04-01-2022, 05:44 PM
Hey everyone -- long time member who posts infrequently ... indulge me this personal, but very Vikings-related story. About six years ago I took a job where I sit on the executive team of a multinational company located in Texas. This week, we had our extended leadership meeting in Fort Worth. Due to my position, I was very involved in the prep and content for the three-day meeting. On Wednesday evening we had an organized "after party" with entertainment (a country singer) at a venue in the Stockyards. What I didn't know was the the CEO (my boss) also had hired a guest speaker for the event. As he made the introduction it became clear to me who the speaker was going to be -- none other than Drew Pearson. I could not believe it. The CEO even stuck the knife in during the introduction, saying that he imagined that I was watching the "Hail Mary" game with my little Fran Tarkenton jersey on at the time. Truth be told, I was 9 years old on that fateful day and nothing, yes nothing (four Super Bowl losses; the Atlanta/Gary Anderson loss; the Saints bounty gate debacle game) has left such an indelible scar on this Viking fan.
I literally did not know how to react. I was big-time pissed off. I booed Pearson as he came to the stage and made "push off" gestures. I was trying not to be childish, but for the longest time I could not even look at the guy. And he was annoying as f*ck. Ever hear the guy speak? It was 20 minutes of self-celebration; over half of the talk was about the "Hail Mary" and most of the rest was about his recent induction into the Hall of Fame. He wore his HOF blazer and two Super Bowl rings. He punctuated every other comment he made with a "Hut Hut!!".
After the talk he gave out signed NFL footballs to a small team that had won some event and was posing for pictures, etc. At first I wanted nothing to do with that scene. But then I decided to approach the stage. We had a talk. His response to the play was "it was football, not golf". I asked him if he felt bad at all that the only reason he was in the Hall of Fame was his association with an iconic play where he pushed a defender to the ground in one of the worst no-calls in NFL history. He got offended and said his career was "beyond worthy" of the HOF without that play. His handler started coming over and I asked if he would pose for a picture of him "pushing off". He then laughed, said "Sure. But this better not go viral". He insisted that I take a picture with him with the Super Bowl rings on: "that's the payment. As a Viking fan I know you ain't never seen one of these". Fair exchange. After the pictures he took me aside and said (paraphrasing here): "Those Vikings were tough. Coach Landry invented the shotgun formation because the Purple People Eaters were too good to block for more than 3 seconds". Then he said "you should be proud. That's a great team. I'd hate you if you were an Eagles Fan."
Its too early to say, but after 47 years I may have found some semblance of peace.![[Image: u66ctb94qjlo.jpg]](https://vikefans.com/vfforums/uploads/editor/65/u66ctb94qjlo.jpg)
I literally did not know how to react. I was big-time pissed off. I booed Pearson as he came to the stage and made "push off" gestures. I was trying not to be childish, but for the longest time I could not even look at the guy. And he was annoying as f*ck. Ever hear the guy speak? It was 20 minutes of self-celebration; over half of the talk was about the "Hail Mary" and most of the rest was about his recent induction into the Hall of Fame. He wore his HOF blazer and two Super Bowl rings. He punctuated every other comment he made with a "Hut Hut!!".
After the talk he gave out signed NFL footballs to a small team that had won some event and was posing for pictures, etc. At first I wanted nothing to do with that scene. But then I decided to approach the stage. We had a talk. His response to the play was "it was football, not golf". I asked him if he felt bad at all that the only reason he was in the Hall of Fame was his association with an iconic play where he pushed a defender to the ground in one of the worst no-calls in NFL history. He got offended and said his career was "beyond worthy" of the HOF without that play. His handler started coming over and I asked if he would pose for a picture of him "pushing off". He then laughed, said "Sure. But this better not go viral". He insisted that I take a picture with him with the Super Bowl rings on: "that's the payment. As a Viking fan I know you ain't never seen one of these". Fair exchange. After the pictures he took me aside and said (paraphrasing here): "Those Vikings were tough. Coach Landry invented the shotgun formation because the Purple People Eaters were too good to block for more than 3 seconds". Then he said "you should be proud. That's a great team. I'd hate you if you were an Eagles Fan."
Its too early to say, but after 47 years I may have found some semblance of peace.