At age 87 Bud Grant is still making news. The Hall of Fame coach and outdoorsman was honored with a statue in Winnipeg this fall and there are plans to name a street after him near the new downtown Vikings stadium. Sports Headliners caught up with Grant between hunting trips and put some seldom asked questions in front of him. Known for his common sense and dry wit, the Minnesota legend talked about various subjects including new Vikings coach Mike Zimmer, NFL rule changes, heroes and stars, and what he wants for Christmas.
Grant grew up in Superior, Wisconsin and went into the Navy out of high school. He was an All-American end for the Gophers in 1949 when coach Bernie Bierman had a great team. Grant later played both pro football and basketball. In 1957, at age 30, he became head coach of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers and made them champions. He took over as Vikings head coach in 1967, leading the franchise to 11 division titles and four Super Bowls in 18 seasons.
Here is an edited version of last week’s interview with Grant.
My first impression of new Vikings coach Mike Zimmer: “He’s very intense. He’s very organized and very demanding, I am sure. I think the players have seconded that. You better give him your full attention.”
My thoughts about cold and windy weather and outdoor football this time of year: “Weather is a great equalizer. You can have certain skills either in the kicking game, in the passing game, the catching game, and running game, but wind, cold, rain or snow can reduce any advantages you may have in those departments because the ball takes funny bounces…(and) what not. I always felt that if the other team was better, we wanted bad weather. If we felt we were better than they were, we wanted good weather.”
If there was a secret to my coaching success it was: “Well, I was born with a horseshoe in my back pocket. You gotta be lucky. The football is not shaped round. It takes funny bounces. I’ve always said I’d rather be lucky than good anytime.”
A couple of coaches I have long admired: “Paul Brown, of course, because I happened to play for him when I was in the Navy at Great Lakes (training station). That was the first time I had been in that kind of an organization where we had notebooks and we studied—organized football at a degree that I hadn’t seen done before. Paul Brown was an innovator of football, and there aren’t many innovators anymore. There are a lot of copiers. The innovators were the Paul Browns and George Halases and people like that. I think one of the modern day most successful coaches was Chuck Noll, who just passed away recently. I thought he did a great job with a lot of great players and kept that team together for years in Pittsburgh—always a power when Chuck Knoll was coaching.”
My lasting memory of former Gophers football coach Bernie Bierman: “He was a Marine. He brought Marine-type training to the Gophers (late 1940s). We were in great shape, I will say that. He was a more endearing person after you played for him than when you were playing for him. We (the Vikings) played in San Diego one day and he came over to the game…and he was a warmer, more endearing person at that time than he ever was when he was coaching—very, very demanding.”
Maybe the two or three greatest players I ever saw: “One of the things that you have to be careful about if you’ve been in this business, you’re beholding to so many great players that played with you or for you, that it’s hard to single them out. On the other hand on the opposing side, I think Walter Payton was probably as good a player as we had in this league.”
The one thing I would like to change about the NFL rules: “How much time you got? There are a lot of things I’d like to change in the rules. One of the things is that victory formation. Just to down the ball with two minutes to go and under is nothing. People pay money to come see you play. They don’t want to see you take a knee. If you want to run out the clock, you should have to run a play, and if you don’t gain a yard, then time stops. I think that would increase the entertainment value of any game. (And) the fair catch, that’s a nothing play. No entertainment value there. They could copy the Canadian rule (fair catch not allowed). The other thing is…kickoffs I think should have to be run (from the end zone). You have to run the ball out, or you forfeit yardage. If you down it in the end zone you get it on the five-yard line, otherwise you can run it out and gain whatever you can.”
My sports heroes: “Well, growing up Joe Louis was one of my first sports heroes because boxing was big in my younger days. Then the Green Bay Packers were (heroes) as a team and Don Hutson, the great receiver for the Packers, was a hero of mine. You didn’t have television. So we had to read about these people. I remember when Louis knocked out Max Schmeling…that was a highlight of my life at that time.”
Five famous people I would invite dinner: “Teddy Roosevelt (for one). He was an environmentalist and a great American. It stumps me a little bit (who to invite) because I am not particularly a hero-worshipper other than early sports heroes. There is a difference between a star and a hero. Stars fade, heroes live forever. Heroes are people who have done something heroic and their deeds go on forever. I am more impressed with them than I am with athletic stars, movie stars and things like that. They’re not heroes, they’re just stars. I wish I could have known some of my early heroes like during the war.”
My favorite date activity with my girlfriend: “Probably companionship is the main thing at this stage of life. You sit down and read the paper and have a good time together. It isn’t like you gotta go dancing.”
I think I read once you’re not a very good dancer: “Not only am I not good, I’ve never danced in my life. I always was very shy (as a youth) and I never learned to dance. I was too self-conscious and I was taller than most of the girls so I never learned how to dance—much to the chagrin of my wife.”
My favorite TV shows: “I think they’d probably be like biographies and documentaries. I am more interested in real things rather than fabricated or fantasy entertainment things. I look more for things that are historical or biographical, or something that is real. Certainly not all this shoot’em up stuff. I don’t ever watch TV where there are murders involved. I don’t think killing people is anything I can relate to. I don’t find any entertainment in that at all.”
My worst personal habit: “It used to be chewing gum but it’s not anymore. After I saw myself on television chewing gum hard, I quit chewing. That was my worst habit. Oh, procrastination probably. I don’t always make decisions—put it off as much as I can to make the right decisions. That’s probably not a good habit, I don’t know.”
My favorite ice cream: “Something with chocolate. I eat ice cream any opportunity I get. When I was in high school they opened a Bridgeman’s in Superior, Wisconsin. I couldn’t wait for them to open that store.”
My weight would go crazy if: “I eat mostly fruits and vegetables. I am not a night eater. I am not a big eater. As you get older, you eat less. I don’t have a weight problem so I don’t know if I can answer that.”
All I want for Christmas: “At my age, I want another year. I am 87 now. It’s a very enjoyable time. Just give me another year. I’ll take that.”
Excellent column Dave.
I have always been a great admirer of Bud and hope he’s with us for a long, long time. His philosophies on any matter of life are simplistic makes for good common sense. Bud and I have one very common denominator…..both love ice cream!