| 1961 NFL expansion draft | |
| Sport: | American football |
| Date: | January 26, 1961 |
| League: | NFL |
| Prev: | 1960 |
| Next: | 1966 |
| Expansion Teams: | Minnesota Vikings |
| Expansion Season: | 1961 |
The 1961 NFL expansion draft was a National Football League (NFL) draft in which a new expansion team, named the Minnesota Vikings, selected its first players.[1] That selection was provided by the expansion draft, held on January 26, 1961.
In August 1959, a group of Minneapolis businessmen were awarded a franchise in the new American Football League (AFL).[2] In January 1960, they forfeited their AFL membership and were awarded a 90% stake in the 14th franchise of the NFL (the other 10%, under a decades-old agreement, went to former Duluth Kelleys/Eskimos owner Ole Haugsrud).[2] Though the ownership group had participated in the 1960 American Football League draft before jumping leagues to the NFL, they did not take any of the players they selected in that draft with them. As such, they entered the 1961 draft with an empty roster. So that the Vikings could become competitive with existing teams, the league awarded the Vikings the first pick in the 1961 NFL draft and gave them the opportunity to select current players from existing teams. In the expansion draft, the existing franchises listed players from which the Vikings could select to switch to the new team.[3]
Every existing NFL team except the Dallas Cowboys listed eight of its 38 players, and the Vikings selected three players on the list from each team.
| width=25% style=";" | Player ! | width=25% style=";" | Position ! | width=25% style=";" | College Team ! | width=25% style=";" | Original NFL Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guard | Detroit | Detroit Lions | |||||
| Halfback | Purdue | Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Tackle | Notre Dame | Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Defensive tackle | Texas A&M | Green Bay Packers | |||||
| Defensive tackle | North Texas State | Chicago Bears | |||||
| Tackle | Nebraska | New York Giants | |||||
| Defensive tackle | Alabama | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||
| Flanker | Washington State | Los Angeles Rams | |||||
| Defensive back | Pittsburgh | Washington Redskins | |||||
| Guard | Wake Forest | Philadelphia Eagles | |||||
| Guard | Penn State | Los Angeles Rams | |||||
| Defensive back | Cincinnati | Philadelphia Eagles | |||||
| Defensive end | Tulane | Baltimore Colts | |||||
| End | Florida State | New York Giants | |||||
| Center | Iowa | Philadelphia Eagles | |||||
| Halfback | Washington | San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| End | Auburn | Detroit Lions | |||||
| Defensive back | Oregon | Pittsburgh Steelers | |||||
| Defensive back | Kent State | Cleveland Browns | |||||
| End | Georgia Tech | Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Linebacker | Arizona State | San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Defensive back | Minnesota-Duluth | Green Bay Packers | |||||
| Guard | Indiana | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||
| Split end | Detroit | St. Louis Cardinals | |||||
| Linebacker | Bradley | Washington Redskins | |||||
| Linebacker | USC | San Francisco 49ers | |||||
| Tackle | Purdue | Cleveland Browns | |||||
| Fullback | Kentucky | Chicago Bears | |||||
| Defensive tackle | Tennessee | Baltimore Colts | |||||
| Linebacker | Auburn | Baltimore Colts | |||||
| Linebacker | Wisconsin | Los Angeles Rams | |||||
| Guard | San Francisco | Washington Redskins | |||||
| Defensive back | William & Mary | Chicago Bears | |||||
| Defensive back | Indiana | Detroit Lions | |||||
| Halfback | North Carolina Central | Green Bay Packers | |||||
| Tackle | Minnesota | New York Giants | |||||