What the parades are for | Dorktown

For the Vikings, the 1970s were so full of comedy, drama, and doomed snowmobiling expeditions that we had to split this decade into two episodes. And we STILL had to leave stuff out! What a team.

Written and directed by Jon Bois
Written and produced by Alex Rubenstein
Rights specialist Lindley Sico
Secret Base executive producers Will Buikema and Jon Bois

Known goofs:

• It’s difficult to say for sure, but Jon believes he probably got the play-by-play chart of the first quarter of the 1970 divisional round game a little bit wrong. We weren’t able to fully reconcile the difference between what we read in game accounts and what we saw in video recaps, but in any case the score remains accurate.

• In 1973, their loss to the Bengals was by 27 points, not 18

[mishi]

My main takeaway from the first two episodes is that Bud Grant is an amazing human being.

[theenglishman]

So far, the moral of this story seems to be "if you are affiliated with the Vikings in any way, there is a non-zero chance you will find yourself in a snowstorm and nearly freeze to death"

[MrThomasJohanson]

"The Vikings stuck together, for the right not to." Beautifully put, Jon.

[CadChamberlain]

Jim Marshall's career is honestly incredible and its a shame hes defined by one play. He should without a doubt be a hall of famer.

[luke]

Fred Cox's grandson is a regular at my father's deli. When Fred heard my dad is a lifelong fan he sent a signed picture with a thank you note for feeding his grandson. RIP Fred

[vonriel]

22:07 This segment right here is my vote for why these documentaries are so compelling. Out of nowhere, in the middle of a retrospective about football, we're treated to a brief side story, about a man who made a toy. A two minute tribute to a man who brought a sport to the lives of so many, only slightly related to the larger story at play, and it brought me to tears.
It's been evident ever since The Bob Emergency, with the story of Bob Beamon. The ability to seamlessly segue into this content? The ability to find these small vignettes in any overview no matter how buried? The way they tug at your heart? It's wonderful. It's impossibly compelling, and it draws me in like nothing else on this damned site.

[josephmatthews]

Holy cow. I was raised to love guys like Tarkenton but my big take away from this installment?

Alan Page is a real life superhero. Dude should have a holiday named after him.

[timfortune]

The Wrong Way Run is usually just seen as funny rather than tragic because:
1) it was a regular season game in a year we didn't make the playoffs.
2) Vikes ultimately won the game.
And 3) It was because of another Marshall fumble that Eller scooped and scored.
And apparently, Van Brocklin was strangely more amused than pissed saying that Marshall had done the "most interesting thing in the game" with it.

[kalindastrome]

Alan Page still plays the sousaphone every year at the twin city marathon on his porch to cheer on the runners. My dad ran a marathon for the first time in his life just to see that. A really amazing guy.

[PurpleWolferine]

Watch party on Lake Minnetonka? Who's with me? We can rent a boat!

[the_kelvinator_]

The monologue at the end is pure poetry. I'm very thankful to live in a time where I get to hear and watch Jon Bois do his damn work!

[jacobjones]

YouTube channels like these put FS1 and ESPN to shame. This is far better written and produced than anything I've seen on either network for years

[chunt]

I maintain that Jon Bois is the best storyteller of this generation. An unbelievable gift to intertwine sports history with the most human of moments, the ability to make an unknown person become my new favorite player in a matter of minutes, the instinct to deliver a life-altering message in the middle of a bout of goofiness. Jon, your content will always be my favorite.

[Prederick]

I barely knew who Alan Page was before today. And wow, is that ever an indictment on me. Wow. What a player, and what a life.

[Ben-qllw]

I know we all love Jon but can we give some love to Alex? He's criminaly underapriciated.

[baracksays]

Imagine you’re freezing to death and then Jim Marshall says “The Grim Reaper isn’t getting you tonight”

[Lep]

So you are telling me our kicker problems started 50 YEARS AGO

[isaiahpierce]

Here after the news of Jim Marshall's passing. One of the greatest football players ever, and an ever better man. May he rest in peace.

[Hawkmanuno]

(Written shortly before the video premieres)

Well, in the last episode, it was revealed that this was the overall 3rd winningest team in the NFL in the super bowl era.

So obviously that means they must have won a fair share of Super Bowls.

And I just learned they went to the SB three times in the 70s, so equally obviously they must have won at least one of them, probably two. Stands to reason.

So this will be a really happy episode for all Vikings fans, right?

Right?

[MetalGod]

My 2 biggest takeaways from this episode about the Minnesota Vikings are as follows: 

1: Jim Marshall should've been in the Pro Football Hall of Fame YEARS ago. Sure, he ran the wrong way one time, but it was an honest mistake on his part. Oh, and for the record, the Vikings went on to WIN that game against the 49ers. So...no harm, no foul.
2: Jim Marshall & Alan Page have had Hall of Fame lives. Marshall for being a highly adventurous person on and off the field, and Page for being an incredible intellectual and class act on and off the field. Much love and respect to both of them for having truly great careers.