Randy Moss is soon to become the 14th player who spent the majority of his career with the Vikings to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
But arguments can also be made for other Vikings Legends not yet honored in Canton.
NFL.com's Adam Rank recently took a look at each NFL team and opined its respective **“best all-time non-Hall of Fame player.”**
For the Vikings, Rank highlighted defensive end Jim Marshall, who started 270 consecutive games in Purple. Marshall ranks second in Vikings history with 127 sacks, having led or tied the team lead in each of the Vikings first six seasons. He also holds an NFL and franchise record with 29 career fumble recoveries.
Another former Viking appeared on Rank's list, but for his performance with another team. Quarterback Randall Cunningham played for the Eagles from 1985-95 before his three seasons with the Vikings, including the history 15-1 run in 1998. Rank wrote:
*Man, I would argue Cunningham was one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. He was, unfortunately, too far ahead of the game. *
For the Vikings NFC North rivals, Rank pointed to former Lions receiver Herman Moore (1991-2001), who set a receptions record in 1995 that stood until 2002, former Bears quarterback Jim McMahon (1982-88) and former Packers receiver Donald Driver (1999-2012).
Hartman on Downing, Vikings recent-most coaching hire
The newest Vikings hire, Senior Offensive Assistant Todd Downing, is new to the team but quite familiar with Minnesota.
Downing, the Raiders offensive coordinator during the 2017 season, played quarterback at Eden Prairie High School under Mike Grant, son of Hall of Fame Head Coach Bud Grant.
Sid Hartman of the *Star Tribune ***spoke with Mike Grant about Downing**, who coached at Eden Prairie after he graduated from the University of Minnesota and then worked as an intern with the Vikings in 2001.
"He's a really, really smart guy that was doing different things and then started helping out with the coaching when [former Vikings Head Coach] Mike Tice was there," Grant told Hartman. "He was just willing to do the work."
Hartman wrote:
Downing's first official coaching position came with the Vikings in 2005 as an offensive quality-control coach.
[…]
Downing joined the Detroit Lions staff in 2009 as an offensive quality-control coach and was a quarterbacks coach from 2010 to 2013, then held the same position with the Buffalo Bills in 2014. He then jumped to the Raiders, where he really made his mark working with Derek Carr as a quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator from 2015 to 2017 and helped Carr be named to three consecutive Pro Bowls.
"[Downing] has had a great career. He has been doing it a long time now," Grant told Hartman. "He has worked his way up from being an assistant ninth-grade B coach to an offensive coordinator in the NFL and now with the Vikings, and I think it's a great hire. A smart guy that has worked hard to get where he's at. We're awfully proud of him that he has gotten himself to this point where he's one of the better young coaches in the league."
Dennis Green among 10 inductees to Pennsylvania Sports HOF
Former Vikings Head Coach Dennis Green, who passed away in July of 2016, **is among 10 inductees** into the 52nd annual Hall of Fame Class for the Capital Area Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.
Eric F. Epler of PennLive.com wrote that Green will be honored alongside pro golfer Debbie Eckroth and former *Patriot News *writer Rod Frisco in addition to the following:
Joining the distinguished Class of 2018 is longtime NFL assistant coach Jim Anderson, Olympic field hockey player Laurel Hershey Martin, Lower Dauphin athletic director Dave Bitting, former Middletown wrestler and coach Earl Bright III and Susquehanna Twp. basketball great and Harlem Globetrotter Clarence Smith.
Michael Horrocks and longtime coach and administrator Randy Umberger also will be inducted.
The induction ceremony will take place on June 9.
