BUD GRANT

'Harry Peter "Bud" Grant, Jr' (born May 20, 1927) is the longtime former American football head coach of the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons. He was the second (1967–83) and fourth (1985) head coach of the team. In addition to coaching the Vikings, Grant was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ten seasons. Along with being the winningest coach in Vikings history¹⁸, Grant is third winningest professional football coach, behind Don Shula and George Halas, with a combined 290 wins in the NFL and CFL.^[1] Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983¹⁶ and into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.⁷
Grant attended the University of Minnesota and was a three sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. Following college, Grant had a professional playing career for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, and Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.

Contents

Personal life

Childhood

Family

Playing career

High school and college

Professional basketball

Professional football

Coaching career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Minnesota Vikings

Post-coaching career

References

Further reading

Personal life

Childhood

Bud Grant was born on May 20, 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin to Harry Peter Sr. and Bernice Grant.^[2] His mother called him "Buddy Boy", which later became "Bud".² As a child, Grant was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and a doctor suggested becoming active in sports⁵ to strengthen his weakened leg muscles over time. Grant started with baseball then added basketball and football as he got older.² Due to a lack of organized school teams, Grant arranged to have football games between neighborhoods and contacted kids from other schools to participate.² During the weekends, Grant would spend time outdoors alone hunting rabbits.² In his late teens and college years, Grant played organized baseball in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Family

Bud married Pat in 1950, and they have five children.⁶ Bud's son, Mike, has been the football head coach for Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota since 1992^[3] and has won five state championships. Bud's grandson, Ryan, is a quarterback, safety, and linebacker at Eden Prairie and has committed to play at the University of Minnesota in 2008.^[4]

Playing career

High school and college

Grant played football, basketball, and baseball at Superior High School.^[5][6] Grant graduated from high school in 1945 and enlisted in the Navy⁶ during World War II. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois and played on the football team coached by Paul Brown.⁶ Using an acceptance letter from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be discharged from the service, Grant decided to attend the University of Minnesota instead.⁶ Grant was a three sport, nine letterman^[7] athlete in football, basketball, and baseball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers,⁵⁶ earning All-Big Ten honors in football twice.^67[8]

Professional basketball

After leaving the University of Minnesota, Grant was selected in both the NFL and NBA Draft. He was selected in the first round (fourteenth overall) of the 1950 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles^[9] and fourth round (forty-second overall) selection of the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950 NBA Draft.^[10] Grant played thirty-five games during the 1949-50 NBA season^[11] and signed with the Lakers for a second season, the 1950–51 NBA season. Grant chose to continue his basketball career and play for the Lakers because they were local and because he was offered a raise to stay for the season.² Grant's friend, Sid Hartman, was the Laker's general manager, which may have influenced Grant's decision.⁶ Grant averaged 2.6 points per game in his two seasons as a reserve with the Lakers and was a member of the 1950 championship team.^[12]

Professional football

Grant decided that basketball was not his career and contacted the Eagles² and agreed to play for the team in 1951.⁶ In his first season with the Eagles, Grant played as a defensive end and led the team in sacks (an unofficial statistic at the time).²⁶ Grant switched to offense for his second season as a wide receiver and ranked second in the NFL for receiving yardage, with 997 yards on fifty-six catches, including seven touchdowns.^6[13]
Grant's contact expired at the end of the 1952 NFL season and the Eagles refused to pay him what he thought he was worth.² The Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL had been interested in Grant while in college.² Grant left for Winnipeg, Canada in 1953 and became the first professional player to "play out his option" and leave for another team.²⁶ Grant played for the Blue Bombers until 1956 as an offensive end and was named a Western Conference all-star three times.^8[14] Grant led the Western Conference in pass receptions for the 1953, 1954, and 1956 seasons as receiving yards for the 1953 and 1956 seasons.⁸ Grant holds the CFL record of five interceptions in a playoff game played October 28, 1953.^[15][16] The Blue Bombers played for the Grey Cup in 1953, but lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 41st Grey Cup game.⁸

