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This is an original watercolor painting of the 1969 Minnesota Vikings uniform.
Click on image to enlarge$450.00 (includes shipping in North America)
This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 1969 Minnesota Vikings white uniform is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Minnesota Vikings uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Minnesota Vikings products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Bill Band for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd.
Some History
In 1967, General Manager Jim Finks brought Harry P. Grant (aka Bud Grant) to Minnesota. Grant brought with him a slew of Grey Cup championships from his days of coaching the Canadian Football League Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and a stoic sideline personality. Originally, the Vikings wanted Grant to be their inaugural skipper back in 61, but were turned down at the time. Now they finally had their man.With Grants help, the mediocre Vikings of the early to mid-60's quickly turned into a team to be reckoned with. In 1968, the Vikings had their first winning season as they went 8-6, and made it to the Western Conference Championship. This 1968 title would be the first of 10 divisional crowns the Vikings would see over the next 11 years!
In 1969, Grants Vikings won all but two games during the regular season, going a league best 12-2. They went on to beat the Rams in come from behind fashion 23-20 in the NFL Western Conference Championship, then shut down the Browns 27-7 in the NFL Championship game.
As mentioned in the 1961 jersey history section, in 1965 the AFL and the NFL agreed to merge. It was decided that beginning in 1970 there would be only one league, the NFL. In the interim, between 1966 and 1969, the AFL Champion would play the NFL Champion for the World Championship. It was only after the first World Championship had been played in 1966 that the name Super Bowl came into being.
Thus it was that in 1969 the Vikings won the NFL Championship, but still had to play the AFL Champs in Super Bowl IV. In their first Super Bowl appearance, things didn't go the Vikes way as the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Vikings 23-7 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.
This 1969 white road jersey strays a bit from the 1962 jersey design. First, the traditional sleeve striping has been moved much higher onto the shoulders giving it a more vertical look. Second, the yellow trim typically surrounding the chest & sleeve numbers has been removed. Third, the team is now wearing white pants, rather than purple. Note the patch on the left shoulder commemorating the NFL 50th anniversary. All NFL teams wore this patch for the 69 season.
Of note: In our research we discovered that the Vikings actually wore two different style road white jerseys in 1969. We have chosen to show this one because they wore it in the Super Bowl. The other white jersey had the NFL 50 patch on the sleeve, below the uniform number.
Speaking of Bud Grant, from his first year in 1967 to 1978, the Vikings won 11 division titles in 14 seasons. They won the NFL championship in 1969 and NFC titles in 1973, 1974 and 1976. Grant retired in 1983 but came back for one year in 1985. He finished with an all-time 168-108-5 record, making him the eighth-winningest NFL coach ever.
