Minnesota Vikings Hall of Fame Waits
Minnesota Vikings legendary defensive end Jim Marshall has been waiting for a Pro Football Hall of Fame call (knock) for decades. With Wednesday’s announcement that he’d missed the cut to 12 Senior finalists, his long Hall wait grows to another year. Marshall has been eligible since 1985. His only year as a finalist (2004) was his final year as a modern-era candidate. Now, he’s stuck in the very deep Senior pool of candidates. Marshall is the former Vikings player many fans point to as most deserving of a Hall of Fame bust. While I’d love to see Marshall in Canton, I see Chuck Foreman and Joey Browner as bigger Hall snubs. Foreman has been waiting since 1986. Browner has been waiting since 1998. Neither has received even Marshall-level attention from the Hall of Fame voters.
Every NFL team fanbase has a player snubbed by the Hall of Fame voters. Every NFL team fanbase feels that the voters hate them. Picking the Hall of Famers is a tough job. The league has been around since 1920. Every decade of it’s existence has players that are deserving of a bust in Canton. Personally, I think that the voters should start with the 1920s, work their way through the years and begin cleaning up the mess that they’ve made. There are many deserving players that have been waiting 20 years longer than Marshall. Anyway, this is about the Hall of Fame waits of Minnesota Vikings players.
Hall of Fame Waits: Years as a Finalist
1st year:
Randy Moss (2018)
2nd year:
Alan Page (1988)
Randall McDaniel (2009)
John Randle (2010)
Chris Doleman (2012)
3rd year:
Fran Tarkenton (1986)
Paul Krause (1998)
Steve Hutchinson (2020)
4th year:
Bud Grant (1994)
5th year:
Gary Zimmerman (2008)
6th year:
Ron Yary (2001)
Cris Carter (2013)
13th year:
Carl Eller (2004)
Jim Finks made the Hall of Fame in his only year as a finalist (1995). While deserving as an impactful general manager for turning around three teams, the Hall voters might’ve been feeling a bit sentimental after his passing in 1994. His immediate induction felt a little early.
Mick Tingelhoff made the Hall of Fame in his only year as a finalist (2015). He made it as a senior player 37 years after he retired. It’s ridiculous that he’d never even been a finalist before 2015. His long wait was a true injustice. He should’ve stood on the Canton stage long before his health started fading.
Randy Moss is the only Vikings player that made it in his first year of eligibility. Adrian Peterson should be the second in 2027. I’m sure that Fran Tarkenton and Alan Page would’ve made it in their first year with the current quick-twitch voters. Still, it’s more than a little surprising that the league’s all-time leading passer had to wait two years and one of only two defensive players to take home an MVP had to wait one year.
Hall of Fame Waits: Years after Retirement:
Three Years:
Jim Finks
Six Years:
Randy Moss
Seven Years:
Alan Page
John Randle
Eight Years:
Randall McDaniel
Fran Tarkenton
Steve Hutchinson
Nine Years:
Bud Grant
Gary Zimmerman
Eleven Years:
Cris Carter
Thirteen Years:
Chris Doleman
Nineteen Years:
Paul Krause
Ron Yary
Twenty-five Years:
Carl Eller
Thirty-seven Years:
Mick Tingelhoff
37 years!
Cris Carter, Chris Doleman, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Carl Eller, and Mick Tingelhoff should not have seen double-digit year waits. I get that Carter was stuck in a receiver logjam that still exists but no receiver ever caught a football as well. Catching a football is pretty important for a receiver and he was the best to ever do it. His six-year wait was excruciating. It felt like 20 to me. It probably felt like 50 to him. I still can’t believe the ridiculously long waits of Krause, Yary, Eller, and Tingelhoff. Krause’s 81 career interceptions is as near an unbeatable record as there is. Yary and Eller have the All-Pro and All-Decade honors of peers that had Hall waits about a quarter as long. If Eller hadn’t made it in his final year as a modern-era candidate, he might still be waiting in the endless Senior pool. It’s crazy that he was a finalist 13 of his 25 years as a modern-era candidate and didn’t make it until his final year of eligibility. Tingelhoff was the center equal of peers Jim Ringo and Jim Otto. Ringo was inducted in 1981. Otto was inducted in 1980. 35 years later, Tingelhoff joined them.
