EAGAN, Minn. -- The Wilf family closed its deal to buy the Minnesota Vikings 20 years ago this summer. On their first full day of ownership -- June 13, 2005 -- brothers Zygi and Mark Wilf, along with their cousin Leonard, entered the team's dilapidated practice facility.
A replica Viking ship sat in the parking lot, its wood rotting and its sails faded. The building's air-conditioning unit was so inadequate that a portable supplemental system sat in the loading dock, pumping cool air through a hose and into the locker room via a hole that had been cut through a door.