 decrease in your profit this year boys. I know it's tough but I think you can handle it.

Even Green Bay Packer fan and anti-union Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wants to bring back the unionized officials. Hmm, I guess this is what happens when you settle for less qualified employees, eh, Scotty?

Congratulations to Former Vikings Defensive End Chris Doleman, Although Jim Marshall Also Deserves to Be in the Hall of Fame

Congratulations to former Minnesota Vikings defensive end Chris Doleman on his recent election into the NFL Hall of Fame. However, there's another Viking end who deserved to be enshrined in Canton before Doleman - and before John Randle as well, who was another great defensive lineman for the Vikings in the 1990's.

Jim Marshall manned right defensive end for the Minnesota Vikings from 1961 through 1979, starting 270 consecutive games, plus 19 post-season games. A two time Pro Bowl selection, Marshall was a member of the Vikings' Purple People Eaters, the front four that led a dominant defense from 1968-1977. Two of the group's players, Alan Page and Carl Eller, are already in the Hall of Fame. Marshall is the Vikings' record holder in fumble recoveries with 29. He is second in team history with 127 quarterback sacks, and fourth in tackles for loss with 74.

The Vikings went to four Super Bowls during Marshall's career. How many Super Bowls did the Vikings reach during Doleman's ten years with the team? Zero.

It's way past time to stop holding the Vikings' Super Bowl losses against great players like Marshall. He had an outstanding career and contributed to winning teams. Based on his accomplishments he deserves to be a member of the NFL Hall of Fame. Wake up, voters!