This is the final installment of our series looking at Super Bowl appearances by the Minnesota Vikings.
However, due to popular demand (well, one person asked about it) plans are underway for a Super Bowl Sunday newsletter looking at the history of the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland-Los Angeles-Anaheim-St. Louis-Los Angeles Rams.
Super Bowl XI
The fourth and most recent appearance for the Vikings in the big game was Super Bowl XI vs. the Oakland Raiders on Jan. 9, 1977 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
Minnesota was 11-2-1 during the regular season, which was the best record in the NFC.
The Vikings played to a 10-10 tie with the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2, lost 14-13 at Chicago in Week 8 and lost 20-16 in a Monday night game at San Francisco in Week 12. Minnesota was home for both of its NFC playoff games, beating Washington 35-20 and the Rams 24-13.
For Bud Grant’s team, it was their third appearance in the big game in four years and fourth in eight.
Oakland was 13-1, with the lone loss being 48-17 at New England in Week 3. In the playoffs, the Raiders avenged the loss to the Patriots 24-21 and then defeated Pittsburgh 24-7.
Oakland was in the Super Bowl for the second time, having lost to Green Bay 33-14 in Super Bowl II.
Fran Tarkenton, who turned 82 this past Thursday, would be the Vikings’ starting quarterback in the big game for the third time in five years since returning to Minnesota from the Giants.
During Tarkenton’s time in New York, his QB counterpart was Joe Namath, who guaranteed his Jets would beat Baltimore in Super Bowl III and then delivered a shocking 16-7 victory in Miami.
He didn’t get the attention Broadway Joe Namath did eight years earlier, but Tarkenton basically guaranteed a win over the Raiders.
“We want the whole world to know this time we're going to win the Super Bowl,” Tarkeneton said. “There's an obsession with this team to win this game.”
When asked his reaction to Fran’s remark, Oakland coach John Madden said, “I guess if both sides guarantee a victory, they've got to play the game.”
Oakland gained 429 yards, including a Super Bowl record 288 yards in the first half on its way to beating Minnesota.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Raiders scored on three straight possessions in the second for a 16-0 halftime lead.
Oakland also had two fourth quarter interceptions, including cornerback Willie Brown's 75-yard return for a touchdown.
Oakland wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff, who had four catches for 79 yards that set up three Raider touchdowns and was named the Super Bowl's Most Valuable Player. Among wide receivers who have won the Super Bowl MVP, Biletnikoff is the only one to not have gained 100 yards.
Sammy White and Stu Voigt caught TD passes for the Vikings. White caught an eight-yard scoring pass from Tarkenton and Voigt caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from backup Bob Lee.
Future Hall of Famers in Super Bowl XI:
Minnesota Vikings
Carl Eller
Paul Krause
Alan Page
Fran Tarkenton
Mick Tinglehoff
Ron Yary
Coach Bud Grant
Oakland Raiders
Fred Biletnikoff
Willie Brown
Dave Casper
Ray Guy
Ted Hendricks
Art Shell
Ken Stabler
Gene Upshaw
Coach John Madden
Owner Al Davis
Broadcast
NBC telecast the game with Curt Gowdy doing play by play and Don Meredith on commentary. Lee Leonard and Bryant Gumbel hosted the pregame show.
Jim Simpson and John Brodie called the game on NBC Radio.
No anthem
For the only time in the history of the Super Bowl, the only time the "Star Spangled Banner" was not performed before a Super Bowl game.
Instead, Vikki Carr sang "America the Beautiful."
Halftime
The halftime show featured the Mouseketeers.
Fun facts
After John Madden’s death on Dec. 28, Bud Grant as the only living coach from the first 14 Super Bowls. (That’s not necessarily fun, but it is a fact).
The Vikings’ loss left the franchise with an 0–4 Super Bowl record under Grant, even though in the same eight-season span their regular season record was 87–24–1, which was the best in the NFL.
This was the first Super Bowl game to match both conferences’ No. 1 seeds.
The Raiders were the first West Division team from either conference to reach a post-merger Super Bowl.
It was the last Super Bowl to finish under daylight.
The local kickoff time was 12:47 p.m. Pacific Time, the earliest in Super Bowl history. It was two minutes earlier than Super Bowl VII at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1973.
Played on Jan. 9, the game marked the earliest Super Bowl played during the calendar year.
The game was the last where both teams’ placekickers (Minnesota's Fred Cox and Oakland's Errol Mann) used the straight-on style.
Tark hosts SNL
Tarkenton would host Saturday Night Live three weeks after the Super Bowl and poked some fun and himself and his teammates during his monologue.
“Now, I want everyone to know — especially you Vikings fans out there — that the Vikings aren’t dead yet,” he said. “We’re a team built on pride and discipline. And, next July, we’re going back to Mankato, Minnesota — we’re gonna work harder than ever. We’re gonna put on those bonnets and purple jerseys, and strap those little shoulder pads on, and I guarantee ya’ that… we’ll BE in that Super Bowl next season! And I predict… we’ll lose again.”
Writing Tarkenton’s jokes on that show was Al Franken, who would later be a Senator from Minnesota.
Tarkenton, who was the first athlete to host the show, attempted to sing the song "Feelings" only to be replaced by Garrett Morris.
A running gag throughout this episode involved several sketches being played out like a football game, with John Belushi acting as coach, complete with a Vikings jacket and Bud Grant-style headset in one.
That was the 37th show in the series. Last week’s episode was No. 921 for SNL.
During his playing career, Tarkenton made an uncredited appearance in the 1970 film M*A*S*H.
Several other NFL players also had uncredited roles in the movie, including the only other quarterback to lead the Vikings to a Super Bowl, Joe Kapp.
Other acting credits for Tarkenton include playing a sportscaster on Hill Street Blues on NBC in 1981 and a play-by-play announcer on the first season of HBO’s 1st & Ten in 1984-1985.
He was an analyst on ABC’s Monday Night Football from 1979-1982 and a co-host (along with Cathy Lee Crosby and John Davidson) of That's Incredible! on ABC from 1980-1984.
Here’s a segment Tarkenton did on That's Incredible! featuring a five-year-old golf phenom named Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.
No. 1 TV show
The No. 1 TV show in the country at the time of Super Bowl XI was ABC’s ‘Happy Days’
On the show, Mrs. Cunningham was played by Marion Ross. As a child she lived with her family in several cities in Minnesota, Watertown, Waconia, Willmar, Albert Lea and Minneapolis.
In 2008, the Albert Lea Civic Center was renamed the Marion Ross Performing Arts Center.
Ross, now 93, was in Albert Lea last summer for the dedication of a statue outside the MRPAC.
No. 1 movie
There was also a Minnesota connection in the No. 1 movie that week, “King Kong.”
Jessica Lange, who was born in Cloquet and graduated from high school there, made her movie debut as she played Dwan. At the time she was a New York fashion model with no prior acting experience.
Meryl Streep has said that she was considered for the role of Dwan, but was deemed too unattractive by producer Dino De Laurentiis. The role was also proposed to Barbra Streisand, but she turned it down.
No. 1 song
The top song in the U.S. on that Super Bowl Sunday was ‘You Don’t Have to Be a Star’ by Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. There does not appear to be a Minnesota connection to the song.