Vintage Minnesota Vikings Front 4 by Mudge Studios

Minnesota Vikings Front 4 Salem Sportswear 1989

Well, The Conference Championship Games have both been played and we are now on standby for two long weeks before the  Baltimore Ravens and The San Fransisco 49ers collide in Super Bowl XLVII at New Orleans on Feb 03, 2013. Thought I'd rummage through my collection of old sports t-shirts that I have acquired through the years. Mudge Studios had arrangements with most of the companies that I did work for to receive samples such as the t-shirt above as a courtesy.
The Vikings Front 4 Tee was the first football tee that I came across in my box of oldies, but goodies. This vintage football t-shirt was produced by Salem Sportswear and officially licensed by the NFL in 1989. The caricatures of the football players were illustrated by Mudge Studios while one of the graphic artists over at Salem did the layout, graphics and color plates. That artist did a particularly nice job with the Front 4 Text design and the rendering of the football field.
The 1989 NFL season was a remarkable one for the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings went 10-6 that year which was good enough for the Vikings to take the NFC Central Division. 10-6 certainly doesn't sound like anything to blog about- and you'd be correct in thinking that way... Except- what made the 1989 season Spectacular was the Minnesota Vikings Front 4 which included Chris Doleman, Keith Millard, Al Noga and Henry Thomas. Combined the Vikings Defense produced a Astounding 71 Sacks with 39 of them coming from Chris Doleman and Keith Millard. Doleman had 21 of those sacks which made him only one sack shy of tying Mark Gastineau's record that he set in 1984 of 22 sacks. The current sack leader is Michael Strahan of the 2001 NY Giants at 22.5 Sacks. Also worth noting was that The Vikings team was only one sack shy of tying the 1984 Chicago Bears Single Season Sack Record of 72- a record which still holds today.
1989 was certainly an exciting time for the Minnesota Vikings. Defensive Tackle Keith Millard would go on to earn the coveted Defensive Player of the Year honors while Chris Doleman still holds the Viking's franchise record of 21 sacks!
I love going back in time.