In my opinion, the 2009 Minnesota Vikings season is among the top two or three in the history of the franchise. I wasn't born in time to see any of the Vikings' four Super Bowl losses, and I won't be able to put -any- team ahead of the 1998 Vikings, but 2009 has to be right up there.

This was the season the Vikings brought in Brett Favre and made a run to the NFC Championship game. The combination of Favre and all-world running back Adrian Peterson, a stalwart offensive line and a better-than-you-remember defense put the NFL on notice that year.

The Vikings started the season 6-0 including a win over Favre's former team (Green Bay) and the game against the 49ers that was won in the last moments thanks to a miraculous throw-and-catch from Favre to Greg Lewis in the back of the end zone.

Minnesota was 12-4 when the regular season ended, which was good enough for the NFC North crown and a first-round bye in the NFC Playoffs. The Vikings easily rolled 34-3 over the Dallas Cowboys at the Metrodome in the Divisional round to set up a matchup in New Orleans against the Saints on January 24th, 2010.

In a back-and-forth battle, the Saints ended up beating the Vikings 31-28 in overtime. After the game, it was revealed that Favre had been badly banged up in the game.

After the game Vikings players and coaches spoke openly about their belief that Saints players were deliberately trying to injure Favre. The league investigated but didn't find any evidence of a 'bounty program' initially.

However, a former Saints coach blew the whistle and in 2012 found that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams had in fact instituted a bounty program and between 22-27 Saints players were involved.

The NFL fined the New Orleans Saints $500,000 and took away two draft picks. In addition, the league suspended Saints Head Coach Sean Payton for an entire season, General Manager Mickey Loomis was suspended for eight games, Gregg Williams was suspended 'indefinitely,' assistant coach Joe Vitt was suspended for six games and four players were suspended for various lengths of time.

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