A choice that might surprise you
Throughout the course of their history, the Minnesota Vikings have had no shortage of offensive talent. As we get closer to the start of Training Camp and we’re continuing to look to engage with our community, we want to ask all of you who you believe is the greatest offensive player in the history of the franchise.
I’m sure we’ll see a lot of the usual suspects on this list: Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Adrian Peterson, Fran Tarkenton, and maybe even Justin Jefferson (though it might be a bit early for that at this point). But for my choice, I’m going in a slightly different direction.
When the Minnesota Vikings selected Randall McDaniel with the 19th pick in the 1988 NFL Draft, they figured that they were getting themselves a good player. But what McDaniel managed to do during his eleven seasons in Minnesota is awfully impressive, regardless of his pedigree coming in.
McDaniel started 188 of the 190 games he played in a Vikings uniform, including his last 171 regular season games in a row after missing a couple of games early in the 1989 season. He was named to the Pro Bowl in nine straight seasons with the Vikings, back when being a Pro Bowler actually sort of meant something. He had nine consecutive seasons where he was named a First or Second-Team All-Pro during his time with the Vikings, with seven of those nods being First-Team awards.
Randall McDaniel was one of the greatest offensive linemen in the history of the National Football League, and spent his career as the best in the league for the entire time he wore the purple and gold. Sure, his name might not immediately come to mind when discussing the greatest offensive players in team history because there aren’t any real stats to point at or anything, but there may not have been a more dominant offensive player to ever wear the uniform.
But that’s my opinion, of course. We want to know who you think the greatest offensive player in Vikings’ history was. Let us know in the comments section!