Instead of "BOOM!," the moment called for BA-ROOOOOM!

"Voice of the Vikings" Paul Allen opened his 500^th game in the role Sunday by sounding the Gjallarhorn at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Prior to approaching the platform in a custom 500 Purple Vikings jersey, he hugged his daughter and son before high-fiving fans and leading the crowd in the SKOL Chant. Then it was time to provide one of the most signature starts to a contest throughout the sporting world.

The echo of the Gjallarhorn concluded as Myles Price returned the opening kickoff — Allen has become known for his enthusiastic "BOOM!" when a kicker's foot meets the ball — 46 yards from the Minnesota 7 to the Indianapolis 47.

That drive stalled, and the Colts promptly galloped 61 yards in seven plays, highlighted by Jonathan Taylor's season-long 38-yard trot.

A special setup enabled Allen to convey sights and sounds from the Gjallarhorn platform before joining Vikings Audio Network analyst Pete Bercich in the broadcast booth, which Allen affectionately refers to as "The Vox Box." Sideline reporter and former Vikings linebacker Ben Leber worked with Berich while Allen was in transit.

After going scoreless in the first quarter and trailing at home against the Colts for the third time since 2022 (33 points that year to set up a record comeback; 7-0 in 2024 and 10-6 Sunday), the Vikings proved again to be late closers, gaining momentum on the homestretch to finish a 16-10 win.

Minnesota's sixth consecutive victory to open the season was secured with the 40^th career interception for Harrison Smith — per usual, P.A. met the moment with style and substance.

In addition to extending the Vikings current win streak to an NFL-best 11 games, the outcome chalked Minnesota's win column for the 500^th time in regular seasons since the AFL and NFL merged in the 1970 season. The Vikings became the fourth team to reach that milestone since the merger, joining the Steelers (539), Cowboys (512) and Patriots (500). The Broncos enter Week 8 with 498. The Dolphins (497) and 49ers (490) are a few lengths back.

Honored by the invitation

In his 25^th season, Allen has learned the power of preparation and the value in anticipation when trying to expect the unexpected.

He puts in the hours to be ready for nearly anything but was totally surprised when Vikings Head Coach Kevin O'Connell took an aside on Sept. 15 while recording Xs and Os to ask Allen to sound the Gjallarhorn before the Week 7 game.

Shock shifted into a broad smile on Allen's face. He leaned back in an office chair, "Oh, wow, c'mon, man! Really?"

Moments after the on-air surprise, Allen explained, "I was blown away because it's clear others had talked about it and cared about it."

He described the invitation as "an ultimate professional honor" and thought of previous sounders, including Vikings Ring of Honor members and Good Morning Football's Jamie Erdahl, who coincidentally and memorably sounded the horn before Minnesota defeated Indianapolis in 2024.

"I'm kind of feeling a little pressure to not get chided by Jamie, so the team must win. That's the bottom line," Allen said six weeks ago. "Those are big shoes to fill.

"After they surprised me and I started reflecting a little bit on 25 years of having the honor of calling Minnesota Vikings football on the radio, it is everybody who has taken time to listen to the games," Allen said. "I've always looked at it like I serve the listener because people make a conscious choice to turn on 'The Fan.'

"I pray before every game. And part of the prayer is recognizing that I serve those who are listening to give them accuracy, give them energy, give them humor and give them vivid descriptions of what their favorite team is doing," Allen continued.

"The Gink is on Fire" & "A.P. is Loose!" & "Harry the Hitman"

Nearly two decades ago in Rock Valley, Iowa, a middle school student listened to Allen's coverage on the Vikings Audio Network when Vikings games were not on the family's TV coverage.

"If I couldn't watch the game, I was putting the radio on and giving Paul Allen a good listen," explained Vikings outside linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel, who smiled as he recalled time spent listening from the family's vehicle with his older brothers.

In the 2024 season opener and Van Ginkel's debut with the Vikings, he quickly became a household name when he picked off Daniel Jones and returned the ball 10 yards for a touchdown. He became a Bunyan-esque folk hero four weeks later when he picked off Aaron Rodgers and returned the ball 63 yards for a score against the Jets in London.

"Oh man, I couldn't have even dreamed of [playing in NFL games with Allen calling the action]," Van Ginkel said last week, thinking back to the start of his first Pro Bowl campaign. "It was a special moment for me, obviously playing for the Vikings and what that all entails. But no, I wouldn't have dreamed it in a million years."

