1961 Minnesota Vikings Statistics
National Football League (NFL)
Team Record: 3-11
Finishing 7th in the NFL's West Division
Coach: Norm Van Brocklin (3-11)
Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
1961 Minnesota Vikings RosterTeam Record: 3-11
Finishing 7th in the NFL's West Division
Coach: Norm Van Brocklin (3-11)
Location: Bloomington, Minnesota
1961 Minnesota Vikings Results
The Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League ended the 1961 season with a record of 3 wins and 11 losses, finishing seventh in the NFL's West Division.
The Vikings chalked up 285 points, but the wobbly defensive unit conceded 407, most in the circuit. Hugh McElhenny carried the ball for a team-best 570 yards for Minnesota.
Fran Tarkenton threw for 1,997 yards. Jerry Reichow snagged 50 passes for 859 yards.
The opportunistic defense pounced on 45 turnovers. Rip Hawkins picked off 5 opponent throws.
Norm Van Brocklin coached the team.
Click on column headings to sort.
Passing:
| Player | Att | Comp | Comp % | Yds | Yds/Att | TDs | TD % | Ints | Int % | Long | Rating | Fran Tarkenton | 280 | 157 | 56.1 | 1997 | 7.1 | 18 | 6.4 | 17 | 6.1 | 71 | 74.7 | George Shaw | 91 | 46 | 50.5 | 530 | 5.8 | 4 | 4.4 | 4 | 4.4 | 42 | 64.8 | Jamie Caleb | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 39.6 | Hugh McElhenny | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 39.6 | Tommy Mason | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 9 | 39.6 | Jerry Reichow | 3 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 1 | 33.3 | 0 | 0.0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 377 | 203 | 53.8 | 2527 | 6.7 | 22 | 5.8 | 22 | 5.8 | 71 |
Rushing:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Hugh McElhenny | 120 | 570 | 4.8 | 41 | 3 | Mel Triplett | 80 | 407 | 5.1 | 37 | 1 | Ray Hayes | 73 | 319 | 4.4 | 22 | 2 | Fran Tarkenton | 56 | 308 | 5.5 | 52 | 5 | Tommy Mason | 60 | 226 | 3.8 | 21 | 3 | Doug Mayberry | 13 | 40 | 3.1 | 13 | 0 | George Shaw | 10 | 39 | 3.9 | 19 | 0 | Jamie Caleb | 3 | 11 | 3.7 | 4 | 0 | Jerry Reichow | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 21 | 0 | Mike Mercer | 1 | -32 | -32.0 | -32 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 419 | 1897 | 4.5 | 52 | 14 |
Receiving:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Jerry Reichow | 50 | 859 | 17.2 | 51 | 11 | Hugh McElhenny | 37 | 283 | 7.6 | 26 | 3 | Dave Middleton | 30 | 444 | 14.8 | 57 | 2 | Tommy Mason | 20 | 122 | 6.1 | 18 | 0 | Ray Hayes | 16 | 121 | 7.6 | 22 | 0 | A.D. Williams | 13 | 174 | 13.4 | 49 | 1 | Gordie Smith | 12 | 320 | 26.7 | 71 | 4 | Mel Triplett | 10 | 41 | 4.1 | 15 | 0 | Bob Schnelker | 6 | 70 | 11.7 | 20 | 1 | Dick Haley | 3 | 43 | 14.3 | 22 | 0 | Will Sherman | 2 | 40 | 20.0 | 32 | 0 | Doug Mayberry | 2 | 18 | 9.0 | 13 | 0 | Jamie Caleb | 2 | -8 | -4.0 | 5 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 203 | 2527 | 12.4 | 71 | 22 |
Kicking:
Punting:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | Mike Mercer | 63 | 2458 | 39.0 | 59 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 63 | 2458 | 39.0 | 59 |
Punt Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Hugh McElhenny | 8 | 155 | 19.4 | 81 | 1 | Tommy Mason | 14 | 146 | 10.4 | 23 | 0 | Jamie Caleb | 1 | 8 | 8.0 | 8 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 23 | 309 | 13.4 | 81 | 1 |
Kick Returns:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Tommy Mason | 25 | 603 | 24.1 | 42 | 0 | Jamie Caleb | 22 | 504 | 22.9 | 38 | 0 | Justin Rowland | 8 | 175 | 21.9 | 30 | 0 | Dick Pesonen | 6 | 136 | 22.7 | 60 | 0 | Hugh McElhenny | 2 | 59 | 29.5 | 35 | 0 | Billy Gault | 2 | 41 | 20.5 | 21 | 0 | Mel Triplett | 3 | 41 | 13.7 | 18 | 0 | Jim Leo | 3 | 9 | 3.0 | 9 | 0 | Ray Hayes | 1 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 72 | 1568 | 21.8 | 60 | 0 |
Interceptions:
| Player | No. | Yds | Avg. | Long | TDs | Rip Hawkins | 5 | 70 | 14.0 | 34 | 0 | Clancy Osborne | 4 | 35 | 8.8 | 10 | 0 | Dean Derby | 3 | 73 | 24.3 | 30 | 0 | Jack Morris | 2 | 90 | 45.0 | 65 | 0 | Rich Mostardo | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | 21 | 0 | Charlie Sumner | 2 | 6 | 3.0 | 6 | 0 | Dick Pesonen | 1 | 28 | 28.0 | 28 | 0 | Dick Grecni | 1 | 16 | 16.0 | 16 | 0 | Karl Rubke | 1 | 12 | 12.0 | 12 | 0 | Justin Rowland | 1 | 4 | 4.0 | 4 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 22 | 356 | 16.2 | 65 | 0 |
Defense and Fumbles:
| Player | Tackle | Brup | Fum | FRec | FYds | FTD | FF | Fran Tarkenton | 8 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Marshall | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Grady Alderman | 0 | 3 | 15 | 0 | 0 | Rich Mostardo | 0 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | Charlie Sumner | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Jack Morris | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Clancy Osborne | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ed Culpepper | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dean Derby | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Tommy Mason | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Hugh McElhenny | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | Fred Murphy | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dave Middleton | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ken Petersen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Haley | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jerry Huth | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Bob Schnelker | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Jim Prestel | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | George Shaw | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Gordie Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Dick Pesonen | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Mel Triplett | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Ray Hayes | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Totals | 0 | 0 | 36 | 38 | 37 | 0 | 0 |
Total Scoring:
| Touchdowns | Other | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Rush | Rec | Punt | Kick | MFG | Int | Fum | Other | FG | X/C | Single | 2Pt | Saf | Points | Jerry Reichow | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66 | Mike Mercer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 36 | 0 | 63 | Hugh McElhenny | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42 | Fran Tarkenton | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | Gordie Smith | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | Tommy Mason | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | Dave Middleton | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Ray Hayes | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | Bob Schnelker | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | A.D. Williams | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | Mel Triplett | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Totals | 14 | 22 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 285 |
