Interactive Vikings Museum To Open During Training Camp
EAGAN, Minn. (WCCO) -- As the Vikings look toward their future, they're taking fans on a trip down memory lane and paying tribute to the team with a new museum.
The museum has been in the works since 2014, but its story started in 1961, when the Vikings became Minnesota's official football team.
Phil Lindbald, of St. Louis Park, was one of the first to get to tour the museum.
"It's just great to see all of this," Lindbald said.
Lindbald, a longtime fan, is one of the few who has gotten to see it with his own eyes. He donated a piece of a goal post net, which he said has been sitting in his desk since 1981.
"Now it's in a museum," he said.
It's a museum full of relics -- from jerseys of all the players whose numbers are retired to memories of the old "Met" stadium.
It also has a piece of the famously collapsed Metrodome, an ode to this year's "Minneapolis Miracle" and, of course, a space dedicated to former head coach Bud Grant.
"He (Bud) let me look through it all: old photos, newspaper clippings, actual items off shelves," said Erin Swartz, the head of branding and creative for the Vikings.
Vikings staffers scoured his home and found a governor's proclamation of Bud Grant Day.
"I said, 'Bud, can we have this?' And when he came here on Friday and saw it, he said, 'You're right, Erin, this is a much better spot for it,'" Swartz said.
Rookies reported to training camp Tuesday, marking the first official day of the season. Full squad practice is set to start Wednesday.
