Getty Former Vikings Super Bowl quarterback Joe Kapp died at the age of 85 on Monday, May 8, 2023.
Frank Youso, a star offensive lineman at the University of Minnesota who went on to become the first player to join the Minnesota Vikings, died in his hometown of International Falls, Minnesota, on Saturday, October 8. He was 86.
Youso was the first player ever signed by the Vikings amid the 1961 expansion.
He protected rookie Fran Tarkenton in the Vikings’ inaugural season, which included a stunning season-opening upset over the Chicago Bears that left legendary Bears coach George Halas maddened and Minnesotans sold on the excitement professional football could bring their state.
#MinnesotaNative Frank Youso was the #First player ever signed by the #Vikings back in 1964 #VF #SKOL #FreeAgency
Youso Kept Tarkenton Upright in Vikings’ Franchise Debut After Asking to Join Homestate Team
In 1961, the NFL was still not a cemented product in the American sports landscape. There were still plenty of markets that needed convincing.
However, Minnesota only needed one game, partially thanks to Youso.
Youso was a second-round pick by the Giants in 1958 but asked to be released so he could play for his homestate Vikings, according to the Duluth News Tribune. He got his wish after some resistance from then-Giants owner Wellington Mara.
Minnesota signed him to be its starting right tackle, tasked with protecting rookie quarterback and eventual Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton.
An upstart franchise, the Vikings were expected to be the new doormat of the NFL West Division — and approaching their first game in franchise history against a Bears team that would go on to win the 1963 NFL Championship, legendary Bears coach expected a walk in the park.
Minnesota didn’t get the memo.
Tarkenton completed 17-of-23 passes for 250 yards and four touchdowns in his first professional game, leading the Vikings to a stunning 37-13 upset over the Bears with the help of Yousu.
“Halas was madder than hell,” Youso told the Pioneer Press in 2019. “They thought they were going to come in and whip us. And a lot of people in our own stadium were hollering, ‘They’re going to kick your butt.’ But we didn’t think so. That was one of the greatest thrills of my life.”
Several other Vikings legends made their first starts that game as well. Jim Marshall played in the first of his longstanding NFL record 270 consecutive career games.
“It was a great first victory for us, but even more importantly for our fans and Minnesota,” Marshall told the Pioneer Press. “We showed them we were ready to compete in the NFL. Minnesota embraced us from that game forward.”
The game, which wasn’t televised, was witnessed firsthand by only the 32,236 people in the stands at the Met Center, per the Pioneer Press.
From Nick Woltman of the Pioneer Press:
Everyone else had to listen to the game on WCCO Radio. And, judging by a handful of man-on-the-street interviews in the next day’s Pioneer Press, many did.
St. Paul cab driver Russ Finke “heard little else from his customers late Sunday afternoon and evening,” the newspaper reported.
“It’s a good thing for the town, for the whole state,” Finke told a reporter. “Can you imagine the crowd they’re going to have out there the next time they play?”
Even Bears Coach George Halas, who had called the game “a toss-up” the day before, confessed to being impressed by the rout.
“Of course we knew the Vikings were a good football team but we didn’t expect this,” Halas told reporters. “They’re not amateurs, they’re football players.”
The Vikings only won two more games that season, but it was the first step for a franchise that saw postseason 12 times in the next 20 years — including 11 appearances in a 12-year span from 1968 to 1978.
“I never thought we’d get to 500 in my lifetime,” Youso told the Pioneer Press ahead of the Vikings’ 500th franchise win in 2019, reflecting on how much the NFL has changed. “It’s unbelievable when you see the stadiums they’re playing in now and the money players are making now compared to back then.”
Frank Youso Played Both Sides of the Ball in ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’
While Youso played a part in catapaulting the Vikings franchise, he was also there for the game that pushed the NFL into the leading professional sports league.
A rookie for the Giants in 1958, Youso had played on the offensive line all season ahead of the 1958 NFL Championship game against the Baltimore Colts, later dubbed “The Greatest Game Ever Played.”
There’s been plenty of prettier games in the NFL since the 1958 championship, but between six fumbles, a national television audience, the NFL’s first overtime period and 17 future Hall of Famers on the field, the game had salience in the sports world.
“What made it the greatest game of all time was for the first time there were 45 million people watching the game, and since it went into overtime it held people glued to their television sets,” Youso told the Duluth News Tribune in 2008. “Professional football took off after that. That’s why it’s the greatest game.”
The Colts led 14-3 at halftime, and when an injury hit the Giants defensive line, Youso was called on to play both ways.
From Rick Weegman of the Duluth News Tribune:
“[Giants coach] Jim Lee Howell was running up and down the bench wondering who he could put in on defense because we didn’t have anyone else,” Youso said, “and [offensive coordinator] Vince Lombardi said, ‘Take Youso, he’s the biggest guy here.’ So then I went in and played defense the whole second half. That was a thrill for me because I always wanted to play defense. I did a pretty good job.”
It was literally a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants approach.
“I went in and I said to [Hall of Fame linebacker Sam Huff], ‘Sam, what am I supposed to do?'” Youso said. “He said, ‘If I pat you on the right cheek, go right. If I pat you on the left cheek, go left.’ I said, ‘What if you don’t pat me?’ He said, ‘Hang on to your rear end because they’re coming right at us.’
“That’s the way I played the second half.”
Viking NFC Championship Memories – 1987 (#4): “Yeah, yeah VikeFans, good stuff, but I’m not impressed unless you get somebody from that original 1961 team”. YOU asked for it – here is OT Frank Youso (who protected Tarkenton in 1961-1962). 8 yrs in the NFL @Fran_Tarkenton #vikings