There are renowned names frozen for all time in Minnesota Vikings lore.
Fran Tarkenton, the Purple People Eaters, Paul Krause. They are reminders locked in time of the franchise's best of times.
The
architect of all that success in the 1960s and 1970s -- highlighted by
four Super Bowl appearances -- was head coach Bud Grant.
A Hall of Famer who constructed an NFC dynasty, Grant passed away on Saturday morning, the team announced. He was 95.
A
member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 1994, Grant built the
Vikings into a dominant bunch of marauders where the NFL/NFC Central was
concerned. In an 11-season span from 1968-1978, Grant's Vikings sailed
to 10 Central Division titles.
In
total, Grant coached 18 NFL seasons -- all with the Vikings -- and
compiled a 158-96-5 record to stand as the winningest coach in franchise
history. In his time with Minnesota, Grant's Vikings earned 12 playoff
berths and won 11 division titles.
Synonymous
with the Vikings as their legendary coach, Grant was also a
historically gifted athlete in his own right and an all-time great in
the Canadian Football League coaching ranks.
History
still holds Grant as the only person to have played in the NFL, CFL and
National Basketball Association. Drafted by the NBA's Minneapolis
Lakers and the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 1950, Grant would eventually
play for both teams before moving on to play for the Winnipeg Blue
Bombers in the CFL. Following his playing career with the Blue Bombers,
Grant became their coach and a legendary one at that, leading the
franchise to six Grey Cup appearances and four Grey Cup triumphs.
Grant
was the first to coach teams to a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl, with the
only other coach to do so being fellow Pro Football Hall of Famer Marv
Levy.
After
his storied career on the gridiron closed, Grant found his place in the
Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canadian Football Hall of Fame and the
Vikings Ring of Honor.
Born May 20, 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin, Harold Peter Grant Jr. was a stellar multisport athlete.
At the University of Minnesota, Grant garnered nine letters in three sports – baseball, basketball and football.
With
the Lakers, Grant played two NBA seasons and was part of the 1950 NBA
championship squad that featured the great George Mikan. Selected in the
1950 NFL Draft's first round by the Eagles, but didn't join them until
1951 after he'd decided to give up his career on the hardwood. Grant
played two seasons with the Eagles before heading to play for the CFL's
Blue Bombers.
From
1957-1966, Grant coached the Blue Bombers, winning the aforementioned
four Grey Cups during a career that led to a statue being erected in his
honor outside of Winnipeg's IG Field.
Grant
became the second head coach in Vikings team history, succeeding Norm
Van Brocklin, in 1967. By 1968, Minnesota was in the playoffs and in
1969 it was in Super Bowl IV where it lost to the American Football
League's Kansas City Chiefs.
Grant
had brought in rough-and-tumble quarterback Joe Kapp, a CFL transplant
like his coach, to lead his Vikings then, but the majority of his career
saw Grant linked to Tarkenton at QB and the Purple People Eaters
defensive line. Grant coached a cavalcade of Pro Football Hall of
Famers, including Tarkenton, Krause, Alan Page, Carl Eller, Mick
Tingelhoff and Ron Yary.
Page,
Eller, Jim Marshall, Gary Larsen and later Doug Sutherland comprised
the Purple People Eaters, who were a driving force in the success of
Grant's squads.
Minnesota
returned to the Super Bowl in the 1973 and 1974 seasons, but lost to
Washington and the Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively. The Vikings
returned to the biggest game of them all for a fourth and final time in
the '76 campaign, but this time were downed by the Oakland Raiders.
Grant
retired as the Vikings head coach following the 1983 season, but his
successor Les Steckel was fired after a 3-13 1984 campaign, so Grant
returned in 1985. The Vikings went 7-9 that year and Grant retired a
coach for good, handing the reins to his longtime defensive coordinator,
Jerry Burns.
The
Vikings are still vying for their first Super Bowl championship, and
they're still searching for another coach to lead them to one.
Grant
was the first NFL coach to pilot a team to four Super Bowls and though
he was unable to win a Lombardi Trophy, his success is inarguable and
the legacy he left on the Minnesota franchise unparalleled.
A
stoic figure who preached discipline and toughness, Grant's Vikings
shined and dominated amid the frigid Minnesota winters, relentless in
their focus as they called Metropolitan Stadium home, flexing their
might while their opponents shivered.
The
open air above them, the frozen ground below, these Vikings were
emblematic of their coach. They were tough, they were enduring, and they
were winners.
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