The First Round Pick Who REFUSED to Play for the Vikings

Prior to the 1982 NFL Draft, Stanford RB Darrin Nelson wrote a letter to the Minnesota Vikings, begging the team not to draft him because he didn't want to play in Minnesota. Sure enough, the Vikings drafted him. This is the story behind the drama, including the reasons that Nelson didn't want to play there, and how his NFL career played out afterwards LINK TO PATREON:   / jaguargator9   Get early access to videos, your name featured in the credits, and the ability to request future video topics by joining today for as low as $3! LINK TO TWITCH:   / jaguargator9_nfl   Play live NFL trivia every Tuesday night at 9 PM Eastern/6 PM Pacific with the chance to win cash prizes! Check out the video below to learn more:    • WEEKLY LIVE NFL TRIVIA CONTEST | EVERY WED...   LINK TO DISCORD:   / discord   LINK TO TIK TOK: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJmVTKpr/ See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by following JaguarGator9 on Tik Tok! SUBSCRIBE TO 60 SECOND NFL HISTORY:    / @jaguargator8   See videos like this condensed down to 60 seconds by subscribing to 60 Second NFL History on YouTube! #nfl #nfldraft #vikings #nflthrowback Darrin Nelson is a former American football running back in the National Football League for the Minnesota Vikings and San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Stanford University. Nelson attended Pius X High School. He accepted a football scholarship from Stanford University to play under head coach Bill Walsh. In his first year, he was named the starter and became the first freshman running back in conference history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. He registered 183 carries for 1,069 yards, 3 rushing touchdowns, 50 receptions for 524 yards and 3 receiving touchdowns. As a sophomore, he posted 167 carries for 1,061 yards, 6 rushing touchdowns, 50 receptions for 446 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. In 1979, he was lost for the season with a hamstring injury. As a junior, he had 161 carries for 889 yards, 4 rushing touchdowns, 47 receptions for 552 yards and 4 receiving touchdowns. As a senior, he collected 192 carries for 1,014 yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, 67 receptions for 846 yards and 5 receiving touchdowns. Nelson was a dual threat as a rusher and receiver, becoming the first player in NCAA history to rush for more than 1,000 yards and catch more than 50 passes in one season. He accomplished this feat three times. He finished his college career with the school records for rushing yards (4,033), receptions (214), touchdowns (40), scoring (242 points), while also setting the NCAA record with 6,885 career all-purpose yards. He was inducted into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. In 2014, he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame Nelson was selected by the Minnesota Vikings in the first round (7th overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft. As a rookie, he experienced a strike-shortened season that was reduced to 9 games, finishing second on the team to Ted Brown with 136 rushing yards. As a running back, Nelson was a threat as both a runner and as receiver out of the backfield, though he is perhaps best known for dropping the game-tying touchdown on 4th down in the closing moments of the 1987 NFC Championship Game. In 1988, he missed three games with an injury. In 1989, he staged an acrimonious contract holdout and lost his starting position to D.J. Dozier. On October 12, Nelson was traded to the Dallas Cowboys as part of the Herschel Walker Trade. At the time he had appeared in 5 games as a backup, registering 67 carries for 321 yards and 38 receptions for 380 yards. On October 17, 1989, after refusing to report to Dallas, he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for a fifth round draft choice (#116-Reggie Thornton). He was the third-string running back behind Marion Butts and Tim Spencer. On September 3, 1990, he was released and later re-signed. He was the fourth-string running back during that season. Darrin Nelson played for the following teams: 1982 Vikings 1983 Vikings 1984 Vikings 1985 Vikings 1986 Vikings 1987 Vikings 1988 Vikings 1989 Vikings 1989 Chargers 1990 Chargers 1991 Vikings 1992 Vikings Darrin Nelson caught touchdowns from Tommy Kramer and Wade Wilson