5 Things the Panthers actually have in common with the Minnesota Vikings
Despite their weird accents (which in “Fargo” are 100 percent accurate, don’t let them tell you otherwise) and the fact that they, for some reason, call the game where little kids run around in a circle “Duck Duck Grey Duck,” Minnesota and Carolina aren’t so different.
So let’s take a look at the ways the states, cities, and their football teams are surprisingly similar before Sunday’s game.
Shared Experiences
Unhappy with their offensive lines, Carolina and Minnesota essentially (though not technically) traded left tackles. Matt Kalil, brother of Ryan and drafted high in the first round by the Vikings, signed a large multi-year deal to come be the left tackle in Charlotte while incumbent Mike Remmers left Charlotte for Minneapolis.
The Vikings, however, decided Remmers was better at right tackle and it’s worked out. And though Kalil may not be living up to the contract quite yet, he has helped keep those hits off Cam that were so damaging last year.
Those aren’t the only two players the Panthers and Vikings exchanged. The Panthers drafted nickel corner Captain Munnerlyn in the 7th round of 2008 and he proved to be useful almost immediately. After a stellar season in 2013, he left for a bigger paycheck in Minnesota, missing out on the Panthers’ Super Bowl run. This year he’s back.
Top of their Game
The Carolinas, and North Carolina in particular, claim a degree of basketball superiority. Nine Hall-of-Famers, including Pete Maravich, James Worthy, Bob McAdoo, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan, played high school ball in the great state of North Carolina. And that doesn’t include likely Hall-of-Famers Chris Paul, John Wall, and Steph Curry.
Our state is a little basketball-crazy. We shut down for the ACC and NCAA Tournaments—it’s not unusual to find grade school TVs tuned to the March basketball across the state.
Meanwhile, you may have heard that Minnesota is a little hockey-crazy. The week of the state high school hockey tournament is essentially a holiday week in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and it’s not uncommon for entire towns to empty out to follow their team down to St. Paul.
The Miracle On Ice? Minnesota was all over it. Not only did Herb Brooks, the head coach, hail from the North Star State, so too did 12 of the 20 on the final Olympic roster. By the way, Kurt Russell may not have looked so much like Brooks when he played him in “Miracle,” but he apparently nailed the voice:
They call themselves the State of Hockey, and rightfully so.
Team Relocations
Despite North Carolina loving basketball so much and Minnesota loving hockey so much, some people felt it necessary to take away their pro teams. I covered the Hornets’ relocation last week but what Norm Green did to the North Stars, taking away Mike Modano and the contending beloved hockey team down to Dallas, Texas, was just as bad.
Also, if you’ve ever wondered why the LA Lakers are called that despite there being hardly any lakes around Los Angeles, it’s because they relocated from Minneapolis, where Hall-of-Famer George Mikan dominated the league for many years. Minnesota is two relocations from having the most classic quartet of team names in sports: Vikings, Twins, North Stars, and Lakers. Alas.
Case Keenum/Jake Delhomme
At age 29 and after five years bouncing around backup jobs across the league, Case Keenum is having the season of his life. He came in for an injured Sam Bradford early this season and was expected only to be the caretaker as either Bradford or Teddy Bridgewater got healthy.
And for the first month, Keenum excelled as a game manager. Over this last month, as the Vikings ran their winning streak to eight games, he’s been much more, winning NFC Offensive Player of the Month for November after leading the Vikings to helpful (for the Panthers) wins over the Lions and Falcons.
It feels like an unprecedented renaissance. But if the story of a slightly older quarterback graduating from career backup to capable game manager to legitimate Pro Bowl contender sounds vaguely familiar to Panthers’ fans, that would be because it was essentially Jake Delhomme’s breakout season in 2003.
Of course, the Panthers advanced to the Super Bowl that year on the back of Delhomme and an absolutely stifling defense. That’s essentially Minnesota’s formula this year, and if they can take it to the Super Bowl, they’d be the first team in NFL history to get to play a Super Bowl in their home stadium.
Heartbreak Specialists
While the 2003 season was certainly a great accomplishment, the Super Bowl loss was one of the most significant heartbreaks in Carolinas sports history. Even for such a young team, Panthers fans have seen their fair share of heartbreak. There are three NFL franchises who have lost two Super Bowls since the dawn of the 21st Century. Two of them, Seattle and New England, have a Super Bowl win or two to ease that pain. Carolina doesn’t.
But perhaps no NFL fanbase is more tortured than the Vikings. Without a Super Bowl to their name despite four appearances between 1969 and 1976, they’ve spent the past two decades getting eliminated from the playoffs in heart-wrenching fashion. A Blair Walsh chip shot miss in the 2015 playoffs kept the Seahawks alive. In the 2009 NFC Championship Game, Brett Favre was driving the Vikings down for a game-winning field goal in the Superdome before throwing a costly interception. The Saints took it to overtime, kicked the game-winning field goal on the first drive, and won.
No heartbreak, however, compares to the 1998 NFC Championship Game against the Falcons. It was Randy Moss’s rookie year, Cris Carter’s best year, and Randall Cunningham’s resurgence year. The defense evoked images of the Purple People Eaters of the 1970s as the Vikings went 15-1 and crushed the Arizona Cardinals in the divisional round. They would be favored against the aging Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl if they could make it.
And through 57 minutes, it looked like they would. Up 27-20, a Gary Anderson 39-yard field goal would put it away. It was a simple kick. Anderson and his classic single-bar helmet hadn’t missed all season. It was at home in the Metrodome. No wind, no elements.
But he missed, wide left. The Falcons scored to tie it, and kicked a field goal in overtime to win it. I don’t think the state of Minnesota has recovered:
It’s gotten to the point where even if they do make the Super Bowl in their home stadium, it would be one of the most Vikings things to lose.
And yes, the Panthers and Vikings are more successful than the Browns or Bills over the last twenty years,.. But it’s one thing to have a terrible-to-mediocre team that doesn’t have much of a shot at championships. For example, it’ll be hard for the Hornets to break your heart much until they find another superstar or two to pair with Kemba.
It’s another thing entirely to be on the precipice so often only to come up short.
That said, this year is looking as good as any for both the 10-2 Vikings and the 8-4 Panthers, and a run to the Super Bowl could well start with this game, as division titles, playoff positioning, and home-field advantage are all on the line.
Photo: David T. Foster III
This story was originally published December 7, 2017 at 8:00 PM with the headline "5 Things the Panthers actually have in common with the Minnesota Vikings."