Former Viking Steve Hutchinson to receive Hall of Fame ring Sunday night

The Minnesota Vikings will honor former guard Steve Hutchinson during a halftime ceremony at U.S. Bank Stadium Sunday night in presenting his Hall of Fame ring.

Hutchinson, who was inducted as a member of the Class of 2020, was officially inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past August.

As part of Sunday’s recognition ahead of the prime time matchup against the Dallas Cowboys, Hutchinson will sound the Gjallarhorn prior to kickoff.

During his 12-year career, Hutchinson blocked for a 100-yard rusher in 72 of his 177 career games (including playoffs), which is good for 41% of his games played. He also blocked for the NFL’s leading rushing twice and the second-ranked rusher twice. In eight of his 12 seasons, Hutchinson’s teams ranked in the NFL’s top-10 in rushing yards and were top-five in four of those seasons.

Following his departure from Seattle as a free agent in 2006, the Seahawks did not rank higher than 14th the next six seasons in rushing, while the Vikings jumped from 27th in 2005 to 16th in 2006 with the addition of Hutchinson. In 2002, Seattle ranked 20th when Hutchinson missed the final 12 games of the season.

From 2003-2009, when Hutchinson was playing at an All-Pro level, his teams suffered only one losing season in that seven-year span and made five playoff appearances, highlighted by Seattle’s 2005 NFC Championship. Hutchinson arrived in Seattle in 2001 and earned All-Rookie honors, joining a team that had not won a playoff game since 1984. He later helped the Seahawks to the playoffs in 2003, 2004, and to Super Bowl XL in 2005.