Goodbye to Bud Grant at the age of 95.
The Hall of Fame coach holds several unique honors and one that I think that he holds alone and almost certainly will never be matched.
Grant, to my knowledge, is the only person to play in both the NFL and CFL and work as a head coach in both leagues.
Grant was the Eagles' first-rounder in the 1950 draft and led the Eagles in sacks in 1951 as a defensive end before moving to wide receiver for 1952 when he finished with 997 yards, which was second in the league.
Grant left the Eagles after that season in a contract dispute and moved to the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the days when a player could make more money in Canada in the right situation.
Grant also played for the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers for two seasons as a reserve and won a championship with the 1950-51 Lakers.
Grant would become the head coach of the Blue Bombers in 1957, keeping the job through 1966 and winning four Grey Cups with Winnipeg before leaving for the Vikings in 1967 for the greatest run in franchise history.
After a weird 3-8-3 record in his first season, the Grant-led Vikings would win the NFC Central division title in every season but one (1972 was won by Green Bay) and win the NFL/NFC championships on four occasions (1969,73,74, and 1977) but would never push through with a Super Bowl win.
I don't hold that against Grant as arguably only in one of those games (Much as Marv Levy in his four Super Bowl defeats) did Grant have the better team (1969 vs Kansas City) and even then Grant was handicapped by quarterback Joe Kapp, a much better runner than passer against a Hall of Famer in Len Dawson.
Grant's Vikings relished their home-field advantage and would often use it to their psychological advantage with Grant not allowing heaters on the sidelines and most of the team wearing short-sleeve shirts in the often freezing weather to intimidate the opponent.
While I can certainly understand Minneapolis preferring a domed stadium for its multiple uses, I've always thought that it is no coincidence that the Vikings have never made another Super Bowl appearance since moving inside (and not since Grant retired for that matter) and giving away an advantage that no team could match other than arguably Green Bay.
Goodbye to Otis Taylor at the age of 80
Taylor foiled Bud Grant in Super Bowl IV when Taylor grabbed a Len Dawson pass and shrugged off a tackle attempt by Minnesota's Earsell Mackbee and ran uncontested for a forty-six-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, immediately after the Vikings had scored their first (and only) touchdown of the game and appeared to be getting back into the contest.
Taylor was one of the first big (6'3) and fast receivers in the game and was one of the heavily contested AFL vs NFL signing battles between the AFL Chiefs and NFL Cowboys.
Taylor was being babysat by NFL agents in a hotel room and was snuck out by Chiefs agent Lloyd Wells.
Taylor escaped through a window and was smuggled to Kansas City to sign his contract with the AFL.
Taylor finished his career with over four hundred receptions, and over seven thousand receiving yards, averaging 17.8 yards per catch for his career, and was a seniors nominee for the Hall of Fame in the most recent election but failed to be inducted.
Taylor is just one of many players from the 60s and 70s that deserve enshrinement in Canton, yet never seem to climb the hill as the statistics from the age aren't as glossy as more recent players that play more games in a season and are able to accumulate flashier numbers.
Goodbye to John Brockington at the age of 74.
Brockington was a key part of the recruiting class of 1967 (freshmen ineligible) that led Ohio State to the 1968 national title and within one win (loss to Michigan in 1969, and Rose Bowl loss to Stanford for 1970) of two more national championships.
Brockington's recruiting class finished with an overall record of 27-2 in their three varsity seasons in Columbus and he rushed for over 1,100 yards in 1970, which set the Ohio State record for rushing yardage in a season at that time.
Brockington was selected in round one in 1971 by Green Bay and would win the rookie of the year award with the first of his three consecutive 1,000 yards seasons with all three seasons seeing Brockington named to either the first or second-team All-Pro squad.
Brockington was the first player in NFL history to rush for over one thousand yards in his first three seasons but his physical running style led to a short shelf life, running for 884 yards in 1974 and a large drop to only over four hundred yards in both 1975 and 1976.
Brockington played in the Green Bay opener in 1977 but was then released and picked up by the Kansas City Chiefs, where he would finish the season and retire at the end of the year.
Goodbye to Ken Buchanan at the age of 77.
The former lightweight champion from Scotland, in the United States Buchanan is remembered most as the victim of Roberto Duran in Duran's first world title victory but the smooth boxing Buchanan's career was far more than only that.
Buchanan won his title in an upset in 1970 over Ismael Laguna, another Hall of Famer, and would defend it twice before the loss to Duran in New York.
Duran stopped Buchanan in the thirteenth round with a controversial ending that Buchanan and trainer Gil Clancy claimed that Buchanan was unable to continue after a knee to the groin.
Duran and the referee felt that it was a left hook to the body that ended the fight, which was the official verdict.
Duran was far ahead on the scorecards, so the ending didn't change the victor but due to the controversy, a rematch was signed by both men but twice the bout was canceled on Duran's end with Buchanan never receiving the promised return match for the championship against Duran, although he did receive a shot at the WBC title against Guts Ishimatsu, losing a unanimous decision in 1975.
Buchanan never contended for the lightweight title again, losing the final four fights (half of his career total) of his career and five of his ten after the loss to Ishimatsu.
Buchanan was voted into the boxing hall in 2000.
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