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.
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.