Van Ginkel had connected with Allen prior to the opener and told the announcer, "He's a legend — one of the best commentators," an opinion formed during Van Ginkel's formative years and reinforced over time.

"I think just his enthusiasm," Van Ginkel answered when asked what he likes about the way Allen calls games. "He's always on top of it. Whenever somebody makes a play, he's excited, and you can just tell that he's detailed in how he goes about his business. "And man, you can still hear the calls about Adrian Peterson 'getting loose' and all his long runs, but I would say he was always ecstatic."

Van Ginkel was 12 years old during Peterson's 2007 rookie season, a campaign in which Peterson briefly bobbled a short pass from Tarvaris Jackson before striding for a 60-yard TD in his first NFL game. Peterson rushed for 12 touchdowns that season, including scores of 67, 73, 35 at the Bears, as well as 64 and 46 yards against the Chargers on the way to the NFL single-game rushing record of 296.

A dozen years after admiring the call, Van Ginkel earned his own, "AND HE'S LOOSE!!" from Allen during his 63-yard return after intercepting Rodgers.

ALLEN: The Jets are 0-of-2 on third down. This is third-and-6 from the Vikings 38. Three receivers right, one left. They blitz Rodgers —

BERCICH: INTERCEPTED!

ALLEN: And they pay for it! Picked off by VAN GINKEL! Nearside to the 50, on the sideline, 40! AND HE'S LOOSE!! TOUCH-DOWN!!! Andrew Van Ginkel has put Aaron Rodgers on the fifth pick six of his career. It's a 63-yard return, and the Minnesota Vikings have taken a 9-0 lead.

Van Ginkel often is celebrated between games during 9 to Noon episodes with a "The Gink, the Gink, the Gink is on fire!" chant performed in unison by Allen and 9 to Noon producer Eric Nordquist.

Roughly 50 hours before Sunday's kickoff, Peterson phoned into the "Friday Football Feast" — the special name for weekly in-person, in-season installments of Allen's daily 9 to Noon show to congratulate Allen on the milestone. They reminisced over those big runs and so many other moments in a career that has Peterson heading to the Vikings Ring of Honor on Nov. 9 when Minnesota hosts Buffalo on Monday Night Football.

Allen asked Peterson to recall his first game at Chicago in which he rushed for 224 yards and returned a kickoff 53 yards after the Bears tied the game at 31 with 1:38 remaining. The dramatic runback set up a 55-yard game-winner by Ryan Longwell to topple the defending NFC Champions. Peterson delivered radio gold.

"The night before, I think I went to Joe's [Seafood, Prime Steak &] Stone Crab with a few of my family members, and I saw Brian Urlacher," Peterson recalled. "He walked in, and I just remember thinking, 'Oh my God, this is a huge linebacker.' It was him and [Lance] Briggs, and just all those guys they had on the defense were so awesome.

"I remember the first time I got tackled by both of those guys," he continued. "It was an inside-zone play, and I ended up bouncing it, and Briggs and Urlacher got me pretty good on the sideline. And of course, like I always did, I ran hard and physical, and I just remember getting up and glancing over to the left, looking at them as I was jogging back to the huddle. And I saw a look on their face, and both of them were just kind of like, 'OK, we might have our hands full.' "

Allen describes himself as "racetrack raised," having begun his career by calling horse races. He developed his signature style by incorporating those calls into football games, making it apropos for Allen's 500^th game to include a team whose nickname stems from Baltimore's horse-racing background and whose current home city is famous for 500 miles of auto racing.

During Friday's conversation with Peterson, Allen thanked the star RB for his off-to-the-races moments that provided traction for one of the most famous calls in the NFL.

"When a horse would take the lead at the top of the stretch, every so often I would say, 'And so-and-so has taken the lead, and he's loose by five.' So I took that from racetrack announcing because of you to the National Football League and then just started blurting, 'AND HE'S LOOSE!!' And I'm not doing that without you, man. So thank you very much for that," Allen said.

Peterson laughed and humbly replied: "No problem. And that's legendary, too. That's legendary, man. Any highlight I see when I'm with the Vikings, man, that's classic. 'And he's loose!' I love it.

"Congratulations," Peterson added. "You're one of the best, if not the best, to ever do it, man, so I'm just appreciative that I had the honor and the blessing of you calling all my games while I was there, man. You made it remarkable."

