View Vikings-related imagery from the Senior Bowl museum.
MOBILE, Ala. — Part of the history of the Senior Bowl, enacted over the past 65 years and counting, is encapsulated in a museum a short walk west on Dauphin Street from where participating players and coaches are staying this week.
Photos of former longtime Vikings and Pro Football Hall of Famers, safety Paul Krause and guard Randall McDaniel, are on display in the museum because they are members of the game's All-Time Roster.
Krause played in the 1964 Senior Bowl before his selection by Washington in the second round. He joined the Vikings in 1968 and intercepted passes in six consecutive games. Krause has the NFL lead for career interceptions with 81 and played for the Vikings until 1979, one of 11 players to appear in all four of Minnesota's trips to the Super Bowl. Krause was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame the following year.
McDaniel played in the 1988 Senior Bowl before being drafted in the first round by Minnesota, where he played until 1999 before two seasons with Tampa Bay. McDaniel set an NFL record with 12 straight trips to the Pro Bowl. McDaniel was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009 and to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 1999.
The museum also has photos on display of three other players who spent parts of their careers with the Vikings: kicker Morten Andersen and quarterbacks Brett Favre and Donovan McNabb.
Andersen, who played in the 1982 game, was inducted to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 1991, the year that Favre played in the game. Favre was inducted to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2000, a year after McNabb, his successor with the Vikings, played in the game. McNabb was inducted to the Senior Bowl Hall of Fame in 2012.
There's a solid chance at least one player who has convened on the Gulf Coast for practices, interviews with teams and Saturday's all-star game will wind up with the Vikings via the 2015 NFL Draft (April 30-May) or as an undrafted free agent in less than 100 days because, in part, of an impression made in Mobile.
