Minnesota Vikings: 8 career records that will never be broken
By Tim Arcand
8. Punt return touchdowns
Marcus Sherels (2010-2018)
According to Pro Football Reference, 81 different players have returned at least one punt in the regular season for the Vikings. Of the 2,021 punts returned, only 17 have been returned for a touchdown. That is a touchdown for every 119 punts returned.
Only 11 players have scored on a punt return and Marcus Sherels leads Minnesota with five in his career. He also leads the team in punt returns with 231 and return yardage with 2,447 yards. With a touchdown for every 46 punt returns, Sherels has been a special teams ace for the Vikings.
An undrafted free agent from the University of Minnesota in 2010, Sherels made the active roster in 2011 as the punt return specialist and a backup cornerback. Since 2011 he has accounted for all but 19 returns for the Vikings. It is this longevity as the punt return specialist that makes it unlikely that anyone will break his Minnesota record.
7. Kickoff return touchdowns
Percy Harvin (2009-2012) and Cordarrelle Patterson (2013-2016)
Sticking with the return theme, the record for kickoff returns for a touchdown may actually be the most difficult of any to break. Recent rule changes by the NFL is increasingly discouraging players from returning kicks. All in the name of player safety, eventually kickoffs could be eliminated altogether.
Matching Sherels’ five punt returns for a touchdown, Percy Harvin and Cordarrelle Patterson are tied for the franchise record with five kickoff returns for touchdowns. Incredibly, among the 246 players to return a kick for the Vikings, only 13 have run one back for a touchdown. Besides Harvin and Patterson, no other Minnesota player has more than one kick return touchdown.
Patterson also owns the Vikings’ franchise record for the longest kick return at 109 yards and Harvin is right behind him at 105 yards. Patterson is also the franchise leader with 4,075 kickoff-return yards with Harvin coming in third with 3,274 yards. Between them is the franchise leader in total kickoff returns, Darrin Nelson who finished with 159.