Bud Grant has passed away at 95. RIP Bud

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Celebrating late Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant: No smoke(ing), no mirrors, just a singular legendThe former Vikings coach's remarkable life will be remembered Sunday at U.S. Bank Stadium.The first time the Vikings honored Bud Grant for his exceptional work as their head coach was on Sept. 2, 1984, in Year 3 of playing in the Metrodome.

Grant was an energetic 57 years old on that day, and it had been a shock to all Minnesotans in late January, when Sid Hartman had delivered the news in the Star Tribune that Bud was retiring after 17 seasons as the Vikings coach.
On that first Sunday of the '84 season, Grant was joined for the ceremony by his family and a number of Vikings, with Jim Marshall and Matt Blair being the most noteworthy.
As Grant was offering his remarks and the crowd announced at 57,276 was preparing for a final ovation, Bud concluded with his immortal words: "I just want to say thank you for not smoking.''
Vince Lombardi: "Defeat is worse than death, because you have to live with defeat.''
Bud (underlying message): "If you smoke you will kill yourself, and worse yet, you might kill me.'' 
As it turned out, the events on the Metrodome turf that Sunday would have considerable impact on the security Grant would enjoy in his eventual retirement.
This was Les Steckel's head coaching debut. San Diego's Air Coryell came in and lit up the Vikings for 526 yards and a 42-13 victory.
Come season's end, the Vikings were 3-13, local football fans were still in a lather over Gophers coach Lou Holtz in spite of a 4-7 debut, and Mike Lynn started lobbying Grant to return and replace Steckel.
Which is what happened. Lynn gave Grant a 10-year contract to either coach or consult. Bud coached only the 1985 season (7-9), then remained in a Winter Park office as his longtime assistant Jerry Burns became the head coach.
There was no public sendoff for Bud that time — in fact, the scoop on his yet-unannounced departure in December 1985 came not from longtime friend Sid, but from a mysterious character titled "Dark Star'' in a phone call to a local sports radio show known for breaking news on Monday nights.
Grant stayed a relevant figure to the local media and sporting public for almost four decades after coaching his last game — one reason being, obviously, there have been no other Super Bowls to distract us since those four played in the '70s.
Whether it was the outdoor life or sports in general, you only had to look at an old photo of that wondrous, steely gaze at Met Stadium to say: "I wonder what Bud thinks about this?''
The news of Grant's death on that Saturday morning, March 11, came as a surprise blow, even though he was 95. And now, at noon Sunday, there will be another sendoff for Bud from the Vikings — a celebration of his life that carries a title that's 100% valid:
"Bud Grant — He Did It His Way.''
The public was asked to claim tickets for this event at U.S. Bank Stadium. Tears are not necessary. He still was the most comfortable in his skin and logical person you could meet.
Bob Hagan, long in charge of Vikings media relations before a recent reassignment, was at Grant's cabin in Gordon, Wis., a few months ago with a video photographer for a three-hour interview that figures to live in the team's archives.
"I stayed overnight there and we were just talking,'' Hagan said. "I asked Bud, 'What's the best day you've ever had, anytime?' He thought for a few seconds and said:
" 'Today. I'm sitting here, it's a nice day, I look out and see the lake, I'm here with people I enjoy, I'm 95 and I feel pretty good. So, it's today.' "
Pause. "Who else would say that?'' Hagan said. "We'd all look back. But Bud … you enjoy what you have. You don't live just on memories.''
Dennis Ryan, recently retired as Vikings equipment manager and an employee for 47 years, was asked last week for some Bud moments. We talked for a while and then he called back with this:
"We went to London to play a regular-season game last fall. It was our fourth or fifth trip over there. The Vikings have a team of sports scientists now … and they went to work on a schedule that would give the players the optimum for adjustment to long travel, a much different time zone, sleep, everything we should be doing at a certain time to be ready as possible physically for the game.''
Pause.
"The first time we went to London was for an exhibition game in 1983,'' Ryan said. "And the schedule our sports science team came up with was exactly the same as Bud sketched out in '83, just using his common sense.''
Common sense = logic = Bud Grant.
And that includes not smoking.
https://www.startribune.com/celebrating-late-nfl-minnesota-vikings-coach-bud-grant-singular-legend-patrick-reusse/600276531/

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Vikings and fans celebrate Bud Grant, who loved family, football, the outdoors ... and cashOne of Bud Grant's sons told the group gathered indoors at U.S. Bank Stadium: "My dad would have wondered why you were here on this beautiful day in the spring. He would have said, 'Why aren't you at the cabin?' "The subject of the Bud Grant memorial service would have approved of the tenor of the ceremony. The dress code was casual, as were the conversations.

