It's been a rough few days for the Minnesota Vikings. The team's 24-10 victory over the Green Bay Packers was marred when it was revealed that QB Kirk Cousins was lost for the season with a torn Achilles tendon. Somehow, the Texas Rangers (yes, the baseball team) just made things worse.
On Wednesday, the Rangers defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in five games to clinch a World Series win. The Rangers, who debuted in 1961 as the Washington Senators, were the oldest active franchise from MLB/NBA/NFL/NHL that had never won a championship, per OptaSTATS.
Guess who now wears that crown? Yup, the Vikings, who debuted as a franchise in September of 1961. That's roughly 5 months after the Senators played their first-ever game.
(For the purposes of this stat, NFL or AFL championships won before the Super Bowl era count.)
This ignominious feat comes at a particularly cruel time for the Vikings, who seemed to be turning things around.
The team started 2023 with three straight losses. That prompted questions about waving the white flag and selling off veteran talent to stock up on future draft capital. But a three-game winning streak got the team back to .500.
Furthermore, its current 4-4 record is good for second place behind the 6-2 Detroit Lions in a NFC North featuring the 2-5 Packers and the 2-6 Chicago Bears.
But Cousins' non-contact injury in the fourth quarter of last week's win ended his season. And with it, any hope for the Vikings to be in the running to end their title drought.
The team was already without its top playmaker, WR Justin Jefferson. The star wideout hit the IR earlier in the season with a hamstring injury and has yet to return.
Such is life as a Vikings fan. Even when you are minding your own darn business, you can be reminded of the pain that comes with rooting for your team.
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