Vikings plan to play home games outdoors for two seasons

TCF Bank Stadium will be the Vikings' home for two seasons. (US Presswire)

On the final play of Brett Favre's career, Chicago Bears defensive end Corey Wootton easily defeated former Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie on a bull rush off the right edge and slammed the three-time NFL MVP's head into the frozen turf at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

With temperatures in the low 20s on a frigid Monday night in December of 2010, Favre was knocked out of the Vikings' 40-14 loss after suffering a head injury on the second quarter blind-side hit. On Friday, Vikings vice president Lester Bagley announced the team's intentions to play all of its home games in 2014 and 2015 at the field on the campus of University of Minnesota, as construction is completed for the Vikings' new stadium on the grounds of the Metrodome.

Initially, the team had hoped to use the outdoor facility for just one season, but the Metrodome is expected to be torn down in February of 2014 and a new stadium is expected to open by July 1, 2016, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Vikings officials and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority met Friday to complete a deal that will pay Mortenson Construction $12.5 million to build the new stadium. As part of the agreement, the fee could be lowered if there are holdups in the construction, the Star-Tribune reported. The $975 million stadium is expected to be enclosed, though plans have yet to be finalized.

"The Vikings are very interested in a retractable feature," Bagley told the Star-Tribune.

Before the 2010 loss to the Bears, the Vikings hadn't hosted an outdoor home game since leaving Metropolitan Stadium in 1981.

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