Brian Robison says the 2009 Vikings should have won the Super Bowl

The former Minnesota Vikings defensive end spoke about the team’s heartbreaking loss from 2009 during his retirement press conference on Wednesday.

There are a few moments throughout the history of the Minnesota Vikings that feel like missed opportunities. The Vikings’ recent failure to earn a trip to the Super Bowl in 2017 certainly falls under this category, as do the team’s losses in the 2009 and 1998 NFC Championships.

Former Minnesota defensive end Brian Robison was a member of the team during their last two conference championship losses and they still haunt him to this day.

Robison was in the Twin Cities on Wednesday for his retirement press conference and he couldn’t help but bring up the Vikings’ loss to the New Orleans Saints in the 2009 NFC Championship.

"“We get all the way to the 2009 NFC Championship game and we lose it. We didn’t get beat, we lost it. We had way too many turnovers, too many mistakes in a game. And that was the first real time that I was able to sit there and think, ‘that was an opportunity that got squandered.’That team should have brought a Super Bowl championship to the state of Minnesota. No doubt in my mind, hands down. But it just didn’t happen, it wasn’t meant to be.”"

It was definitely a tough loss for the Vikings and their fans to swallow. Minnesota was enjoying a magical season with Brett Favre as their starting quarterback and it seemed as though the team was destined to win a Super Bowl that year.

However, the football gods obviously had other plans for the Vikings in 2009. Instead of heading to Miami, Florida to face the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV, Minnesota added another heartbreaking loss to their franchise’s infamous playoff reputation.

Many believe that the Vikings likely would have captured their first ever Vince Lombardi trophy had they ended up leaving the 2009 NFC Championship with a win over the Saints. But that didn’t happen and Robison and the rest of his former Minnesota teammates were left wondering what could have been.

Sorry for this unfortunate trip down a very painful memory lane.