The Purple-Clad Boys of Winter: Untold Playoff Stories of the 1970s Minnesota Vikings

Experience all the playoff wins of the 1970s Minnesota Vikings, with stories and perspectives from the players themselves.

Whether you were a football fan in the 1970s or are relatively new to the sport, you probably know the names of the former Minnesota Vikings greats and have heard about their legendary games. Hall-of-fame coach Bud Grant and his teams from that decade captured the hearts and minds of fans throughout Minnesota and across the nation. Millions of spectators tuned in to postseason football in late December to hear their favorite sports announcers say, ＂You’re looking live at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota.＂ It was from this unforgettable stadium that a host of dedicated, colorful, and selfless players ushered in a Golden Age of Vikings football.

In The Purple-Clad Boys of Winter, debut author, award-winning sportswriter, and lifelong Vikings fan Rick Bowman shines a spotlight on that era’s biggest games and greatest achievements: all nine playoff victories between December 27, 1969, and December 26, 1977. Along the way, Rick shares incredible insights and unbelievable stories from the players who suited up and led Minnesota to victory. He interviewed almost every former player from the 1970s for this book!

Learn more about

• The star wide receiver who almost refused a trade to Minnesota


• Origins of the team’s popular uniform and helmet design


• The shrewd general manager who orchestrated the team’s astronomic rise


• Players wearing mismatched home jerseys for a 1973 playoff game

These moments and more are described in amazing detail, as you follow a generational National Football League team through its most monumental wins. The Purple-Clad Boys of Winter is a must-have for anyone who loves Minnesota sports. Score a copy for yourself, and you can give it as a winning gift too.

Rick Bowman grew up in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, as a first-generation Ohioan. When his father and mother moved to Ohio in the early 1950s from Virginia and Tennessee, respectively, he and his older brother, Bill, became football-fandom free agents. With the hometown Cleveland games often blacked out on local television, Rick began rooting for the Minnesota Vikings and the Purple People Eaters. (Bill chose Saint Louis.) Both boys fell in love with their hard-luck teams, with Rick often suffering playoff heartbreaks on or near his birthday: December 28. (It was on that date in 1975 that the Vikings lost the infamous ＂Hail Mary＂ game.)

Undaunted, Rick went on to become a lifelong Vikings fan and an accomplished sportswriter for many years. After earning a BA from the University of Akron, he wrote award-winning features about football hall-of-famers and more. A former high school and collegiate player, Rick specializes in professional-football history, particularly the era in which he grew up: the 1960s and 1970s. Now a full-time pastor, Rick lives in Akron with his wife of more than 30 years. They raised two daughters, both of whom are teachers.