We asked, you answered: Your favorite moments from 999 Minnesota Vikings games

Saturday's game against the Indianapolis Colts will be the Vikings' 1,000th regular-season or postseason game. The Star Tribune asked readers to tell us about their favorite Vikings games from 62 seasons that spanned three home stadiums, four Super Bowls and countless highlights and heartbreaks. Here are excerpts from their responses, where certain teams and certain players made frequent appearances.

Sept. 28, 1969: Vikings 52, Baltimore Colts 14

The 1969 season was the most represented among reader responses. Game No. 115 featured an NFL record for touchdown passes, which Vikings quarterback Joe Kapp shares with seven others, including Hall of Famers Sid Luckman, George Blanda, Y.A. Tittle and Peyton Manning.

Joe Kapp threw seven TD passes. I was 8 years old and it was the first Vikings game my parents took me to. They had season tickets, still do, but every Sunday they would be in the kitchen early, getting ready to go to the game. I didn't understand at the time why they were always mulling spices on the stove and preparing a thermos full of something I wasn't allowed to drink.

The game was awesome. So much energy and excitement. But what I remember most was that I missed almost every TD. You see at the age of 8, when everyone stood up to see the play, I couldn't see anything and by the time I got on top of my seat to look (bench seating), the play was pretty well over. But that team has remained one of my favorite across many leagues and sports, and I am a die-hard Vikings fan to this day as is most of my family.

Wiley Bartine
Los Angeles

Jan. 4, 1970: Vikings 27, Cleveland 7

Game No. 129 topped the week before as the Vikings played the Browns at Met Stadium for the NFL championship and a spot in the Super Bowl against the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs.

It was a cold day, maybe 10 degrees. A friend and I walked over to the stadium from his apartment before the game so we were cold even before the game started. We had seats in the first row on the third-base side right behind the end zone. With time left on the clock, the fans rushed the field and so did I. They had to clear the field to finish the game. I ended by the Cleveland bench as they had heaters. Walt Johnson, Cleveland's defensive tackle, was by one of the heaters with his hands basically frozen.Vikings' first NFL championship and I was there. P.S. Our schnapps were consumed long before the first half ended.

John Breyfogle
Minnetonka

Jan. 12, 1975: Steelers 16, Vikings 6

In Game No. 208, the 12-5 Vikings faced the 12-3-1 Steelers in Super Bowl IX at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.

I was 9 years old. I laid out all of my Vikings bubble gum cards in front of our 19-inch RCA XL-100 color television set. It was Solid State. I wore my #10 Fran Tarkenton polyester football jersey. I prayed the prayers of the devout.

The Vikings still lost their third Super Bowl. I cried.

I haven't shed a tear for my beloved Purple since that day.

The Vikings have taught me more about the inevitable nature of human suffering than any Sunday School teacher or Lutheran preacher could ever provide.

The Miracle at the Met and the Minneapolis Miracle come in a distant second and third.

Rev. Mark R. Olson
Bagley

Dec. 26, 1976: Vikings 24, L.A. Rams 13

In Game No. 239, the 11-2-1 Vikings played the 10-3-1 Rams at Metropolitan Stadium for a spot in their fourth Super Bowl.

1976 NFC championship. Rams rolled down the field and decided to kick a field goal on fourth and inches. Chuck Knox decided to play it safe with the field goal. Nate Allen blocked the kick and it bounced perfectly to Bobby Bryant, who ran for a touchdown. Instead of Rams 3-0, it was Vikes 7-0. Still gives me goose bumps. I heard the call on the radio by Joe McConnell.

Tim Knippenberg
Minneapolis

Dec. 4, 1977: Vikings 28, 49ers 27

In Game No. 252, the 7-4 Vikings, with Bob Lee starting at quarterback for an injured Fran Tarkenton, played 5-6 San Francisco at Met Stadium. The Vikings were trailing 24-7 entering the fourth quarter, when Bud Grant sent a rookie QB into the game.

A bitterly cold and windy game against the 49ers. December 4, 1977. We sat in the bleachers on the "Visitor" side of the old Met. My friend Ralph and I took my son, Tad, who was only 9, and our neighbor Keith, 20, to the game. We wore our snowmobile suits and had sleeping bags to wrap around us. Windchill of below zero, which blew at all directions in those bleachers. Keith had incurable cancer, and was delighted to go to his first Viking game. The game was terrible. The Vikes could do nothing, and were behind by over two touchdowns as we went into the fourth quarter.

Then Tommy Kramer came in. The stands had emptied out because of the game and the poor performance of the Vikes. But we stayed. Then Tommy wound up and led the Vikings to three fourth-quarter touchdowns, to win the game! The few of us left in the stands cheered wildly. Keith passed only a few months later, in 1978, but every time I saw him we talked of Tommy Kramer and the comeback victory.

Hon. Gary J. Meyer (ret.)
Dundas, Minn.

Dec. 14, 1980: Vikings 28, Browns 23

Game No. 304 featured another Tommy Kramer-led comeback that would become known as the Miracle at the Met.

The Vikings played a game in which Ahmad Rashad caught a game-winning pass on the last play of the game. There was a camera on top of the stands at Metropolitan Stadium, and it was shaking from the way the fans were erupting. Bud Grant said the camera was shaking from the 150,000 fans who were going to say they were at the game.

Joe Stuntebeck
Minneapolis

Jan. 3, 1988: Vikings 44, Saints 10

In Game No. 413, the 8-7 Vikings were underdogs to the 12-3 Saints in a wild-card playoff game at the Superdome.

