10 Former Vikings in the Super Bowl
Josh Frey
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Super Bowl LVII takes place on Sunday, February 12th and will be played between the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles. In the game, there are a number of former Minnesota Vikings players and coaches. Here are 10 former Vikings that we can look forward to seeing during the big game on Sunday.
TE Blake Bell (KC)
Blake Bell doesn’t exactly have a huge role in the Kansas City offense being that he plays the same position as Travis Kelce. This season he caught 2 passes for 20 yards and a touchdown. During the playoffs, he showed up against the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Divisional round, catching another pass during that game.
Bell spent the 2017 season with the Minnesota Vikings where he caught 3 passes for 19 yards while appearing in 13 games, including 3 starts.
OC Eric Bieniemy (KC)
Over the course of the last five seasons, Eric Bieniemy has grown into one of the more respected offensive coordinators in the NFL. Since becoming the Chiefs OC in 2018, Kansas City has now made three Super Bowl appearances and are hoping for their second victory.
Bieniemy’s story didn’t start in KC, though. His coaching career in the NFL began with the Minnesota Vikings in 2006. He spent five seasons from 2006-10 as the Vikings running backs coach, including their 2009 season.
LB Christian Elliss (PHI)
Christian Elliss never appeared in a regular season game for the Vikings, but during his rookie season of 2021, Minnesota is where he spent training camp and the preseason. He was waived towards the end of August 2021, though, and that is how he landed in Philadelphia with the Eagles. During the 2022 season, he played in 6 games and recorded 11 tackles.
S Marcus Epps (PHI)
Marcus Epps was drafted by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but he was signed off Minnesota’s practice squad in November of that year by the Eagles. Since then, the Day 3 pick has turned into a key piece of Philadelphia’s defense, starting all 17 games in 2022.
DC Jonathan Gannon (PHI)
From 2014-17, Jonathan Gannon was the assistant defensive backs coach for the Minnesota Vikings while Mike Zimmer got his head coaching tenure started. He helped develop players like Xavier Rhodes and Trae Waynes in Minnesota before heading to Indy in 2018. Now, he’s the defensive coordinator for an Eagles team that ranked sixth in defensive DVOA.
S Anthony Harris (PHI)
Anthony Harris grew to be a key piece to the Vikings defense after going undrafted in 2015. The safety spent six seasons in Minnesota, making 47 starts for Minnesota over the course of that time. Following the 2022 season, Harris joined the Philadelphia Eagles, and he remains there as a practice squad player. He likely won’t see any time in the game, but he still counts.
NT Linval Joseph (PHI)
The Eagles made midseason free agency splashes by bringing in both Ndamukong Suh and Linval Joseph to solidify their defensive line. Of course, Joseph is remembered for an extensive tenure in Minnesota from 2014-19. Over that time, he started 88 games and recorded 15 sacks.
RB Coach Greg Lewis (KC)
Greg Lewis may be a running backs coach now for the Kansas City Chiefs, but Vikings fans will remember him as player from 2009-10. Over those two seasons, he caught 25 passes for 293 yards and his game-winning touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during 2009.
RB Jerick McKinnon (KC)
Jerick McKinnon was part of the Vikings roster from 2014-17 as the team transitioned from Adrian Peterson to Dalvin Cook. During that time, he recorded 2902 yards from scrimmage along with 12 total TDs for the Vikings.
WR Ihmir Smith-Marsette (KC)
Ihmir Smith-Marsette was drafted by the Vikings in the fifth-round of the 2021 NFL Draft and appeared that he could have been “the next big thing” at the wide receiver position in Minnesota after a strong finish to his rookie season. This never came to fruition, though, as the Vikings waived him prior to the 2022 season. Now, he finds himself on the Chiefs practice squad and likely won’t see any snaps in the Super Bowl, but like Harris, he still counts as a former Viking in the Super Bowl.
Josh Frey is a Class of 2020 graduate of The College of Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing. He also earned minors in History, Human Biology, and Journalism. When he’s not writing about the NFL, Josh enjoys marathon training, playing video games, or rooting for the Milwaukee Brewers and Bucks. For more of his opinions, check out his Twitter account: @Freyed_Chicken.