The 2000 season was the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

' 40th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). They won the

NFC Central The National Football Conference – Northern Division or NFC North is one of the four divisions of the National Football Conference (NFC) in the National Football League (NFL). Nicknamed the "Black and Blue Division" for the rough and tough ri ...

division title with an 11–5 record and beat the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the divisional round of the playoffs before losing 41–0 to the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

in the NFC Championship Game. After not retaining either Randall Cunningham or Jeff George, the team was led by first-year starting quarterback

Daunte Culpepper Daunte Rachard Culpepper (born January 28, 1977) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at UCF and was selected ...

and running back Robert Smith, who ran for a then team record 1,521 yards and seven touchdowns. The Vikings started out 7–0 and were 11–2 after 14 weeks, but slumped briefly, losing their last three to the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

and

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

while Culpepper was hampered by injury. Despite the rough patch, the Vikings would return to the playoffs again for the fifth straight year. After easily beating the

Saints In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual res ...

in the Divisional game 34–16, they were defeated 41–0 by the

in the Conference Championship, and to top that, Robert Smith retired at the end of the year, after only playing eight NFL seasons. It would be 2004 before the Vikings returned to the playoffs. After a contract dispute, Hall of Fame defensive tackle

John Randle John Anthony Randle (born December 12, 1967) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for the Minnesota Vikings and the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL). He was a six-time first-tea ...

was let go after 11 seasons with the Vikings. Randle had only eight sacks this year, ending a streak of eight consecutive seasons with 10+ sacks. Seven Vikings including Culpepper, Moss, Carter, Smith,

Korey Stringer Korey Damont Stringer (May 8, 1974 – August 1, 2001) was an American professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football at the Ohio State University and wa ...

Robert Griffith Robert Otis "Griff" Griffith (born November 30, 1970) is a former American football strong safety in the National Football League. He played 13 seasons in the league, mostly for the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 2001. He also played three sea ...

and

Matt Birk Matthew Robert Birk (born July 23, 1976) is a former American football center who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He spent most of his professional career playing for the Minnesota Vikings. He was the Republican nom ...

were selected to play in the Pro Bowl after the season. It was Stringer's only Pro Bowl appearance before his death in 2001.

Offseason

2000 Draft

: During the

1999 NFL Draft The 1999 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 17–18, 1999, at the Theater at M ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

traded their

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

first-round selection (11th overall), 1999 third-round selection (73rd overall) and 2000 second-round selection (56th overall) to Minnesota in exchange for QB Brad Johnson. : The details of these trades are unknown but may involve

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

's acquisition of OL

Everett Lindsay Everett Eric Lindsay (born September 18, 1970) is a former American college and professional football player who was a guard in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He played college football for the University of Mississippi, ...

from Minnesota. :

received this selection as compensation for

restricted free agent A restricted free agent (RFA) is a type of free agent in the National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL), or National Basketball Association (NBA). Such players have special restrictions on the terms under which they can retain ...

Brad Badger Bradley Thomas Badger (born January 11, 1975) is a former American football guard and tackle. He was originally drafted by the Washington Redskins in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL Draft. He played college football at Stanford University. H ...

. : Minnesota traded their seventh-round selection (232nd overall) to

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

for DT

Jerry Ball Jerry Ball Jr. (born December 15, 1964) is a former professional American football defensive lineman in the National Football League (NFL) who played primarily as a nose tackle. He played professionally for the Detroit Lions, the Cleveland Browns ...

Undrafted free agents

Preseason

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 2: at San Diego Chargers

Week 3: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week 4: at Indianapolis Colts

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 3: at New England Patriots

Week 5: at Detroit Lions

Week 6: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 7: at Chicago Bears

Week 8: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 9: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 10: at Green Bay Packers

Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers

Week 13: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 14: vs. Detroit Lions

Week 15: at St. Louis Rams

Week 16: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week 17: at Indianapolis Colts

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

Game summaries

NFC Divisional Playoffs: vs (#3) New Orleans Saints

NFC Championship Game: vs (#1) New York Giants

Statistics

Team leaders

League rankings

Staff

Roster

Awards and records

*Gary Anderson, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Week 8 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing, New York, NY, , p. 202 *Mitch Berger, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Week 14 *Mitch Berger, NFC Special Teams Player of the Month, December *

Cris Carter Graduel Christopher Darin Carter (born November 25, 1965) is an American former American football, football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Philadelphia Eagles (1987–1989), the Minnesota Vikings (1990� ...