If the Vikings had won even one of their four Super Bowls, Tarkenton, Page, and Grant are in Canton in their first year of eligibility. The waits of Krause, Yary, Eller, and Tingelhoff are cut considerably. Jim Marshall and Chuck Foreman probably aren’t still waiting. Winning titles do matter to voters.
The Hall of Fame Wait continues for:
Jim Marshall
Chuck Foreman
Jared Allen
Kevin Williams
Every NFL team fanbase has a player snubbed by the Hall of Fame voters. Every NFL team fanbase feels that the voters hate them. Picking the Hall of Famers is a tough job. The league has been around since 1920. Every decade of it’s existence has players that are deserving of a bust in Canton. Personally, I think that the voters should start with the 1920s, work their way through the years and begin cleaning up the mess that they’ve made. There are many deserving players that have been waiting 20 years longer than Marshall. Anyway, this is about the Hall of Fame waits of Minnesota Vikings players.
Hall of Fame Waits: Years as a Finalist
1st year:
Randy Moss (2018)
2nd year:
Alan Page (1988)
Randall McDaniel (2009)
John Randle (2010)
Chris Doleman (2012)
3rd year:
Fran Tarkenton (1986)
Paul Krause (1998)
Steve Hutchinson (2020)
4th year:
Bud Grant (1994)
5th year:
Gary Zimmerman (2008)
6th year:
Ron Yary (2001)
Cris Carter (2013)
13th year:
Carl Eller (2004)
Jim Finks made the Hall of Fame in his only year as a finalist (1995). While deserving as an impactful general manager for turning around three teams, the Hall voters might’ve been feeling a bit sentimental after his passing in 1994. His immediate induction felt a little early.
Mick Tingelhoff made the Hall of Fame in his only year as a finalist (2015). He made it as a senior player 37 years after he retired. It’s ridiculous that he’d never even been a finalist before 2015. His long wait was a true injustice. He should’ve stood on the Canton stage long before his health started fading.
Randy Moss is the only Vikings player that made it in his first year of eligibility. Adrian Peterson should be the second in 2027. I’m sure that Fran Tarkenton and Alan Page would’ve made it in their first year with the current quick-twitch voters. Still, it’s more than a little surprising that the league’s all-time leading passer had to wait two years and one of only two defensive players to take home an MVP had to wait one year.
Hall of Fame Waits: Years after Retirement:
Three Years:
Jim Finks
Six Years:
Randy Moss
Seven Years:
Alan Page
John Randle
Eight Years:
Randall McDaniel
Fran Tarkenton
Steve Hutchinson
Nine Years:
Bud Grant
Gary Zimmerman
Eleven Years:
Cris Carter
Thirteen Years:
Chris Doleman
Nineteen Years:
Paul Krause
Ron Yary
Twenty-five Years:
Carl Eller
Thirty-seven Years:
Mick Tingelhoff
37 years!
Cris Carter, Chris Doleman, Paul Krause, Ron Yary, Carl Eller, and Mick Tingelhoff should not have seen double-digit year waits. I get that Carter was stuck in a receiver logjam that still exists but no receiver ever caught a football as well. Catching a football is pretty important for a receiver and he was the best to ever do it. His six-year wait was excruciating. It felt like 20 to me. It probably felt like 50 to him. I still can’t believe the ridiculously long waits of Krause, Yary, Eller, and Tingelhoff. Krause’s 81 career interceptions is as near an unbeatable record as there is. Yary and Eller have the All-Pro and All-Decade honors of peers that had Hall waits about a quarter as long. If Eller hadn’t made it in his final year as a modern-era candidate, he might still be waiting in the endless Senior pool. It’s crazy that he was a finalist 13 of his 25 years as a modern-era candidate and didn’t make it until his final year of eligibility. Tingelhoff was the center equal of peers Jim Ringo and Jim Otto. Ringo was inducted in 1981. Otto was inducted in 1980. 35 years later, Tingelhoff joined them.
If the Vikings had won even one of their four Super Bowls, Tarkenton, Page, and Grant are in Canton in their first year of eligibility. The waits of Krause, Yary, Eller, and Tingelhoff are cut considerably. Jim Marshall and Chuck Foreman probably aren’t still waiting. Winning titles do matter to voters.
The Hall of Fame Wait continues for:
Jim Marshall
Chuck Foreman
Jared Allen
Kevin Williams
