<P> On January 27, 1984, Bud Grant retired as head coach of the Vikings . With a career regular - season record of 151--87--5 (. 632) in 17 seasons with Minnesota, Grant led the franchise to 12 playoff appearances, 11 division titles, and four Super Bowls . Les Steckel, who was an offensive assistant with the Vikings for 5 seasons, was then named the 3rd head coach in franchise history . Steckel, who came to the Vikings in 1979 after working as an assistant with the 49ers, was the youngest head coach in the NFL in 1984 at age 38 . However, the Vikings lost a franchise - worst 13 games . After the season Steckel was fired, and on December 18, 1984, Bud Grant came out of retirement and was rehired as the head coach of the Vikings . </P> <P> On January 6, 1986, following the 1985 season, Bud Grant re-retired, this time permanently, as head coach of the Vikings . At the time of his retirement he was the 6th winningest coach in NFL history with 168 career wins, including playoffs . In 18 seasons, he led the Vikings to a 158--96--5 regular season record . Longtime Vikings assistant coach Jerry Burns was named the fourth head coach in team history on January 7, 1986 . He served as the Vikings' offensive coordinator from 1968 to 1985, when the team won 11 division titles and played in four Super Bowls . In his first season, the Vikings, led by the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Tommy Kramer, went 9--7, their first winning record in four years . On August 2, 1986, Fran Tarkenton was the first player who played the majority of his career with the Vikings to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame . </P> <P> Following the strike - shortened 1987 season, the 8--7 Vikings, who had finished 8--4 in regular games but 0--3 using strike - replacement players, pulled two upsets in the playoffs . They defeated the 12--3 New Orleans Saints 44--10 at the Louisiana Superdome in the Wild Card game . The following week, in the Divisional Playoff game, they beat the 13--2 San Francisco 49ers 36--24 at Candlestick Park . During that game, Anthony Carter set the all - time record for most receiving yards in a playoff game with 227 yards . The Vikings played the Washington Redskins in the NFC Championship Game on January 17, 1988, at RFK Stadium . Trailing 17--10, the Vikings drove to the Redskins' 6 - yard line with a little over a minute left in the game, but failed to get the ball into the end zone . The Vikings' hopes of a Super Bowl ended when Darrin Nelson dropped a pass from Wade Wilson on fourth down at the goal line . </P> <P> On October 12, 1989, the Vikings acquired Herschel Walker from Dallas . The final result of the trade gave the Vikings Walker, third - round choice Mike Jones, fifth - round choice Reggie Thornton and 10th - round choice Pat Newman in 1990 and a third - round choice Jake Reed in 1991 . Dallas received Issiac Holt, David Howard, Darrin Nelson, Jesse Solomon, Alex Stewart, a first -, second - and a sixth - round choice in 1990, first - and second - round choices in 1991 and a first -, second - and third - round choice in 1992 . Two of those selections turned into Emmitt Smith and Darren Woodson . Walker's performance fell short of expectations in his three seasons with the Vikings, while the Cowboys rode their draft picks to three Super Bowl victories in the early - to - mid-1990s . </P>

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