With the passing of former Vikings coach Denny Green, current and former NFL players have been paying their respects.
On Saturday Pro FootballTalk.com pointed out that regardless the quarterback Green had at his arsenal, he always got the most from his signal callers.
Dennis Green's success with any quarterback may be his greatest legacy https://t.co/iF3ufMRYAM
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) July 23, 2016
Whether it was veterans who appeared to be over-the-hill, players with little or no experience and even first-round picks, Green got the most out all of them. Check out these players under Green’s tutelage that helped the Viking make the playoffs.
- 1992: Rich Gannon and Sean Salisbury. Gannon had a great career after leaving Minnesota but when he was with the Vikings, nobody saw him as starting QB and Salisbury had flat-out awful statistics with every other team but he produced solid numbers and Minnesota made the playoffs.
- 1993: Jim McMahon. McMahon won a Super Bowl with Chicago in ’85 but was 34-years old when he came to Minnesota and nobody thought he had anything left in the tank but he still guided the Vikings to the playoffs.
- 1994; 1996: Warren Moon and Brad Johnson. Similar to McMahon, many believed Moon was past his prime, yet he threw over 4000 yards in ’94 and the Vikings found themselves in the playoffs again.
- Moon was injured before the ’96 season and despite Johnson being on the roster for four-years, he had never started a game but went 4-0 as a starter. After Moon regained his health, Minnesota was in the playoffs once again.
- 1997: Johnson and Randall Cunningham. Johnson started the season as the teams QB but Cunningham stepped in and led Minnesota to a playoff win over San Francisco. Cunningham wasn’t even in the league the year before.
- 1998: Johnson and Cunningham. Any Vikings fan can tell you about the memorable ’98 season. The team went 15-1 and set an NFL record for points in a season. The team is considered one of the best ever to not win a Super Bowl.
- Johnson began the epic the season as Minnesota’s starter but he was replaced by Cunningham and he threw 34 touchdowns despite only starting 14 games.
- 1999: Cunningham and Jeff George. Despite a career year in ’98, Cunningham lost his job for George who had his best professional season, helping the Vikings to a playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys.
- 2000: Daunte Culpepper: Culpepper was the Vikings’ first-round pick in ’99 and was given the reigns in 2000, starting all 16 games, throwing 33 touchdowns; leading Minnesota to the NFC Championship game.