It was an unexpected victory that featured a breakout game by Anthony Carter and Hail Mary before halftime with Hassan Jones. I had only been a fan for a couple of years and wasn't aware of playoff football. Furthermore, football wasn't a priority, so my parents drug us shopping in St. Cloud at Crossroads Mall. I managed to see AC's TD Return, and the Hassan Jones catch while milling around the Dayton's electronics department.

Adam Brisk
Duluth

Jan. 9, 1988: Vikings 36, 49ers 24

In Game No. 414, the Vikings stunned the favored 49ers at Candlestick Park as Anthony Carter had 227 receiving yards to set a team record that still stands.

I'm a Minnesota native, it was my senior year of high school, and I watched at my buddy's place with a bunch of friends. The team had shocked New Orleans the prior week, and had no business beating the 49ers, who were the No. 1 seed and Team of the 1980s. They were at the height of their capabilities, with Joe Montana and Bill Walsh leading the way, and the game was not nearly as close as the score. It was the first time the Vikings were that close to the Super Bowl since 1976. They of course lost to Washington in the NFC Championship on Darrin Nelson's dropped ball the following week, but I'll never forget the complete joy and astonishment of that win over the 49ers.

Rich Effress
La Jolla, Calif.

Oct. 5, 1998: Vikings 37, Packers 24

In Game No. 589, rookie receiver Randy Moss had five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns on a Monday night at Lambeau Field, where the reigning champion Packers had not lost a regular-season game in three years. Both teams were 4-0, and the win was the harbinger of the 15-1 season that would end in the NFC Championship Game.

The Randy Moss "coming out party" on MNF on October 5, 1998, in Green Bay. This Vikings win ended Green Bay's long home winning streak and was a changing of the guard in the NFC North that year. It was a drizzly night and I was there with my brother (Vikings fan) and my dad and father-in-law (both Packer fans). I still remember this game very fondly! Interesting drive home, though.

Terry Helget
Sleepy Eye

My friend and I had gone to both Viking games [in Lambeau] the previous two years and sat in the same seats. The Vikings lost both those games, and each game we were harassed by all the Packer fans sitting around us. This was the Randy Moss coming-out party. It was raining the whole time, but I had never enjoyed a game more. A lot of those Packers fans started leaving in the third quarter, but we stayed until the final whistle and just soaked it all in. I've had Viking season tickets since 1992 and have seen a lot of great games at the Dome and U.S. Bank Stadium. But nothing could beat this rainy night in Lambeau.

Dale Okray
Stevens Point, Wis.

Sept. 27, 2009: Vikings 27, 49ers 24

Game No. 772 was Brett Favre's third game as a Viking but his first at his new home, the Metrodome. The Vikings trailed San Francisco 26-24 at the 49ers 32 with 12 seconds left and, as Paul Allen said on KFAN that night, "Oh my heavens!" This was the most mentioned game among the reader responses.

The Vikings were 2-0, having beaten two mediocre teams. We weren't ready to jump on the bandwagon yet. Sure enough in game three, we were losing to SF with time left for only one play. In the old Packer days, Favre would do something magical and pull it out. But now he was washed up and kind of sad.

My seats were in the second row behind the Viking bench, with the end zone to the right. So just throw the dang ball down the field, get this over, and we will be 2-1. I don't know how he somehow ducked that defensive lineman. He then just heaved that ball downfield, probably with his eyes closed.

And some guy whose name I can never remember— [Greg] Lewis — caught it. From where I sat his feet touched the chalk. But all the Vikings were running down the field towards him. Fools, I thought. The refs will rule him out of bounds. After all, this is Minnesota.

But no, it counted. And there was Favre flat on the ground slowly getting up. A resurrection. He did it, Favre did it, by God he did it! And then he got up from the turf, brushed himself off, looked around with amusement with an expression saying, why is everybody so surprised?

I was a 45-year-old man and tears were just streaming down my cheeks. The next day I went out and bought a #4 purple jersey. The bandwagon never looked better.

Jim McCormick
Maple Grove

It has to be the Favre-to-Lewis game against San Fran in 2009. I was at the game and with about 90 seconds left people started leaving the Metrodome, but I was screaming, "This is Brett Favre! We're going to win this!" When Favre threw that pass, the whole season shifted and the place went absolutely crazy. I can't recall ever having a feeling like that at a sporting event and it's why we watch, hope, dream, and endure. Moments like that can get you through some long seasons.

Nick Reid
Rapid City, S.D.

Jan. 14, 2018: Vikings 29, Saints 24

Game No. 918 was another "Miracle," this one courtesy of Case Keenum and Stefon Diggs against New Orleans at U.S. Bank Stadium in the divisional round of the playoffs.

I was in the stadium when the Minneapolis Miracle happened. The place went nuts, yet the evening was not over, even though the clock had expired. Everyone in the stands stayed and was celebrating. To top it all off, the crowd broke into karaoke when they played Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" on the loudspeakers.

Laurie Naughton
Coon Rapids

The Minneapolis Miracle. We (my wife, girls, grandpa and grandma) were on vacation in Puerto Vallarta. Watching the game at a hotel pool bar with other Vikings fans in Spanish subtitles. In any language, the most amazing finish to a game you could see. Lots of friends made that afternoon in the warm sun.

Todd Hauer
Lakeville

I still remember jumping up and down and screaming and hugging my dad as we watched Diggs run towards the end zone. That was such a special moment. Even though we came up short that year, I'll always have that moment with my dad.

Lincoln Currie
Cedar Rapids, Iowa