Dave Osborn
American football player

David Vance Osborn (born March 18, 1943) is an American former professional football player who was a running back for 12 seasons for the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, where he is the only player in program history to have his number retired.
College career
Osborn played at North Dakota from 1962 to 1964 and excelled at football alongside track & field. He earned All-Conference honors. He was inducted into the university Hall of Fame in 1977.
Pro football career
Osborn was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 13th round of the 1965 NFL draft with the 176th overall pick. His first contract was worth $9,000.
In his rookie year of 1965, Osborn had 20 carries for 106 yards for two touchdowns, while also having one reception for four yards. He returned 18 kickoff returns for 422 yards. The next year, Osborn's carries increased significantly as he carried the ball 87 times for 344 yards and one touchdown, while having 15 receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Dave Osborn” as american football player. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as american football player. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5229506. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1943, 1962, 1964 and 1977.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.
- Establishing names and roles
- Building a first chronology
- Locating cited institutions
Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Dave Osborn”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Dave Osborn primary sources, Dave Osborn archive and Dave research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Dave Osborn”?
- Which primary records establish identity, chronology and institutional ties?
- How has the subject’s reputation changed across later accounts?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Dave Osborn” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.