For both the Minnesota Vikings and the Dallas Cowboys, Jan. 28, 1960, is an important date.
It was the moment Dallas and Minnesota officially joined the NFL as the league’s 13th and 14th franchises, respectively. The Cowboys played their inaugural season later that year; the Vikings instead began play in 1961. Since then, many of Minnesota’s signature moments as a franchise – the good, the bad and, sometimes, the ugly – have included Dallas.
The Vikings first-ever preseason game in 1961 was against the Cowboys; Dallas held its training camp that year in Minnesota at St. Olaf College in Northfield while the Vikings had their very first training camp about 250 miles northwest of St. Olaf at Bemidji State College. The two teams then played their preseason game in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where Dallas won 38-13.
Minnesota and Dallas met twice in the regular season that year; the Vikings fell to the Cowboys 21-7 in Week 2 (Minnesota’s first regular-season road game) before dropping a home contest to Dallas 28-0 just two weeks later (the Vikings first shutout loss). Both of those games were significant for Dallas, too, as they were two of the first three victories in Cowboys history (Dallas went 0-11-1 in its first year as a franchise in 1960).
On Sunday, the two historic franchises will meet again, as Minnesota (5-8) travels to Dallas (6-6-1) for a prime-time matchup on Sunday Night Football. It will be the fifth meeting between the two sides in the specific time slot (each team has won twice). The Vikings will also become one of three non-division opponents to play the Cowboys at least five times on SNF in history, joining the Los Angeles Rams (five games) and the Saints (six games).
Additionally, Sunday’s contest will mark as the Vikings franchise’s 1,000th regular-season. For the Cowboys, while Sunday will be their 1,012th regular-season game as a team, it will be their 200th in prime time (since 1970).
