These Explorers were more than ready for some football.
That’s why in 1965 a group of guys got together to form Explorer Post 467, sponsored by the Minnesota Vikings Football Club.
For its bimonthly meetings, the post held mock NFL drafts, toured the team’s Metropolitan Stadium and met with sports reporters who covered the team.
On their committee sat Minnesota Vikings coaches, players and staff members.
In short, Explorer Post 467 must have been a dream come true for any young man who loved pro football.
Today marks the start of the National Football League’s regular season, but before we look forward to the games tonight and on Sunday and Monday, let’s look back at this collaboration between Scouting and sports.
In the October 1967 issue of Scouting magazine, you’ll find a story headlined “Minnesota Vikings Score With Special-Interest Post.” Find this and other past issues in our app. (Search “Scouting magazine” in your device’s app store.)
Kicking off
Explorer Post 467 didn’t come onto the scene quietly.
In a game against the San Francisco 49ers in 1965, the Vikings presented Post 467 with its official charter — during the halftime show.
The day’s program read: “The Vikings are trying a new version of the post pattern. This one doesn’t involve offensive ends. It involves those who are interested in extending the sports education and training of boys.”
Those words prove the post’s real purpose went beyond watching sports and getting autographs from players. Its real intent was to promote boys’ interest in sports administration.
The message is that careers in sports don’t always require you to wear a helmet and pads.
No couch potatoes here
Check out some of the activities the post enjoyed during its first two years in existence:
- Attending the filming of a CBS “Countdown to Kickoff” show
- Discussing crowd control and ushering with the stadium’s director of ushering
- Meeting sportscaster Hal Scott, a play-by-play announcer for the Minnesota Twins
- Learning about officiating from an ice hockey official
- Hearing about a player’s attitude in sports from a defensive back
- Talking about scouting college players with the Vikings’ personnel director
- Chatting about sports journalism with a United Press International bureau chief
- Touring the plant that prints souvenir football programs
Over the course of three meetings one year, the post held a simulated NFL draft using actual draft summaries prepared by Vikings coaches.
More to cheer about
Those meetings sound awesome (where do I sign up?), but they were about more than fun, as the Scouting article explains.
“Whether Post 467’s specialty of professional sports administration is a hobby or career training for the Explorers, they are associating with men and acquiring ideas that will benefit them all their lives.”
The story as it appeared in Scouting magazine
(Click to enlarge)
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