Paul Allen opened his 500th game as the voice of the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday by sounding the Gjallarhorn at U.S. Bank Stadium, and the team gave the moment a fitting finish with a 16-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
That was the searchlight on the day: a radio milestone tied to a win that also pushed Minnesota to its sixth consecutive victory to open the season. Allen has spent 25 years calling Vikings football, and this one came after Kevin O'Connell asked him on Sept. 15 to handle the pregame horn blast before the Week 7 game.
The game itself did not start cleanly for Minnesota. Myles Price returned the opening kickoff 46 yards from the Minnesota 7 to the Indianapolis 47, the Colts answered with a 61-yard drive in seven plays, and Jonathan Taylor broke off a season-long 38-yard run on that march. The Vikings were scoreless in the first quarter and trailed at home before they settled in and pulled it back to 10-6, then finished the comeback at 16-10.
Allen said he was caught off guard by the request, calling it a surprise that left him blown away because others had clearly cared enough to make it happen. He also joked that he felt pressure not to get chided by Jamie, and said the team had to win because that was the bottom line. After the game, he framed the moment around the people who have listened through his run in what he calls The Vox Box, saying the honor belongs to everyone who has taken time to listen.
The win did more than celebrate a broadcast milestone. Harrison Smith recorded his 40th career interception, the Vikings extended their win streak to an NFL-best 11 games, and the franchise reached its 500th regular-season win since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. That made Minnesota the fourth team to get there, a number that gives Allen's 500th game an even rarer backdrop. He will keep going, and the next time he climbs into the booth, the milestone will already belong to Sunday.
