Powerhouses or punch lines? The debate still rages over whether the Super Bowl futility of the Vikings and the Bills should prevent them from being mentioned with the greatest teams of all time

Football Digest, Feb, 2002 by Chuck O'Donnell

BY GOING TO THE SUPER Bowl four straight times in the early 1990s, the Buffalo Bills established a record that may stand for decades. And what did they get for that achievement? A Bruce Smith-sized serving of public humiliation.

David Letterman's "Top 10 Things Coach Marv Levy Said to the Bills at Halftime of Super Bowl 27" included, "OK, go out and rest on your laurels!" One major newspaper ran a timeline comparing the Bills' losses to the Texans getting "crushed" at the Alamo and Custer getting "whomped" by the Sioux and the Titanic losing a battle with an iceberg.

They became fodder for comedian Carrot Top, who had audiences roaring with his Bills helmet featuring a built-in box of tissues for those teary-eyed Buffalo fans. For every office drone who crumpled up his paper cup and missed his half-hearted heave at the nearest wastebasket, there were four of his buddies invoking the image of kicker Scott Norwood's off-course kick in Super Bowl 25, yelling, "Wide right!"

Win a Super Bowl, and the nation laughs with you. Make it to the Super Bowl and lose, and the nation laughs at you. Fair or not, that's just how it is for the Susan Luccis of the NFL: always second-best.

As the Bills were going through their annual nightmare, somewhere members of the Minnesota Vikings of the 1970s nodded knowingly. They could relate to the Bills. Call them brothers in Super Bowl futility. The Vikings made it to four of the first 11 Super Bowls. But because they never won the Big One, they were dissed back before dissed was even a word.

This all begs the question: When historians 30 or 40 or 50 years from now comb through the record book and stumble upon the Bills and Vikings, will they speak with reverence or disdain about those teams? Will the Vikings and Bills be talked about in the same breath with the greatest teams of all time, or will the very mention of their names induce a loud belly laugh?

One big clue could be coming from the Pro Football Hall of Fame election committee. Consider the plights of several great players who were on the Vikings in their Super Bowl years. Paul Krause, the NFL's all-time leader in interceptions, was passed over several times before he was enshrined. Ron Yary, an earth-moving tackle, finally got voted in with the Class of 2001, in his 14th year of eligibility.

Fran Tarkenton, who was the quarterback for the Vikings in Super Bowls 8, 9, and 11, was "mortified" at being passed over during his first few years of eligibility. Tarkenton, who retired as the NFL's all-time leader in passes completed, passing yardage, and touchdown passes, said, "In baseball, you wouldn't make the home run king wait." Some Vikings players, such as Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Mick Tingelhoff, are still waiting for the call to the Hall.

"There have never been any football players that were any better than Jim Marshall, Mick Tingelhoff, Carl Eller, Bill Brown--and you could throw some others in there, but those four for sure," says Joe Kapp, the starting quarterback for the Vikings in Super Bowl 4. "You could throw Dave Osborn in there. When God was making fullbacks, Bill Brown was the prototype. Jim Marshall? What do you have to do to be honored? I mean, most fumble recoveries, most years, most-consecutive-games leader, captain. You don't go to that many Super Bowls without leadership. [He was] the greatest leader of all time maybe. Where's the justice in that? If that's one of the residuals [of not winning a Super Bowl], then it's wrong. There were no better players than those four, five players."

Phil Pusateri, president of the Southern California Vikings Fan Club, says, "It's disheartening so many great players like Marshall, Eller, [running back Chuck] Foreman, Tingelhoff aren't in the Hall. The prevailing thought is they're not in because they didn't win a Super Bowl. Win one, and they would have been in. But that's not fair. Just to get to a Super Bowl is an accomplishment. It's not fair to hold them out of the Hall of Fame because they didn't win the game. I won't go into personalities, but a lot of the guys in the Hall don't have the credentials Jim Marshall does. That irks us the most."

Vinny DiTrani, who has covered 28 Super Bowls for The Bergen Record in New Jersey and is a member of the Hall of Fame voting committee, says it's a double-edged sword. Players such as Marshall, Eller, and Tingelhoff received more publicity than most of their peers because they played on good teams, but they would have had a better shot of induction had they won at least one Super Bowl.

"I do think that's a key thing, getting one Super Bowl win," DiTrani says. "[San Diego Chargers quarterback Dan] Fouls got in. [Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan] Marino will, too. And they weren't on teams that won. But if you didn't win a Super Bowl you have to be a superior, superior player. If you were just superior or had hints of being superior, having a Super Bowl ring will help you get in.

"It's unfortunate because just to get into the playoffs is tough. There are some teams that have never gotten to the Super Bowl, such as the Lions, and they're not treated as poorly. That's the American mentality: There can only be one champion, and everyone else is second-rate."