| Team: | Minnesota Vikings |
| Year: | 1962 |
| Record: | 2–11–1 |
| Division Place: | 6th NFL Western |
| Coach: | Norm Van Brocklin |
| General Manager: | Bert Rose |
| Stadium: | Metropolitan Stadium |
| Playoffs: | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers: | RB Tommy Mason |
| Uniform: | File:Vikings1962-64.png |
| Shortnavlink: | Vikings seasons |
The 1962 season was the Minnesota Vikings' second in the National Football League. Under head coach Norm Van Brocklin, the team finished with a 2–11–1 record that still stands as the franchise's worst season record in terms of winning percentage, both by today's method of calculation (.179) and the method used at the time (.154), in which ties were not counted as games played. The Vikings have won at least three games in every season since.
See main article: 1962 NFL draft.
| 1962 Minnesota Vikings Draft | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draft order | Player name | Position | College | ||
| Round | Overall | ||||
| 2 | Traded to the New York Giants | ||||
| 2 | 17 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | |||
| 3 | 30 | Miami (FL) | |||
| 4 | 45 | LSU | |||
| 5 | 58 | Traded to the New York Giants | |||
| 6 | 73 | Purdue | |||
| 7 | 86 | Traded to the Philadelphia Eagles | |||
| 8 | 101 | Paul White | Florida | ||
| 9 | 114 | UCLA | |||
| 10 | 129 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | |||
| 11 | 142 | Traded to the Cleveland Browns | |||
| 12 | 157 | Syracuse | |||
| 13 | 170 | Roger Van Cleef | Southwestern State | ||
| 14 | 185 | Patrick Russ | Purdue | ||
| 15 | 198 | Larry Guilford | Pacific | ||
| 16 | 213 | John Contoulis | Connecticut | ||
| 17 | 226 | Ron Staley | Wisconsin | ||
| 18 | 241 | Junior Hawthorne | Kentucky | ||
| 19 | 254 | Tommy Minter | Baylor | ||
| 20 | 269 | Terry Cagaanan | Utah State | ||
Notes
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | August 11 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 24–30 | 0–1 | 22,500 | ||
| 2 | August 18 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 24–33 | 0–2 | 23,544 | ||
| 3 | August 25 | St. Louis Cardinals | L 21–24 | 0–3 | 15,500 | ||
| 4 | September 2 | Baltimore Colts | W 24–13 | 1–3 | Metropolitan Stadium | 27,227 | |
| 5 | September 8 | Dallas Cowboys | W 45–26 | 2–3 | Grady Stadium [2] | 12,500 |
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 16 | at Green Bay Packers | L 7–34 | 0–1 | City Stadium | 38,669 | |
| 2 | September 23 | Baltimore Colts | L 7–34 | 0–2 | Metropolitan Stadium | 30,787 | |
| 3 | September 30 | at San Francisco 49ers | L 7–21 | 0–3 | Kezar Stadium | 38,407 | |
| 4 | October 7 | Chicago Bears | L 0–13 | 0–4 | Metropolitan Stadium | 33,141 | |
| 5 | October 14 | Green Bay Packers | L 21–48 | 0–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 41,475 | |
| 6 | October 21 | at Los Angeles Rams | W 38–14 | 1–5 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 33,071 | |
| 7 | October 28 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 31–21 | 2–5 | Metropolitan Stadium | 30,071 | |
| 8 | November 4 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 31–39 | 2–6 | Forbes Field | 14,462 | |
| 9 | November 11 | at Chicago Bears | L 30–31 | 2–7 | Wrigley Field | 46,984 | |
| 10 | November 18 | Detroit Lions | L 6–17 | 2–8 | Metropolitan Stadium | 31,257 | |
| 11 | November 25 | Los Angeles Rams | T 24–24 | 2–8–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 26,728 | |
| 12 | December 2 | San Francisco 49ers | L 12–35 | 2–9–1 | Metropolitan Stadium | 33,076 | |
| 13 | December 9 | at Detroit Lions | L 23–37 | 2–10–1 | Tiger Stadium | 42,256 | |
| 14 | December 16 | at Baltimore Colts | L 17–42 | 2–11–1 | Memorial Stadium | 53,645 |
Second-year halfback Tommy Mason was the only Viking voted to the East–West Pro Bowl game, played January 13, 1963, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and won by the East 30–20.
| width=150px style="" | Category | width=150px style="" | Player(s) | width=75px style="" | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing yards | 2,595 | ||||
| Passing touchdowns | 22 | ||||
| Rushing yards | 740 | ||||
| Rushing touchdowns | 2 | ||||
| Receiving yards | 603 | ||||
| Receiving touchdowns | 6 | ||||
| Points | 61 | ||||
| Kickoff return yards | 588 | ||||
| Punt return yards | 169 | ||||
| Interceptions | 6 | ||||
| Sacks | Jim Marshall | 9 |
| width=150px style="" | Category | width=100px style="" | Total yards | width=110px style="" | Yards per game | width=80px style="" | NFL rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Passing offense | 2,216 | 158.3 | 11th | ||||
| Rushing offense | 1,864 | 133.1 | 6th | ||||
| Total offense | 4,080 | 291.4 | 12th | ||||
| Passing defense | 3,123 | 223.1 | 11th | ||||
| Rushing defense | 1,978 | 141.3 | 10th | ||||
| Total defense | 5,101 | 364.4 | 12th |