Due to a lot of reasons, the Minnesota Vikings don’t exactly have the branding of teams like the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers, or Green Bay Packers. Outside of the Twin Cities and the Dakotas, it’s hard to find a lot of Vikings fans out there. The Vikings are definitely one of those teams out there whose fanbase is mostly regional rather than national.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the Vikings don’t have any celebrity fans that support the team. Today, we are going to go over 10 celebrities who support the Vikings in one way or another.
Celebrity Fan No. 1: Nick Swardson
Comedian Nick Swardson is the unarguable face of celebrity Vikings fans. Among worldwide celebrities, Swardson stands out among the pack.
Whether it’s on Instagram or Twitter, Swardson can always be seen tweeting about his beloved Vikings. While he mostly keeps his football tweets confined in season, he has expressed his fandom plenty of times outside of football season as well, such as 2017, when he got together with Olivia Munn and posted a picture of the two of them while he was wearing his Vikings hat, claiming that he “drafted” the actress following her breakup with Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Swardson is such a die hard fan that he has stated that he loves the Vikings more than his own family. In addition, his profile picture on Instagram is of him in a Vikings jacket, and he is even a loyal follower of the NFCNorthReport Instagram page.
Celebrity Fan No. 2: Josh Duhamel
Though not as passionate as Swardson, actor Josh Duhamel is another big name Vikings fan. The North Dakota native is a massive fan in his own right, having attended the team’s 2017 NFC Championship Game loss in Philadelphia and being invited to the team’s 2018 rookie minicamp by former coach Mike Zimmer.
During the 2021 draft, the Vikings traded down and drafted tackle Christian Darrisaw, who seems to be the team’s franchise left tackle. However, Duhamel stated that he would’ve rather seen the team draft quarterback Mac Jones, who went 15th overall to the Patriots, one spot after the Vikings’ original pick.
Like Swardson, Duhamel’s social media accounts, mainly his Twitter, are filled with Vikings related tweets and photos.
Celebrity Fan No. 3: Chris Jericho
A native of Canada, professional wrestler Chris Jericho became an avid hockey fan and didn’t follow football much.
His football interests, however, changed when he met his wife, who is a native of Minnesota. Naturally, his new marriage led to his Vikings fandom. He has posted photos before of his family decked out in Vikings purple, and the team’s official twitter account even shouted him out earlier in the 2022 season when he attended the Vikings’ victory over the Dolphins in Miami.
Celebrity Fan No. 4: Louie Anderson
Though Louie Anderson passed in early 2022, the St. Paul, Minnesota native and comedian was an avid Vikings supporter.
In an interview with the Green Bay Press Gazette in 2018 ahead of a show in Green Bay, Anderson stated that the Minneapolis Miracle was the single best moment he’s ever experienced as a Vikings fan. During his Twin Cities shows, fans even gifted him custom-made Viking hats. However, unlike many Vikings fans, Anderson claimed that he did not hate the Packers in any way nor did he hate Aaron Rodgers, citing the fact that he has siblings who are fans of the Packers.
Later that year, he appeared on The Rich Eisen Show, stating that he hoped that the Vikings’ NFC Championship Game loss the prior season would benefit the team in the long run. Unfortunately for Anderson and many Vikings fans everywhere, it did not.
Celebrity Fan No. 5: Prince
Though Prince is no longer with us, the Minneapolis native was a die hard Vikings fan.
In 2010, he attended the team’s Divisional Round game against the Dallas Cowboys, which the Vikings won 34-3. Later that year, he wrote a song dedicated to his hometown team, called “Purple and Gold.”
Prior to his death, Prince was scheduled to host a concert for the August 2016 grand opening of U.S. Bank Stadium. And it was only fitting that after the Minneapolis Miracle, fans said that the musician was there with the team “in spirit.”
Celebrity Fan No. 6: Curtis Axel
Unlike Biz Markie, WWE wrestler Curtis Axel is very loyal to the Vikings. Axel, whose real name is Joseph Henning, is a Minnesota native, so his Vikings fandom came naturally.
He was spotted on the sidelines for the team’s 2016 Thursday Night Football game against the Dallas Cowboys, while also blowing the famed Gjallarhorn during a 2017 home game against the Ravens.
Celebrity Fan No. 7: Steve Zahn
Best known for portraying Frank Heffley in the first three Diary of a Wimpy Kid films, actor Steve Zahn is a native of Marshall, Minnesota, so he naturally became a Vikings fan.
Zahn is one of more invisible celebrity Viking fans out there, however, due to his lack of a social media presence. However, in a YouTube interview with MyNorth.com, Zahn confirmed his fandom when he stated that although he no longer lives full-time in his home state, he still roots for the Vikings, Twins, and Wild.
Celebrity Fan No. 8: Kyler Murray
Arizona Cardinals star quarterback Kyler Murray grew up in the Dallas-area, so he’d naturally become a Cowboys fan, right? Wrong.
Murray played on a youth football team called the Vikings, so when he got into the NFL, he decided to root for the professional team of the same name. It helped that as Murray was growing up, players such as Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson emerged as stars for the Vikings, so it’s possible that Murray was one of a lot of young football fans who became Vikings fans because of those two players.
Celebrity Fan No. 9: Larry Fitzgerald
Speaking of Cardinals players, franchise icon Larry Fitzgerald is a Minneapolis native who not only grew up a Vikings fan, but also spent a lot of time around the team during his childhood.
When he entered his teenage years, Fitzgerald began work as a ball boy for the Vikings under head coach Dennis Green. Thus, Fitzgerald often found himself hanging around the team and thus, many of the players he admired growing up.
“You know, just being around your childhood idols. Coach Green gave me the opportunity of a lifetime to be around Cris Carter, Warren Moon, Joey Browner, Randy Moss, and Robert Smith,” Fitzgerald stated in a 2015 interview ahead of a Vikings-Cardinals game in Arizona.
Celebrity Fan No. 10: Carson Wentz
Though he’s likely a career journeyman at this point in his career, Wentz won over a lot of people from Minnesota and North Dakota during his tenure at North Dakota State as the team’s starting quarterback.
It’s no shocker he won over a lot of Minnesotans, however. Growing up in Bismarck, North Dakota, Wentz grew up a Vikings fan and confirmed that in a 2016 interview with KFAN. He picked a good time to be a Vikings fan, too, as he got to witness the great Randy Moss and Adrian Peterson teams during most of his childhood and teenage years.
Many NDSU fans who are also Vikings fans still pull for Wentz to this day, unless he is playing their favorite team.
Which celebrity Vikings fan surprises you the most? Are there any other celebrity fans that we missed? Comment your thoughts below.