Van Ginkel and Smith — known for more than a decade as "Harry the Hitman" from Allen's descriptions of the thumping the safety has dealt opposing quarterbacks, runners and pass catchers — enjoy replays of Allen's calls coming across their Instagram feeds.

"He's my favorite," Smith said last Friday when asked about Allen before winding up in one Sunday with his 40^th career INT. "He animates the game so much. I can always listen to P.A. His love for the Vikings is in the broadcast, which is great. It just adds so much to it and brings it to life. You can see what he's talking about. He's got so many one-liners that just give me chills."

Finding the first platform

Long before Sunday's pageantry (or calls going viral on social media), Allen was just happy to make it to his first NFL platform.

In 2000, Vikings radio broadcasts were carried on WCCO, but the team sought to introduce a cybercast that could reach beyond the region. WCCO did not have an interest, so the team approached KFAN with the opportunity.

"We had a big station-wide meeting that I'll never forget — all of us," Allen recalled. "And Gregg Swedberg, who's still there, told us [about the opportunity] and said, 'Well, who wants to do play-by-play?' And I put my hand up, and I'd never done play-by-play ever at any level except for horse racing. So that is how the cybercast play-by-play started."

Allen was the only one to raise his hand in that meeting, and the new crew was off and running, albeit without much of an alley.

Home games were called from the baseball press box at the Metrodome, and road games were less hospitable or cybercast from a conference room without the critical benefit of an all-22 view.

"That's the best part of P.A.'s broadcast story, I think, the cybercast days," KFAN Program Director Chad Abbott said. "P.A. at that point had never done a game. I had never produced a game. We had limited equipment. We'd go find a spot in the stadium, oftentimes an empty suite. We'd string a microphone cord through vents to get to the outside just to get some sort of ambiance. And he'd call games with Irv Cross or Mike Morris for an internet listenership that I'm sure is dwarfed by what we get now."

Allen recalled going to the Silverdome, home of the Detroit Lions from 1975 to 2002, during that 2000 season in which Minnesota advanced to the NFC Championship.

"We thought we had a place to broadcast. We did not have a place to broadcast, so at the last second, they gave us an end zone suite because the Lions weren't very good, and the Vikings were really good," Allen said. "Abbott was producing on the road with me, and I think 'Superstar' Mike Morris. All of a sudden, we're configuring an end zone suite to do a cybercast, and Abbott, to get crowd noise, had to string a microphone through an air vent and duct tape it down to get the din of the crowd at Silverdome. There were probably six games that year that I called off TV, road games that we just couldn't get to."

One of those remote road games — at New England on Sept. 17, 2000 — provided a still-vivid memory.

"We had a defensive end named Bryce Paup. And I must have gone through the entire roster off TV being like, 'The sack goes to this guy, this guy. No, it's Bryce Paup. IT'S BRYCE PAUP!' I was so excited that I finally figured it out," Allen laughed.

Abbott recalled: "The TV finally went to the replay, and it was Bryce Paup, and he went nuts about Bryce Paup. I'll never forget that. It's very behind the scenes. I don't think the listeners would remember it … but just him waiting to get it right but having to wait and stretch and pad until TV shows the replay. It just shows you where we came from. That's why I like that one, because we came from auxiliary booths at stadiums and we came from conference rooms in Bloomington, Minnesota, to get to the point where he's hit 500."

The views weren't worth much, but the perspective gained proved priceless.

"Those were unique days, that it gives me pause to recognize not only how difficult it was to do it then, but I had no idea it was difficult because I had never done it," Allen said. "So it helps me greatly appreciate the privilege I and we have now at this stage of my and our careers."

Abbott credits Allen's success to a few factors including the prep work between games, as well as the genuineness in his delivery.

"He doesn't try to put on a fake voice. He doesn't try to just fall into the normal silo of announcers," Abbott said. "He kind of wanted to be himself, and we encouraged him to be himself and that's where you come up with the witty phrases and that's where you could hear the emotion. We didn't want a traditional broadcast. That was never our idea from the start.

"His delivery comes with great description, and it comes with emotion," Abbott added. "Sometimes you get one or the other, and he's got the ability to do both and to do it super well and super articulate. There's just not a lot of guys in any play-by-play form that can do the things he can do."

'There's a gallop to it'

Bercich, a former Vikings linebacker and coach, is in his 20^th season of teaming with Allen as the Vikings Audio Network analyst, extending a relationship that began during Bercich's time on Minnesota's sideline.

