Mark Rosen's Top 10 Vikings Memories At The 'Dome'
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Well, it's the end of an era. What better way to pay tribute to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome then to relive some of its greatest moments. WCCO's Mark Rosen counts down his top 10.
10. Let's start at the beginning – Sept. 12, 1982. The Viking's first game is a win over Tampa Bay, and interesting note, a young Mike Grant was helping out on the sidelines, plotting his nine state titles – and counting – as head coach at Eden Prairie High School.
9. Punky QB Jim McMahon won fame and fortune with the Bears but was the Viking's signal caller in 1993. His long pass to Eric Guliford helped set up a last minute field goal to upset the Packers. Even more amazing, that was Guliford's only career reception for the Vikings.
8. Jan. 3,1983 – A Monday Night Football game that was almost delayed because of the roof collapse. The Vikings beat the Cowboys to reach the playoffs but this game will always be remembered for Tony Dorsett's 99-yard touchdown run.
7. The impossible and incomparable Randy Moss bring a touch of the Harlem Globetrotters with a perfect blind over-the-shoulder lateral to Mo Williams for a score before the half during the Vikings' win over the Broncos in 2003.
6. Hershel Walker's debut for the Vikings in a win over the Packers in 1989. On his second carry, Walker rambles for more than 40 yards and even has his shoe take a flying leap. The shoe came down and fans' hopes that Walker would lead the team to the Promised Land never did. But oh, what a media circus it was.
5. We all knew Brett Favre playing for the Vikings was real when the aging gun-slinger showed why he's one of the game's greats. Favre found Greg Lewis with a miracle touchdown with no time on the clock as the Vikings beat the 49ers. We will not, however, talk about how this season ended.
4. Randy Moss, making his debut for the Vikings in 1998 in stunning fashion by taking over the Sept. 6 game against the Buccaneers with a pair of amazing touchdown catches. Randy being Randy wanted to play on that afternoon.
3. Adrian Peterson could have his own Top 10 list. But his record-breaking day on Nov. 4, 2007, will always top his list – 296 yards rushing lead to a win over the Chargers in a day that will never be forgotten.
2. Yeah, the heartbreaking 1999 NFC Title game lost to the Falcons – a game the Vikings should've won easily, considering its 15-1 regular season record. Kicker Gary Anderson was perfect all year until this fateful miss that gave Atlanta an open door that led to the upset win.
1. The Vikings' dream of a Super Bowl title has been deflated year after year – but the 2010 roof collapse gave us stunning footage like we've never seen before. It was the Dome's fourth collapse in its history. The next one will be intentional – that one's coming in a few weeks, marking the end of an era that most of us are ready to part with.
