![]() ![]() During his tenure with the Vikings, ‘Moose’ was credited with 130.5 sacks, the most in franchise history. After waiting for 25 years, he was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2004. Eller won the Defensive Player of the Year award and was a five-time first-team All-Pro. He was part of the organization until 1978. He played his college ball in Minnesota and then was the Vikings’ first-round pick in 1965. Marshall, Page, and legendary center Mick Tingelhoff were at one point in the 70s the three players with the most consecutive starts in NFL history.Ĭarl Eller was the other defensive end. He was one of the multiple iron men on the roster. He was the leader of one of the most well-known defenses in NFL history and one of the toughest and most durable players of all time. His absence from the Hall of Fame is still something Vikings fans can hardly accept. His 30 recovered fumbles are an NFL record to this day, and the 127 sacks rank him second in franchise history, only trailing Carl Eller. A record he held for a long time until Brett Favre broke it. He played 270 consecutive games for the purple team. He played for the Vikings from 1961, the first season in franchise history, until 1979. Jim Marshall played as a defensive end opposite Carl Eller. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2018. During his playing days, he attended the University of Minnesota Law School and later became a judge at the Minnesota Supreme Court, the first African American to serve on that court. No matter how great he was as a football player, his greatest accomplishments came off the field. The defensive tackle is also a two-time defensive player of the year and a six-time first-team All-Pro. The other one was Page, who did it first. Lawrence Taylor often gets credit for winning the MVP as a defender, one of only two. ![]() Who knows? If Edwards can build on this late-season momentum, 2009 could be a season when there's another Pro Bowl with four Vikings defensive linemen.Alan Page is one of the greatest defensive players in NFL history and probably the greatest in Vikings history. Sunday was just more of Ray Edwards and how he's played." Last game (Arizona), he didn't have a sack, but he got a ball as the defensive player of the game. On Monday, coach Brad Childress confirmed the Falcons' focus on Allen, then added: "Ray has been playing at a good level all year. On Sunday, Edwards benefited from rookie quarterback Matt Ryan rolling in his direction on occasion, and the Falcons using extra blockers to control Allen's blind-side rush. He's tied with Chad Greenway for third on the Vikings with five sacks, behind Allen's 14½ and Kevin Williams' 8½. He had two sacks in Sunday's 24-17 loss to Atlanta. Starting then, he's had 4½ sacks and the Vikings have gone 6-2. Then, Houston and its potent passing attack came into the Metrodome on Nov. He was blanked again the next week in the 48-41 loss in Chicago. He didn't get a sack until Game 6 with Detroit, and that was a half-sack. The prediction turned comedic early in the season. That's one of my goals - to make history." ![]() "It ain't nothing that, 'I'm going to say this to get attention,'" Edwards said. The loquacious Allen is a one-man publicity machine, but Edwards managed to get a headline by predicting he was the guy to break Michael Strahan's single-season sacks record of 22½ in 2001. This sent Edwards to the left side to replace Kenechi Udeze, missing this season after being diagnosed with leukemia. The Vikings brought in Allen - the NFL's most fierce pass rusher from the right side - in a trade with Kansas City. It would have been more, but he was suspended for the final four games for violating the NFL's steroids policy. That puts Ray Edwards in the same company as Larsen after the 1968 season: left-out lineman.Įdwards was in his second season with the Vikings in 2007 and started 11 games. Now, 40 years after the Purple People Eaters were first established, the Vikings have three defensive linemen voted to the NFC's Pro Bowl team: end Jared Allen and tackles Kevin and Pat Williams. And they were always referred to in that manner - with Larsen as the last name in the firm. Page, Eller, Marshall and Larsen started every game together from 1968 through 1973. He became familiar with greatness with the Fearsome Foursome, and then became part of it with the Purple People Eaters. The Rams drafted Larsen in the 10th round. He came back to Concordia as a mature ex-Marine. ![]() He met and married his wife, Wende, while stationed at the El Toro Marine air base in southern California. He went to Concordia College for a season, dropped out and served three years in the Marines. "I was the only reserve lineman behind the original Fearsome Foursome: Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier, Deacon Jones and Lamar Lundy." "I broke into the league with the Rams in 1964," Larsen said. ![]()
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