Coaching career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Blue Bombers management decided that they needed a new coach prior to the 1957 season.⁶ On January 30, 1956, Grant accepted the Blue Bombers head coaching position after impressing management with his ability to make adjustments on offense and defense as a player.² Club president, J.T. Russell, thought that Grant could coach even though nobody else did.¹⁴ Grant would remain the head coach of the Blue Bombers until 1966. During his ten seasons as head coach in Winnipeg, Grant led the team to six Grey Cup appearances, winning the championship four times in 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962.^[17] Grant finished his Blue Bombers coaching career with a regular season record of 105 wins, 53 loses, and two ties and an overall record of 122 wins, 66 loses, and 3 ties.¹⁴ Grant was the CFL Coach of the Year in 1965.¹⁷ Grant took on additional responsibilities as a club manager between 1964 and 1966.¹⁴ Max Winter, the Minnesota Vikings founder, contacted Grant in 1961 and asked Grant to coach the new NFL expansion team.² Grant declined the offer and remained in Winnipeg until 1967 when Winter and General Manager Jim Finks were able to successfully lure Grant to Minnesota on a second attempt.²

Minnesota Vikings

Grant continued his coaching success in the NFL as he took over from original coach, Norm Van Brocklin.⁶ Over his tenure as Vikings head coach, Grant was known for instilling discipline in his teams and displaying a lack of emotion during games.² Grant believed that football is a game of controlled emotion and teams would follow the coach's lead if he were to panic or lose his poise during the course of a game.¹ Grant required his team to stand at attention in a straight line during the entire national anthem and even had national anthem practice.² Grant required outdoor practice during the winter to get his players used to the cold weather⁶ and would not allow heaters on the sidelines during games.²
In his second year, Grant led the team to a divisional championship and his first NFL playoffs appearance.² In 1969, he led the team to its first NFL Championship and their first appearance in the Super Bowl. The Vikings lost in Super Bowl IV to the American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs. During the 1970s, the Vikings would appear in three more Super Bowls (VIII, IX, and XI) under Grant and lose each one⁶, but was the first coach to lead a team to four Super Bowls. Bud Grant retired after the 1983 season and was succeeded by Les Steckel, who led the team through a three win, 13 loss record the following season.⁶ Steckel was fired as head coach after the 1984 NFL season and Grant returned as coach for the Vikings in 1985.⁶ At the conclusion of the season, Grant retired for a second time and was succeeded by Jerry Burns.⁶ Grant retired as the eighth most winning coach in NFL history with an overall record of 161 wins, 99 losses, and 5 ties.² During his tenure with the Vikings, Grant lead the Vikings to four Super Bowls, eleven division titles, one NFL Championship, and three Conference Championships.²

Post-coaching career

After coaching football, Grant became a less prominent public figure and focused his time on hunting and fishing^[18] and supporting environmental reforms. Grant has been a spokesperson opposing Native American hunting and fishing treaty rights in Minnesota. In 1993, Grant's efforts resulted in a death threat.^[19] In 2005, Grant spoke at a Capitol rally in Minnesota for the conservation of wetlands, wetland wildlife, and water.^[20] Grant addressed the five thousand supporters saying, "In this [legislative] session, we want to see some action. It’s more important than any stadium they could ever build in this state."^[21]
Grant currently serves as a consultant for the Vikings and maintains an office at the team's headquarters in Eden Prairie.¹⁸

References

1. Beating the Clock
2. History: Bud Grant
3. Success has a price
4. Ryan Grant Commits to Minnesota Monter, Chris
5. 'The Glacier' and 'The Gladiator' Kumpula, Carlo
6. Bud Grant
7. Bud Grant
8. BUD GRANT: PURPLE AND BLUE, THROUGH AND THROUGH Marshall, Brian
9. The 1950 NFL Draft
10. 1950 NBA Draft
11. Bud Grant Statistics
12. 1950 Minneapolis Lakers
13. Bud Grant
14. Bud Grant
15. All-Time Playoff Records
16. Harry (Bud) Grant
17. HARRY PETER BUD GRANT
18. Grant's legacy still looms in Minnesota
19. Grant Receives A Death Threat
20. Rally hats on
21. Open water has returned once again

Further reading

★ Bud: The Other Side of the Glacier, , Bill, McGrane, Harper & Row, ,