1882
The University of Minnesota fields its first varsity football team. The team plays its first game sans head coach and beats Hamline 4–0 at the King’s Fair grounds. Hamline beats the Gophers in a rematch two weeks later.
1904
The Gophers showcase one of the most dominant offenses in history (they beat Grinnell 146–0, when touchdowns were still only worth 5 points). The Billingsley Report will go on to retroactively name Minnesota national champions.
1921
The Minneapolis Marines become the first Minnesota NFL team. A couple years later, Minny’s second NFL team, the Duluth Eskimos, signs star fullback Ernie Nevers and barnstorms the U.S. as the “Ernie Nevers’ Eskimos,” but they only play one game at home.
1929
Renowned sportswriter Grantland Rice selects living mythological figure Bronislau “Bronko” Nagurski, the scary-strong Gophers tackle and fullback from Rainy River, Ontario, on both offense and defense for his team of “All-Americans.”
1936
The Gophers are declared the AP’s national champion—their third straight national championship. Head coach Bernie Bierman will finish his career with five national championships.
1941
After pacing the U to their second straight national championship, halfback Bruce “Boo” Smith becomes the only Gopher to win the Heisman Trophy. Two days later, the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and Smith later enlists as a fighter pilot.
1956
For the first time, just as Charlie Brown is about to kick the football, Lucy pulls it away. The sadistic Charles Schulz repeats the gag nearly every autumn until Schulz dies in February of 2000.
1961
Rookie quarterback Fran Tarkenton throws four TDs as the expansion Minnesota Vikings upset the Chicago Bears 37–13 at Bloomington’s Metropolitan Stadium in their first regular-season game.
1962
Quarterback Sandy Stephens, the first Black All-American QB, leads the Gophers to their only Rose Bowl win, scoring two touchdowns in a 21–3 game over UCLA. Stephens is the first African American to be named the Rose Bowl MVP.
1972
The Minnesota State High School League implements a football playoff. First state champs: Mpls. Washburn in AA, Burnsville in A, Mountain Iron in B, Gaylord in C, and Rothsay in Nine-Man.
1977
Bud Grant’s Purple People Eaters lose their fourth Super Bowl in seven years, going down 32–14 in Super Bowl XI to the AFC’s Oakland Raiders.
1982
The Gophers leave Memorial Stadium and the Vikings leave Met Stadium to play under Teflon skies in the Metrodome. The first all-day Prep Bowl is played in the dome, too, with Stillwater capping the day with a victory over Owatonna.
1984
Former Marine Les Steckel takes over for Bud Grant. After losing to the Packers 38–14 to finish 3–13, Steckel is fired. Grant comes out of retirement to coach one more season in ’85 before turning it over to longtime assistant Jerry Burns.
1996
Bud Grant’s son Mike Grant coaches the Eden Prairie Eagles to their first of a record 11 Prep Bowl championships.
1998
Led by electrifying rookie Randy Moss, the Vikings set a record for most points scored in an NFL season. They finish 15–1, but Gary Anderson misses his first kick of the season in the NFC Championship Game, and the Vikes lose to Atlanta’s Dirty Birds.
1999
The Minnesota Vixen join the Women’s Football Alliance (60 teams across the country), playing full-contact tackle football. Today, the Vixen are the longest continuously operating women’s tackle football team in the nation.
2000
USA Today names Cretin-Derham Hall QB Joe Mauer the best high school football player in the country. He commits to Florida State, but in the spring, he’s named best baseball player. The Twins pick him No. 1 in the draft, and he decides to play baseball instead.
2005
Cornerback Fred Smoot rents two houseboats on Lake Minnetonka to throw Vikings rookies a bye-week party. Smoot spends $80K flying in sex workers from across the country—the ensuing “Love Boat Scandal” disgraces ownership, and they fire head coach Mike Tice after the season.
2009
After torturing purple faithful for 16 seasons in Green Bay, Brett Favre joins Adrian Peterson, and the Vikings go on a tear. It feels like we’re going to the Super Bowl before Favre throws an awful pick in the NFC Championship Game.
2012
Former Vikings linebacker Fred McNeill, now a lawyer, suffers from cognitive issues. While McNeill is still alive, Dr. Bennet Omalu diagnoses him with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) but can’t confirm it until McNeill’s autopsy in 2015.
2018
With seconds left, the Vikings look ready to blow their chance to become the first team to play a home Super Bowl. But Stefon Diggs catches a 61-yard TD pass, and announcer Paul Allen calls it “The Minneapolis Miracle!” (The Vikings blow their chance a week later.)
2023
On Nov. 25, the Gophers play the Wisconsin Badgers for the 133rd time—the most-played rivalry in DI football. Ski-U-Mah!