7 notable Minnesota Vikings who also played for the Green Bay Packers
By Chris Schad
Greg Jennings - WR
While Brett Favre was hired as a mercenary for the Vikings, Greg Jennings was emerging into a top-tier receiver with the Packers.
Once Favre departed in 2008, Jennings became one of Aaron Rodgers’ favorite targets. He caught 76 passes for a career-high 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns on his way to winning the Super Bowl with Green Bay in 2010.
That 2010 season was the peak of Jennings’s career, however, and after two seasons of decline, he hit free agency before the 2013 season. That year, the Vikings needed a new top target after trading Percy Harvin to the Seattle Seahawks, and Jennings became their man, signing a five-year, $47.5 million contract.
Like most 30-year-old receivers that get paid, the move didn’t work out. Jennings caught 127 passes for 1,546 yards and 10 touchdowns in two years with Minnesota and was released following the 2014 season.
Jennings played one more year in the NFL and caught 19 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown with the Miami Dolphins in 2015, but he is mainly remembered for his time as a Packer.
Jim McMahon - QB
Most of the players on this list are known for being either a Viking or a Packer, but legendary Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon made a detour in both Minnesota and Green Bay as his career was coming to a close.
McMahon was one of the key figures of the Bears in the 1980s, but he only spent three more years in Chicago after winning the Super Bowl in 1985. After failing to play 10 games in each of those three seasons, McMahon had a falling out with head coach Mike Ditka and Bears president Michael McCaskey.
McMahon was traded to the San Diego Chargers before the 1989 season and spent three seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles before signing with the Vikings in 1993.
With the help of head coach Dennis Green, McMahon posted an 8-4 record and led Minnesota to the playoffs, although he only threw for 1,968 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions in 12 starts.
The Vikings pivoted to Warren Moon the following season, and McMahon went to the Arizona Cardinals before spending his final two years as Brett Favre’s backup with the Packers.
McMahon went down as a major figure in the old NFC Central division during his playing career, but he didn’t make much of an impact when it came to this particular rivalry.