How many former Vikings are playing in Super Bowl 53?
By Adam Patrick
Which former members of the Minnesota Vikings will be participating in this Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots?
Each year, the Minnesota Vikings and every other team in the NFL all share the same goal. They all want to get the opportunity to play in the Super Bowl and be on the side of field that gets to celebrate at the end of the matchup.
Unfortunately for the Vikings, they are not one of the final two franchises to qualify for the Super Bowl this season that is taking place in Atlanta, Georgia.
On Sunday, Minnesota’s players and coaches will be watching at home like all of their fans and most of the country as the Los Angles Rams take on the New England Patriots.
Despite the fact that no current members of the Vikings will be taking the field in Atlanta this weekend, a couple of their former players will be facing off for this year’s Vince Lombardi trophy.
On the Patriots sideline, former Minnesota wide receiver and kick returner Cordarrelle Patterson will be participating in his first ever Super Bowl. The 27-year-old was selected in the first round by the Vikings in the 2013 NFL Draft and he was acquired by New England last March in a trade with the Oakland Raiders.
The Rams will also have a former Minnesota draft pick suiting up for them on Sunday in center John Sullivan. After he was taken in the sixth round of the 2008 draft by the Vikings, Sullivan spent his first seven years in the NFL with Minnesota and he was the team’s starting center from 2009 to 2014.
A back injury caused him to miss the entire 2015 season and then in 2016, the Vikings decided to release him in favor of Joe Berger as their starting center.
A pair of assistant coaches also have some ties to Minnesota as Patriots wide receivers coach Chad O’Shea and defensive line coach Brendan Daly both spent time in the past as members of the Vikings’ coaching staff.
O’Shea was a Minnesota assistant from 2006 to 2008 and Daly had two stints with the Vikings from 2006 to 2008 and 2012 to 2013.
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Which of these former Minnesota players and coaches will end up on the winning side of the scoreboard this Sunday during Super Bowl 53?