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Sept. 17, 1961: The day Fran Tarkenton and the Vikings arrived

The seed for what Fran Tarkenton likes to call the greatest upset in NFL history was planted three weeks earlier when upstart Vikings coach Norm Van Brocklin, fresh off the playing field as league MVP with the Eagles in 1960, ticked off George Halas, Bears owner, coach, league founder and an instrumental figure in awarding Minneapolis its expansion team in 1961.

Per NFL rules, Van Brocklin was supposed to deliver to Halas the game films of his team's first three exhibition games before the Vikings and Bears played a fourth exhibition game in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sept.