2000 Minnesota Vikings season

The 2000 season was the Minnesota Vikings' 40th in the National Football League (NFL). They won the NFC Central division title with an 11–5 record. After not retaining either Randall Cunningham or Jeff George, the team was led by first-year starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper and running back Robert Smith, who ran for a then team record 1,521 yards and seven touchdowns. The Vikings started out 7–0 and were 11–2 after 14 weeks, but slumped briefly, losing their last three to the St. Louis Rams, Green Bay Packers and Indianapolis Colts while Culpepper was hampered by injury.

After easily beating the New Orleans Saints in the Divisional game 34–16, they were defeated 41–0 by the New York Giants in the Conference Championship. Running back Robert Smith retired at the end of the year, after only playing eight NFL seasons. It would be 2004 before the Vikings returned to the playoffs.

After a contract dispute, Hall of Fame defensive tackle John Randle was let go after 11 seasons with the Vikings. Randle had only eight sacks this year, ending a streak of eight consecutive seasons with 10+ sacks.

Seven Vikings including Culpepper, Moss, Carter, Smith, Korey Stringer, Robert Griffith and Matt Birk were selected to play in the Pro Bowl after the season. It was Stringer's only Pro Bowl appearance before his death in 2001.

This would be the final full season for Dennis Green as the team's head coach, he was fired the next season with just one game remaining on the schedule.

2000 Draft

 * undefined During the 1999 NFL Draft, Washington traded their 1999 first-round selection (11th overall), 1999 third-round selection (73rd overall) and 2000 second-round selection (56th overall) to Minnesota in exchange for QB Brad Johnson.
 * undefined The details of these trades are unknown but may involve Baltimore's acquisition of OL Everett Lindsay from Minnesota.
 * undefined Washington received this selection as compensation for restricted free agent G Brad Badger.
 * undefined Minnesota traded their seventh-round selection (232nd overall) to Cleveland for DT Jerry Ball.

Schedule
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Week 17: at Indianapolis Colts
This was the first occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season since 1968 in Baltimore, although the two teams would again play in the Colts’ stadium during that postseason. The intervening gap of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history, and at the time was a record.

Awards and records

 * Gary Anderson, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Week 8
 * Mitch Berger, NFC Special Teams Player of the Week, Week 14
 * Mitch Berger, NFC Special Teams Player of the Month, December
 * Cris Carter, All-NFL Team (as selected by the Associated Press, Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America)
 * Cris Carter, NFC Pro Bowl Selection
 * Daunte Culpepper, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 6
 * Daunte Culpepper, NFC Offensive Player of the Week, Week 12
 * Chris Hovan, PFW/Pro Football Writers of America All-Rookie Team
 * Randy Moss, All-NFL Team (as selected by the Associated Press, Pro Football Weekly and the Pro Football Writers of America)
 * Randy Moss, PFW/PFWA All-Pro Team
 * Robert Smith, NFC Offensive Player of the Month, December

40-year team
The Vikings named an all-time team in 2000 in recognition of the franchise's 40th year in the NFL.


 * Offense
 * WR: Ahmad Rashad, Cris Carter
 * T: Ron Yary, Tim Irwin
 * G: Ed White, Randall McDaniel
 * C: Mick Tingelhoff
 * TE: Steve Jordan
 * QB: Fran Tarkenton
 * RB: Chuck Foreman, Robert Smith
 * K: Fred Cox
 * ST: Bill Brown
 * Defense
 * DE: Jim Marshall, Carl Eller
 * DT: Alan Page, John Randle
 * LB: Jeff Siemon, Matt Blair, Scott Studwell
 * S: Paul Krause, Joey Browner
 * CB: Bobby Bryant, Carl Lee
 * P: Greg Coleman
 * RS: Darrin Nelson
 * Head coach: Bud Grant