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Bobby Bryant and Alan Page first met at the East-West Shrine Game in San Francisco in 1967, when Page was a likely first-round pick out of Notre Dame and Bryant was a defensive back out of South Carolina. They clicked as teammates on the East squad that week; two months later, the Vikings took Page 15th overall and selected Bryant with the 167th pick.
“When we both got drafted by the Vikings, we said, ‘Why don’t we be roommates?’ ” Bryant said this summer. “So we did, for 14 years.”
Bryant and Page became one of the NFL’s first sets of interracial roommates, after Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo had done it in Chicago.
Their 57-year friendship marked another milestone this summer, when Page joined Fran Tarkenton on a call to let Bryant know he would be the 28th inductee to the Vikings Ring of Honor.
Bryant will be honored at halftime of the Vikings’ game against the Texans on Sunday, as perhaps one of the last members of the Bud Grant era to reach the Ring of Honor. He is the 15th member, and 11th player, of the Grant era to join the group; he got the news this summer about six months after his 80th birthday.
“When I did get that call, I was pretty much blown away,” Bryant said. “I really never expected it, and didn’t think I deserved it, but it sure was nice to have it. … Alan and Fran are just great players, great friends, and Alan took good care of me.
The reason I got 51 interceptions was because of Alan Page and Jim Marshall and Carl Eller and Gary Larsen and Doug Sutherland, because they didn’t give quarterbacks a whole lot of time to throw the ball. They couldn’t wait to get rid of it. A lot of times, they threw the ball right to me.”
Bryant’s 51 regular-season interceptions are second in Vikings history behind Paul Krause’s 53. Bryant’s six postseason interceptions give him a total of 57, eclipsing Krause’s 56 for the most in team history when counting the regular season and playoffs.
Bryant returned three of his regular-season interceptions for touchdowns, and he scored in two of the Vikings’ four NFC Championship Game victories.
His 63-yard return of a Roger Staubach pass put the Vikings up by two scores in the fourth quarter of their 1973 win over the Cowboys, and his 90-yard return of a blocked field goal gave the Vikings their first points of a 24-13 win over the Rams in 1976 in which Bryant also intercepted two passes.
Asked what allowed him to make so many big plays in playoff games, Bryant smiled and demurred again. “Alan Page, Gary Larsen, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller and Doug Sutherland,” he said.
Source: Startribune
Anyone remember the era of winning NFC Championship games? .
I do!
“When we both got drafted by the Vikings, we said, ‘Why don’t we be roommates?’ ” Bryant said this summer. “So we did, for 14 years.”
Bryant and Page became one of the NFL’s first sets of interracial roommates, after Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo had done it in Chicago.
Their 57-year friendship marked another milestone this summer, when Page joined Fran Tarkenton on a call to let Bryant know he would be the 28th inductee to the Vikings Ring of Honor.
Bryant will be honored at halftime of the Vikings’ game against the Texans on Sunday, as perhaps one of the last members of the Bud Grant era to reach the Ring of Honor. He is the 15th member, and 11th player, of the Grant era to join the group; he got the news this summer about six months after his 80th birthday.
“When I did get that call, I was pretty much blown away,” Bryant said. “I really never expected it, and didn’t think I deserved it, but it sure was nice to have it. … Alan and Fran are just great players, great friends, and Alan took good care of me.
The reason I got 51 interceptions was because of Alan Page and Jim Marshall and Carl Eller and Gary Larsen and Doug Sutherland, because they didn’t give quarterbacks a whole lot of time to throw the ball. They couldn’t wait to get rid of it. A lot of times, they threw the ball right to me.”
Bryant’s 51 regular-season interceptions are second in Vikings history behind Paul Krause’s 53. Bryant’s six postseason interceptions give him a total of 57, eclipsing Krause’s 56 for the most in team history when counting the regular season and playoffs.
Bryant returned three of his regular-season interceptions for touchdowns, and he scored in two of the Vikings’ four NFC Championship Game victories.
His 63-yard return of a Roger Staubach pass put the Vikings up by two scores in the fourth quarter of their 1973 win over the Cowboys, and his 90-yard return of a blocked field goal gave the Vikings their first points of a 24-13 win over the Rams in 1976 in which Bryant also intercepted two passes.
Asked what allowed him to make so many big plays in playoff games, Bryant smiled and demurred again. “Alan Page, Gary Larsen, Jim Marshall, Carl Eller and Doug Sutherland,” he said.
Source: Startribune
Anyone remember the era of winning NFC Championship games? .
I do!
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