Ben Goessling has covered the Vikings since 2012, first at the Pioneer Press and ESPN before becoming the Minnesota Star Tribune's lead Vikings reporter in 2017. He was named one of the top NFL beat writers by the Pro Football Writers of America in 2024, after honors in the AP Sports Editors and National Headliner Awards contests in 2023.

The Viking Age, spanning roughly from the late 8th century to the mid-11th century, was marked by exploration, conquest, and cultural exchange. Yet, despite their vast influence, the Vikings seemingly disappeared from history as abruptly as they had stormed onto it. Why?

This is the 65th season of Vikings football. The only seasons they've been skunked from the Pro Bowl previously were in 2014, Mike Zimmer's first year as head coach, and 1983, which was Bud Grant's would-be final season as coach until he returned in 1985 after the Les Steckel disaster of 1984.

It’s strange how one of the world’s most recognizable historical images is also one of the least accurate. Everyone can picture it instantly: a towering Viking warrior striding across a windswept shore,

On a quiet Norwegian farm, what looked like a tangle of buried wires turned out to be something far older and far more valuable: a cache of Viking silver that had rested in the soil for more than a millennium.