, All-NFL Team (as selected by the Associated Press, Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America) *Cris Carter, NFC Pro Bowl Selection *

, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 6 *Daunte Culpepper, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 12 *Chris Hovan, PFW/Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team *

Randy Moss Randy Gene Moss (born February 13, 1977) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, Oakland Raiders, New England Patriots, Tennessee ...

, All-NFL Team (as selected by the Associated Press, Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America) *Randy Moss, PFW/PFWA All-Pro Team *Robert Smith, NFC Offensive Player of the Month, December

40-year team

The Vikings named an all-time team in 2000 in recognition of the franchise's 40th year in the NFL. *Offense **WR:

Ahmad Rashad Ahmad Rashad (born Robert Earl Moore; November 19, 1949) is an American sportscaster and former professional football player. He was the fourth overall selection of the 1972 NFL Draft, taken by the St. Louis Cardinals. He was known as Bobby Moor ...

**T:

Ron Yary Anthony Ronald Yary (born July 16, 1946) is an American former professional football player who played as an offensive tackle primarily for the Minnesota Vikings and also for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League (NFL). He was ...

Tim Irwin Timothy Edward Irwin (born December 13, 1958) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at Tennessee and played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 years. Most of his professional career was with the M ...

**G: Ed White,

Randall McDaniel Randall Cornell McDaniel (born December 19, 1964) is an American former football player who played as a guard in the National Football League (NFL). Early career McDaniel played high school football and ran track at Agua Fria High School in Avo ...

**C:

Mick Tingelhoff Henry Michael Tingelhoff (May 22, 1940 – September 11, 2021) was an American professional American football, football player who was a Center (gridiron football), center for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 196 ...

**TE:

Steve Jordan Steve, Stephen, or Steven Jordan may refer to: Music * Steve Jordan (guitarist) (1919–1993), American jazz guitarist * Steve Jordan (drummer) (born 1957), American drummer, studio musician * Steve Jordan (accordionist) (born Esteban Jordan) (1939 ...

**QB:

Fran Tarkenton Francis Asbury Tarkenton (born February 3, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Minnesota Vikings. He played college football at ...

**RB:

Chuck Foreman Walter Eugene "Chuck" Foreman (born October 26, 1950) is a former American football running back who played for the Minnesota Vikings and the New England Patriots in the National Football League. Considered one of the best passing-catching backs ...

, Robert Smith **K:

Fred Cox Frederick William Cox (December 11, 1938 – November 20, 2019) was an American professional football player who was a kicker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings. After playing college football for P ...

**ST: Bill Brown *Defense **DE: Jim Marshall,

Carl Eller Carl Eller (born January 25, 1942) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL) from 1964 through 1979. He was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina and played college football ...

**DT:

Alan Page Alan Cedric Page (born August 7, 1945) is an American retired judge and former professional football He gained national recognition as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) during 15 seasons with the Minnesota Vikings an ...

**LB:

Jeff Siemon Jeffrey Glenn Siemon (born June 2, 1950) is a former professional American football player and an inductee in the College Football Hall of Fame. A middle linebacker, he played eleven seasons in the National Football League (NFL), all with the M ...

Matt Blair Albert Matthew Blair (September 20, 1950 – October 22, 2020) was an American professional football player who was an outside linebacker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) for all 12 seasons of his career from 1974 ...

Scott Studwell John Scott Studwell (born August 27, 1954) is a former professional American football player. He was nicknamed "Stud". College Studwell graduated from the University of Illinois, where he starred as a linebacker. He left Illinois ranked second ...

**S:

Paul Krause Paul James Krause (born February 19, 1942) is a former American football safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). Gifted with a great frame, speed and range, Krause established himself as a defensive force against opposing wide ...

Joey Browner Joey Matthew Browner (born May 15, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings from 1983 to 1991 and for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1992. Browner pl ...

**CB:

Bobby Bryant Bobby Bryant (born January 24, 1944) is a former cornerback for the Minnesota Vikings. Early life At Willingham High School, he was a star in football along with basketball, track and field, and baseball. Bryant was recruited to play for the Un ...

, Carl Lee **P:

Greg Coleman Gregory Jerome Coleman (born September 9, 1954) is a former American football punter who had a 12-year career in the National Football League playing for the Cleveland Browns, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Washington Redskins. He attended Flo ...

**RS:

Darrin Nelson Darrin Milo Nelson (born January 2, 1959) is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Stanford University. Early years Nelson att ...

*Head coach:

Bud Grant Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and player of American football, Canadian football, and a former player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Grant served as the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2000 Minnesota Vikings Season Minnesota Vikings seasons

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

NFC Central championship seasons