Scott Studwell wore one of his best pairs of cargo shorts. Mike Grant, one of Bud's sons, looked at the sunshine beaming through the clear plastic roof panels and said: "My dad would have wondered why you were here on this beautiful day in the spring. He would have said, 'Why aren't you at the cabin?' "
For about 90 minutes at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, Bud Grant's family, friends, former players and colleagues reminisced about the Hall of Fame Vikings coach, portraying a man who was hypercompetitive yet hardly single-minded.
They said he loved his family, the Vikings, the outdoors and old-fashioned cash, sometimes even in that order.
Emcee Mark Rosen, who covered Grant as a local television star, introduced video clips from Fran Tarkenton, Jim Marshall and Ahmad Rashad. Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose father, Jim, covered Grant and the Vikings for the Minneapolis Tribune and Star Tribune, presented Mike Grant with a framed congressional statement honoring his father.
The theme of the event was titled "Bud Grant — He Did It His Way." Former players Carl Eller, Chuck Foreman, Stu Voigt and Studwell sat on a couch and comfortable chairs to tell stories about Grant, portraying a coach who could command a room with a stare and a team with a nod.
PaulWiggin, the longtime Vikings defensive line coach, told a story about Pete Carroll, then a young defensive backs coach, showing up to practice early one day, eager to please. Grant strolled in on time. Carroll eagerly asked Grant what the plan was. Grant said, according to Wiggin, "You're the defensive backs coach. Go coach the defensive backs.''

• Photos from the celebration of Bud Grant's life

Wiggin said that at training camp Grant once assigned Carroll to go to the Mankato library and prepare a report on the Kyber Pass. "I never knew why he did it,'' Wiggin said. "It didn't make sense to me. That was Bud's way of doing things."
Carroll remains the Seattle Seahawks coach. He has won a college national title and a Super Bowl.
Wiggin compared Grant to "some ancient philosopher." Rosen remembered standing on the sidelines at a practice, and Grant wandering over, pointing to a monarch butterfly, and explaining that it was migrating to Mexico.
Grant's best friend was Star Tribune columnist Sid Hartman, who died in 2020. Sid's son, Chad, joined a media roundtable with WCCO anchor Mike Max, Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse and KFAN host Dan Barreiro, and recalled Grant telling Sid that he would give Grant's Hall of Fame induction speech.
Sid drove to Chad's house with tears in his eyes, one of the few times Chad saw him cry. Chad admitted he also helped edit Sid's speech, to include more about Bud and less about Sid.
Chad said that his father and Grant had little in common, other than the Vikings and roots in the depression. Both, late in life, took to hiding cash in their houses.
Of all the kind and fond words uttered about Grant on Sunday, the most poignant came from his son Mike.
Mike is the legendary football coach at Eden Prairie High School. Sunday, he displayed the wry sense of humor that few were privileged to see from his father.
In his later years, Bud delighted in holding a garage sale, and charging to autograph the items he sold. "He did enjoy driving down 169 to Mankato, because he was always looking for deals, things on the side of the road," Mike said. "Which, most likely, would show up later at his garage sales.
"I want at this time to say that if you bought an old weed trimmer or trolling motor that never worked, know that you put a smile on my dad's face as you walked down the driveway and he had gotten rid of some useless piece of junk."
Mike said his father's character was formed in the depression, that Bud's entertainment as a child was shooting rats at the junkyard, that he honed his pitching arm throwing rocks at telephone poles.
Sunday, fans and friends said goodbye to Grant in a billion-dollar stadium that houses the team that he made popular. At the end of the ceremony, as Frank Sinatra's "My Way" played over the sound system, Rosen told fans that they would receive ice cream, Bud's favorite snack, as they exited.
Sunshine, ice cream and old friends. Grant might have put off a trip to the cabin for this kind of gathering.
But probably not.
https://www.startribune.com/bud-grant-remembered-with-fondness-humor-paul-wiggin-chad-hardman-mike-grant-sid-hartman/600276701/

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Olde Hub Meade pays his respects on Sunday...