You know about Cris Carter, Randy Moss, and Jake Reed. You know about Randall Cunningham, Brad Johnson, and the quarterback carousel. And you’re probably familiar with Gary Anderson‘s miss. But Luke Braun does a masterful job explaining how it all came together, starting in 1992.
It all starts in Middletown, Oh. and makes a stop in Rand, W.V. Braun tells the story of how a team that was hemorrhaging money avoided a move out of town. Ownership made the significant decision to take a chance on Dennis Green, who in turn took chances on players other teams would not touch. Ultimately, it’s the tale of how a team full of players with chips on their shoulders came oh-so-close to glory.
It’s another must-see installment of Braun’s documentary on the history of the Minnesota Vikings.
Here’s Luke:
Part five might just be the one you’ve been waiting for. We’ll go over the majority of the ‘90s, the QB carousel from McMahon to Moon to Cunningham, Cris Carter and Randy Moss, and of course, Denny Green tying it all together.
This was a fun era of Vikings football on the field, and most people remember it as “those years where the team just threw bombs downfield all the time.” I think it makes a lot of younger fans pine for more deep passing, even when looking at teams like the recent Zimmer squads that were built more on ball control and defense. But it was so much more than that. To me, the 1990s Vikings, and specifically Green’s Vikings, were a place for people to discover better versions of themselves. Where people got opportunities to prove what they could be, because Green saw that in you. He didn’t see what you were today, he saw what you could be tomorrow. And because of that, so many people had their lives changed — even saved — by the Minnesota Vikings.
Please join Luke on his Patreon page to support more in-depth content like this to keep it ad-free and paywall-free. You’ll be able to find the entire documentary series there.
*Some more details on Randy Moss’s encounter with Libby Offutt, his girlfriend at the time, courtesy of Sports Illustrated:
…Moss became embroiled in a violent argument with his former girlfriend Libby Offutt. The couple had only recently broken up. It was mid-afternoon, and Moss was returning their two-year-old daughter, Sydney, to Offutt at her parents’ house in St. Albans, W.Va. Moss pulled up in his new girlfriend’s car, and he and Offutt began to fight. By the time they were through, according to the police report, Offutt had abrasions around her neck and minor cuts and bruises on her arm. She said Moss had repeatedly shoved her and forced her to sit down. She also told police that Moss “threw steaming hot water” on her, according to the report. Moss’ gold necklace was found to be broken. He and Offutt were each arrested on misdemeanor charges of domestic battery.
“She just ticked me off, and it got out of hand,” Moss said. “The only thing I regret was I put my hands on her. I don’t put my hands on a woman. But I had to apply some pressure to get her off of me. I still love her. I didn’t want nothing like that to happen. But that’s life, I guess.”