On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings play their final preseason game as they will be in Denver to play the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Kickoff is at 8 p.m.
It will be the second straight year the teams have met in the preseason and the 14th overall.
Preseason games have lost some of their relevance in recent years as starters play very little if at all, but that certainly was not the case in 1967.
That was the first season that National Football League teams played American Football League teams in preseason contests.
The AFL was founded in 1959, played its first games in 1960 and had merged with the NFL in 1966. However, the leagues would not begin regular season play as common opponents until 1970.
The Green Bay Packers had defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10 on Jan. 15, 1967 in Los Angeles in the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game, which would retroactively be called Super Bowl I.
National media proclaimed that it would be years before the AFL teams would be competitive with NFL squads. That gave AFL teams motivation for the exhibition games, which were deemed largely meaningless by their NFL brethren.
The leagues then scheduled 16 exhibition games in 1967, starting on Aug. 5 with the Broncos upending the Detroit Lions 13-7 at Denver University Stadium.
There were two more interleague games the next week with the Baltimore Colts defeating the Boston Patriots 33-3 in Cambridge, Mass. and Detroit winning 19-17 over the Buffalo Bills in Detroit. That was one of only two games hosted by the NFL team.
Minnesota opened its exhibition season under first-year head coach Bud Grant with a 34-0 win over the Eagles in Tulsa.
Denver also had a first-year head coach, Lou Saban. The Broncos were 1-1. They had dropped their opener to the Miami Dolphins 19-2 in Akron, Ohio on July 29.
Denver played its home games at Bears Stadium, which was named after the city's minor-league baseball team. The Bears were at home on Aug. 18, so the Broncos and Vikings had to schedule their game at Hilltop Stadium at Denver University.
The game attracted a sellout crowd of 31,850. Denver would defeat Minnesota 14-9.
The Vikings would go 2-4 that exhibition season (yes, they scheduled six preseason games then and teams in the Hall of Fame Game would actually play seven. The NFL is now down to three preseason contests).
After the loss to the Broncos, the Vikings lost 21-3 to the New York Giants in New Haven, Conn. on Aug. 27.
On Sept. 2, Minnesota defeated the Atlanta Falcons 16-3 as part of an NFL doubleheader in Cleveland. The Browns lost to the Green Bay Packers 30-21 in the nightcap.
The Vikings then closed out the exhibition season with a 42-14 loss to the Browns at Metropolitan Stadium on Sept. 10.
Minnesota would compile a 3-8-3 record during the regular season.
The Vikings would then go 8-6 and win the NFL Central Division title in 1968 for the team's first playoff appearance.
Grant would retire as the eighth-most successful coach in NFL history with a record of 161-99-5. In his tenure, Minnesota won 11 division titles, one NFL championship and three NFC titles.
Denver would finish the 1967 preseason with a 4-2 record and then went 3-11 during the regular season.
Notable
The Vikings are 0-2 in the preseason, losing to Las Vegas 26-20 and San Francisco 17-7.
The Broncos are 1-1, beating Dallas 17-7 and losing Buffalo 42-15.
Neither team is likely to play many starters. Minnesota had 27 players sit out last week vs. the 49ers while the Broncos sat 28 players against the Bills.
Kirk Cousins hasn’t played in the preseason. Kellen Mond and Sean Mannion have split all quarterback snaps in the first two preseason games. Mond was was 10-for-20 with two interceptions against the 49ers. Mannion hasn’t thrown a touchdown or an interception in the preseason.
Russell Wilson’s first game action in a Denver uniform will likely not be until the Broncos’ regular season opener at his former team, Seattle. Brett Rypien is expected to start against the Vikings, with Josh Johnson playing the second half.
Defensive lineman T.Y. McGill Jr. leads the NFL with 3.5 sacks through two preseason games.
The Vikings defense has held opponents to 4.47 yards per play, third in the NFL.
Minnesota is averaging 4.83 yards per rush in the preseason, which is sixth.
The first time
What was happening the first time the Vikings and Broncos player a preseason game on Aug. 18, 1967? Glad you asked.
No. 1 song
The top song in the country was Light My Fire by The Doors. It was its third and final week in the top spot.
No. 1 movie
Spending its only week as the top movie in the country was Barefoot in the Park featuring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.
Preseason meetings
Vikings lead series 7-6
08-18-1967: Denver Broncos 14, Minnesota Vikings 9
08-17-1968: Minnesota Vikings 39, Denver Broncos 16
08-09-1969: Minnesota Vikings 26, Denver Broncos 6
09-04-1971: Denver Broncos 14, Minnesota Vikings 7
08-10-1974: Denver Broncos 27, Minnesota Vikings 21
09-05-1976: Denver Broncos 30, Minnesota Vikings 17
08-28-1982: Denver Broncos 27, Minnesota Vikings 17
08-26-1983: Minnesota Vikings 34, Denver Broncos 3
08-30-1985: Minnesota Vikings 13, Denver Broncos 9
08-16-1986: Minnesota Vikings 29, Denver Broncos 27
09-01-1987: Minnesota Vikings 27, Denver Broncos 17
08-11-2018: Minnesota Vikings 42, Denver Broncos 28
08-14-2021: Denver Broncos 33, Minnesota Vikings 6