In between the Vikings playing the Packers and visiting the Falcons, a quarterback who played for all three teams (and the Jets) headlined the Pro Football Hall of Fame's list of 25 semifinalists for the Class of 2016 **announced by the Hall of Fame**Tuesday.
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Mark Craig of the Star Tribune noted that he is **one of five players** with past ties to Minnesota among the group that will be narrowed to 15 Modern-Era Finalists by mail-in ballot in January.
Craig wrote:
*Quarterback Brett Favre, whose illustrious career ended with a two-year stint with the Vikings (2009-10), is one of three first-year eligible candidates. The others are guard Alan Faneca and receiver Terrell Owens. *
Joining those three are kicker [Morten] Andersen, the NFL career scoring leader whose career ended with the Vikings in 2004; long-time 49ers running back Roger Craig, who played for the Vikings in 1992-93; Colts Super Bowl-winning head coach Tony Dungy, who also played quarterback for the Gophers and was a Vikings defensive coordinator; and Broncos linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, a former Gopher.
Chris Tomasson of the Pioneer Press wrote that Favre is a "**shoo-in** **to be enshrined*** *next summer."
*During a career that spanned from 1991-2010, he starred for 16 years with Green Bay and finished his career with the Vikings from 2009-10. *
*Also among the 25 modern-era semifinalists are Tony Dungy, who played at the University of Minnesota and was a Vikings assistant before winning a Super Bowl as Indianapolis' coach in February 2007, and linebacker Karl Mecklenburg, who played for Edina West High School and the Gophers before starring in the NFL with Denver from 1983-94. *
Time to bounce back
Fran Tarkenton's newest book is about learning from losses and bouncing back. The Hall of Famer wrote for the Pioneer Press that the Vikings are able to keep Sunday from defining the rest of the season.
*The Packers are a good team, and they played a great game — about as well as they're capable of playing right now. I don't think the Vikings played poorly; they didn't quit when they fell behind and played hard. Teddy Bridgewater was under pressure all day long, but he still spread the ball around to nine receivers, and Kyle Rudolph had his best game of the season. Hopefully, that's a sign of things to come. *
But coming off a loss is a time for the team's leaders to step up and ****keep everyone focused***. While the Vikings' five-game winning streak is over, we're still in great shape going into our last six weeks. This is still a team aiming for the playoffs, if not the division title, and they still have a rematch with the Packers in Week 17.*
