Vikings’ honors continue

Three Vikings were named to the Pro Football Weekly All-NFL Team this week, and three more were added to the publication’s all-rookie team.

Three Vikings were named to the Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers of America All-NFL Team this week, which tied for second place among all NFL teams.

Adrian Peterson, John Sullivan and Blair Walsh all made the 27-member team, which is selected from the entire NFL. This year’s team had 14 AFC players and 13 NFC players. San Francisco led the way with four selections, followed by four teams with three – Denver, New England, Seattle and the Vikings.

Only three players were selected via unanimous vote – Peterson, Detroit wide receiver Calvin John and Houston DE J.J. Watt. Sullivan was one of five players to make the PFW/PFWA team that wasn’t named to the Pro Bowl.

Peterson was named the Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year by PFW and Pro Football Writers of America and Walsh was given the annual Golden Toe Award by PFW, which is handed out annually to the NFL’s top kicker.

The Vikings were also the only team to have three players named to the PFW/PFWA 2012 All-Rookie Team, as Walsh, Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith were all named to the 26-member team. Due to no rookie centers having any significant playing time in 2012, there wasn’t a center named to the team.

The three Vikings named to the All-NFL team was the most since 2008. Over the last three seasons, only one Viking was named to the team – Peterson in 2009-10 and Jared Allen last year.

While Peterson is grabbing much of the spotlight during the NFL’s awards season, the rest of the league is taking notice that the Vikings are far from a one-man team and have other players worthy of being honored.

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John Holler has been writing about the Vikings for more than a decade for Viking Update. Follow Viking Update on Twitter and discuss this topic on our message boards. To become a subscriber to the Viking Update web site or magazine, click here.

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