Vikings' plane ordeal latest strange event in a season full of them

In case you missed it, the Minnesota Vikings’ team plane slid off the runway at Appleton (Wis.) International Airport on Friday night as it was taxiing after a safe landing. While there were no injuries, the Vikings players, coaches and staff were stuck on the plane for over four hours, unloaded one or two at a time via a fire truck bucket.

Defensive lineman Brian Robison posted video of his deplaning on Instagram:

(Not for nothing, but how does an alleged international airport not have anything better than one bucket truck for a situation like the one the Vikings had? And why wasn’t the plane’s emergency slide used? According to the Green Bay Press-Gazette, Delta officials ruled out the slide for “safety concerns…especially with well-compensated athletes.” Which is weird, because in theory can’t a finely tuned athlete handle an evacuation slide better than your Grandma Rosie and her titanium hip?)

Paul Allen, the Vikings’ radio voice who travels with the team, kept up a funny commentary on his Twitter feed. According to Allen, the plane ran out of toilet paper and food, and at one point he spelled out how long the ordeal had been for the team:

And that was just after 10 p.m.; Minneapolis Star-Tribune Vikings reporter Matt Vensel tweeted just before midnight that all members of the team’s traveling group were off the plane and at the team hotel.

The runway incident and accompanying four-hour wait for freedom would have been memorable enough for a team, but it was the latest in a long line of strange, sometimes unfortunate events the Vikings have endured this season:

• On Aug. 30, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater suffered a non-contact knee injury during a training camp practice, dislocating his knee, tearing his ACL and other structural damage;

Knowing Bridgewater would be out for all of 2016 and unsure of his availability in 2017, the Vikings pulled the trigger on a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 3 that sent Sam Bradford to Minnesota, giving up a first-round pick and fourth-round pick (that can become as high as a second) in the process;

• On Sept. 18, during Minnesota’s Week 2 game against the Packers, All-Pro running back Adrian Peterson suffered what was later diagnosed as a torn meniscus. Peterson underwent surgery a few days later, and returned to practice in mid-December, though he likely rushed it – he played in the Vikings’ Week 15 game against the Colts, but couldn’t play Saturday against Green Bay.

• Kicker Blair Walsh struggled throughout the season. Walsh, a fifth-year veteran, missed four field goals and four extra points before the Vikings released him after nine games. They signed Kai Forbath to replace him.

• On Nov. 2, with the Vikings struggling to move the ball, offensive coordinator Norv Turner surprisingly quit. Pat Shurmur, who had experience with Bradford as Eagles offensive coordinator, took over coordinator duties.

• On Nov. 30, the team announced head coach Mike Zimmer had to undergo emergency eye surgery and was not on the sideline for the team’s Thursday night Week 12 game against the Dallas Cowboys;

And then, on Friday night, the Vikings were stuck on a plane.