"I know he loved working with Joe Senser, and he and Joe were fantastic," Bercich said. "Joe retired after the 2006 season, and I was really in the right place at the right time, having been with the Vikings for the previous 11 seasons and [a guest] on KFAN all of 2006."

Relationship-building is an incredibly important aspect of the business, but it doesn't guarantee smooth mechanics while providing live broadcasts of games. Bercich remembered going into the first preseason game without any form of practice as a team.

"Paul was there every step — he was unbelievably important in the beginning, as far as feedback and guiding me on that path because Paul wants to be the best. He wants the radio team, which consists of Ben [Leber] and Paul and me, to be the best in the business.

"And sometimes they're difficult conversations. Sometimes it can be critical, it can be fun, it can be all kinds of different things, but his desire to have the best group, that's really the foundation for it. For Paul, that's something that's never left."

The duo has merged harmoniously, a combination built on a love for the game, an embrace of the prep work and a passion for relaying the action.

One brain with two voices that activate different but complementary reactions.

Asked the key to the chemistry, Bercich said, "Each of us being ourselves."

"That's the one thing that he wants you to be: yourself. Be you, whatever that is," Bercich said. "Because just recently in the game against New Orleans, I was popping in a lot in key spots. You know what I mean? And I told him, there's certain games against the Saints where I'm like, 'This is an unbelievable opportunity to go 5-0,' and there's certain games where I get, 'Don't miss out on this opportunity,' so I get edgy. Anyway, I told him, 'Hey, I know I've been jumping in a lot. I apologize.' And he goes, 'No, be you.' "

Chris Hawkey, an audio producer and co-host of KFAN's popular Power Trip Morning Show, looks forward to every game day because he knows Allen will meet the moments — history-making or humbling, plausible or seemingly impossible — with apt description and emotion.

"The moment is never too big for him — the Minneapolis Miracle, no matter what happens," Hawkey said. "He's the guy you want on the microphone.

"A lot of times things happen where you'd expect he wouldn't have the stat or the number because nobody would ever expect that might have happened, and it's always right there for him," Hawkey said. "A lot of it is written down, but a lot of it comes right out of his head, so he puts in the time, loves football and what he does, really respects the game, and I love to see when we go to other cities, how the other play-by-play guys in television and radio react to him because he is a treasure — somebody that everybody knows wherever we go."

Truthfully, after the Cardinals knocked the Vikings out of playoff contention in the 2003 finale, Allen wondered if he had called his final Vikings game. It's an epic call between Allen and Senser because it captures a tactical mistake being made by Minnesota in real time. Former Owner Red McCombs was not pleased with the sequence (the Vikings had led 17-6 at the 2-minute warning), but Allen returned the next season and beyond.

SENSER: The clock continues to run, P.A.

ALLEN: 17, 16, 15.

SENSER: See, they have to go deep into the end zone.

ALLEN: We better put some people in the end zone, right Joe?

SENSER: That's exactly right.

ALLEN: There's nobody inside the 10.

SENSER: Get back, guys.

Here it is. The season's on the line! Two receivers, left and right. McCown takes the snap, he steps up, he's all by himself. Fires it into the end zone. CAUGHT! TOUCHDOWN! NOOOOO! NOOOOO! THE CARDINALS HAVE KNOCKED THE VIKINGS OUT OF THE PLAYOFFS. I believe it was caught by Nate Poole. He's being mugged by his Cardinal teammates. There are Minnesota Vikings crying on the field.

He gave words to the ecstasy of "Favre to Lewis" in September 2009 when the Vikings put the NFL on notice as a legitimate contender for Super Bowl XLIV.

Favre back to pass, pumps to the left, eight seconds left. He gets away from the pressure, fires to the back of the end zone. It's caught! It's Greg Lewis! TOUCH-DOWN! Oh my goodness!

Greg Lewis, welcome to Minnesota. OH. MY. HEAVENS! Greg Lewis' first catch has given the Minnesota Vikings an improbable victory. No flags on the field. Brett Favre, Greg Lewis! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT?

… and the agony in the NFC Championship when the Vikings fell a game shy.

Why do you even ponder passing?

I mean, YOU CAN TAKE A KNEE, AND TRY A 56-YARD FIELD GOAL.

THIS IS NOT DETROIT, MAN. THIS IS THE SUPER BOWL!

"I love that line," Berich said, despite the pain it conjures, because it relates so well to his experiences as a player and coach.

