3 strangest players to ever play in an Vikings jersey

1. Archie Manning

The Manning name is synonymous with brothers Peyton and Eli dominating the league. However, it started with Archie Manning way back in the 70s and 80s. Archie Manning was the second-overall pick of the New Orleans Saints in 1971. He was the only good thing about that team for a decade. He worked his magic and even made the Pro Bowl a couple of times. However, he was never going to win in New Orleans.

So, Manning went to another team. The Houston Oilers needed a quarterback after moving on from Ken Stabler (now that’s a one-two punch of strange). Manning was terrible in Houston, going 0-8 in his first year and throwing for eight touchdowns and 14 interceptions. It clearly didn’t work, and he was traded to the Minnesota Vikings in the middle of the 1983 season.

He was mostly a backup that season. Then, he started a couple of games for the Vikings in his last season. He averaged 5.8 yards per attempt. Again, he went 0-2.

After 13 years in the NFL, Manning finished his career with zero playoff games played. It’s an unfortunate situation, but it’s rare a player even gets the opportunity to play this long without playoff success. It’s wild that Manning was given the opportunity with the Vikings. He made his move, but it didn’t work out.