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On Monday, Pro Football Reference gave the exciting update that they have added sack data going back to 1960 to their website. The NFL didn't begin counting sacks as an official statistic until 1982, so the career and single-season leaderboards had always been incomplete.

Until now.

PFR is listing the data as "unofficial," but thanks to the research of John Turney and Nick Webster of the Pro Football Researchers Association, we can now see a much fuller history of pass rushing. This new data will allow the achievements of many incredible players from 1960 to 1982 to be preserved and recognized by current and future generations.

If there's one franchise that is impacted the most by this change, it's probably the Minnesota Vikings. Now, when anyone goes to look at the all-time sack leaders in NFL history, they'll see the Purple People Eaters featured prominently. One of the most dominant defensive lines in NFL history, the Vikings' fearsome quartet of Alan Page, Carl Eller, Jim Marshall, and Gary Larsen/Doug Sutherland helped lead them to 10 division titles in 11 years and four Super Bowl appearances from 1968 to the late 1970s.

Eller sits atop the Vikings' all-time sack throne with 130.5. Marshall is right behind him at 128. John Randle, the "official" leader at 114, is now third. And Page comes in at fourth with his 108.5 sacks in a Vikings uniform.

Here's what the top 25 now looks like:

More importantly, the trio of Page, Eller, and Marshall are now among the top 25 on the NFL's all-time leaderboard. Page, who also had 40 sacks with the Bears, is eighth with 148.5 career sacks. Eller is tied for 18th. Marshall is tied for 22nd.

A cool way of looking at it is that with those three legends joining Chris Doleman, Randle, and Jared Allen, six of the top 23 sack leaders in NFL history spent the majority of their careers with the Minnesota Vikings. That's incredible.

As another note, 16 of the 25 players shown above, including Page and Eller, are in the Hall of Fame. Others like Peppers, Suggs, Ware, and hopefully Allen (he didn't get in this year, but it was just his first year of eligibility) will be there soon. So why the heck isn't Jim Marshall a Hall of Famer?

I digress.

Lastly, here's a look at the Vikings' updated single-season sack leaderboard:

This is awesome stuff. Nice work John Turney, Nick Webster, and Pro Football Reference!

This article first appeared on FanNation Inside The Vikings and was syndicated with permission.

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