"Brett Favre hugged me in the locker room after the game. It's the only time after a game that I've cried because it was so emotional, and he was so iconic," Allen reminisced. "When it comes to plays or play calls that I've had on the radio that maybe don't get as much run as the Miracle or the '09 game, first and foremost, Week 3 in 2009, the fact that I knew Greg Lewis was in the game, and it was his first play with the team, and then he's the one who caught the pass, back center of the end zone to win the game, and I caught it without using my binoculars, professionally, that was an accomplishment for me."

Another truly historic game — against last Sunday's opponent, no less — stands tall among so many memories. Minnesota erased a 33-point halftime deficit to Indianapolis in December 2022 to prevail 39-36 in overtime.

Bercich can't help but laugh when he recalls Allen's demeanor through a first half in which everything went wrong for the Vikings and a second stanza when everything had to go right — and did.

"One of my guilty pleasures in life is just to hear him go absolutely batty over something," Bercich said.

Both did in the waning moments of regulation as Minnesota tied the game at 36 with a touchdown and 2-point conversion.

"Dalvin Cook had a swing pass in that comeback against the Indianapolis Colts that I'll never forget," Allen said. "I mean, the sequence was the Colts went for it on fourth-and-short with Matt Ryan. They got stopped.

"The building is on fire because you're coming back from 33 points, NFL record, but the next play was a swing left to Dalvin where he had to drag Colts into the end zone," Allen continued. "And I'll just never forget the feeling in the building, the feeling in the booth. It was an amazing play."

ALLEN: Here it is, stretch the chain. HE DIDN'T GET IT.

NO HE DIDN'T!

THEY STOPPED HIM. YES, THEY DID.

…

ALLEN: Cousins, first-and-10 from his own 36-yard line, back to pass, screen left to Dalvin. Turns it up outside the numbers at the 40, gets to the 50, AND HE'S LOOSE!

BERCICH: NO WAY!

ALLEN: DALVIN, 20, TO THE LEFT, 15, 10, 5, TOUCHDOWN!!!!! DALVIN COOK.

YES! YES! A 64-YARD TOUCHDOWN, AND HE HAD TO DRAG A COLT INTO THE END ZONE.

36-34 INDY, 2:15 TO GO. DOWN BY 2, HERE WE GO. Cousins puts Jefferson in motion. Snap, he fakes a handoff, looks left, looks center.

BERCICH: YES!

ALLEN: It is T.J. Hockenson for the 2, AND WE'RE TIED AT 36.

The Minnesota Vikings, down 33, have come all the way back on the Indianapolis Colts, and it's now 36-36.

The score by Cook allowed Allen to demonstrate his understanding of the crescendo, an element he brought to football from his time at the track.

"Calling a horse race involves building a crescendo from leaving the gate down to the finish line," Allen said. "Calling an individual play also is a crescendo-building job. So the fact that I was able to mesh both, I pulled, 'AND HE'S LOOSE!'  Or 'Left in the wake of a keen turn of speed.' "

Bercich said Allen's cadence is the key to the combination.

"If you listen to him call a race or in the booth, that rhythm is familiar. You recognize it from horse racing, and that's very unique to him. It's very different. It's not Pat Summerall.

"There's a gallop to it. There's a rhythm to it. And that's his style. It's just how he is," Bercich continued. "And again, that goes back to 'be you, be yourself,' and his foundation is that. It is the horse-racing side of it. I think the worst thing would be if you did do that and then he came to football and said, 'Well, I don't want to sound like I'm doing horse racing at all. I want to sound completely different.' It's not that at all. It's him just being him."

The cybercast days proved to be a great training ground for Allen, who refined his style. He didn't get the play-by-play job in 2001 but proved ready to hit the ground running when the gate reopened in 2002.

"This is the only play-by-play job that I've ever had in my life," Allen said. "I'm very fortunate in that starting in '02 through where we are now, we've had Daunte Culpepper to Randy Moss, and then we've had Adrian Peterson come in 2007. And then we have Brett Favre in 2009. And now we have Justin Jefferson and Harrison Smith. I mean, there have been great players making massive plays all quarter century that I have done it. And not every team can say that to the HOF level of Randy Moss and Brett Favre and eventually Harrison Smith and the likes of Justin Jefferson.

"I look at it like I've served this great fan base with descriptions on the radio for a quarter century," he added. "And that's an honor that blows me away."

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