Blue Bombers and Vikings legend Bud Grant has passed away

[Downtown Mikester]

https://www.vikings.com/news/bud-grant-head-coach-mourning-passing

[GOLDMEMBER]

Oh no!

What a legend in the sporting world. Pro basketball, Pro football in the CFL AND NFL, and Legendary Coach for the Blue Bombers and Vikings.

I am always amazed by his sporting accomplishments.

RIP good sir

[Blue In BC]

RIP. One of my favourite personalities in the early days as a Bomber fan. Great player, then coach in both leagues. A fine gentleman as well.

[ModAdmin]

Bud Grant, 1st person elected to Hall of Fame in CFL and NFL, dies at 95

......Bud Grant, the stoic and demanding Hall of Fame coach who won four Grey Cups during his 10 years in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and took the Minnesota Vikings to four Super Bowls, died Saturday. He was 95.....

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/football/cfl/bud-grant-coach-death-blue-bombers-cfl-nfl-1.6776107

[GOLDMEMBER]

 

Last I shed a tear re: blue bombers was when we traded Roberts away.

Condolences to all his family, friends, ex players

He was a man to cherish

[Horseman]

Truly a great legend here in Winnipeg and around Manitoba and a greater human being, condolences to the Grant family. Bombers should have a moment of silence for him at the first home game.

['76 and counting!]

I remember those Grey Cups and watching the games with my family. RIP Coach Grant. Condolences to his family, friends and fans in the CFL and NFL.

[DM83]

A true legend in Manitoba sports history
R.I.P. Mr. Grant.
Condolences to the family.

[John T.]

I was six years old when Bud Grant coached his last game for the Bombers, so I have no first-hand memories of him in Winnipeg.

However, my Dad idolized him. My Dad was born in Winnipeg in 1920, and was a Bomber fan from the beginning of the team (1930?). He'd tell me stories of going to see them play at the old Osborne Stadium, and then at Winnipeg Stadium. I grew up with stories of Bud Grant, Kenny Ploen, Leo Lewis, and all the rest, so they're a very real part of my childhood.

My Dad's been gone for a quarter of a century, but when people like Bud Grant pass, it brings him back to me again for awhile, which is both bittersweet and sad.

RIP, Coach Grant. I grew up being told you were the best, and I have no reason to doubt it.

[ModAdmin]

Grant initially played for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1951 and 1952 before transitioning to the Canadian Football League for a larger paycheck.

"I was invited to the Pro Bowl - I didn't go - but I'd had some success in the NFL," Grant recalled. "The CFL was emerging with new stadiums and all that. They were paying more money to Americans to come to Canada and play up there than, as an all-star, I could make here."

If his generally sharp memory serves him correctly, Grant exchanged an annual NFL salary of $7,000 for a CFL paycheck of $10,000 per season.

"That doesn't sound like a lot of money today, but in those days, I mean, the difference between 7 and 10 [thousand] was a lot," Grant said.

And so Grant crossed the border, becoming the first professional player to "play out his option" and leave for another team. The catch? Grant committed to play both sides of the ball for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

As a wide receiver, Grant recorded 68 receptions for 922 yards and five touchdowns in his first season in Winnipeg. He also played left cornerback throughout the entirety of the regular season, snagging four picks in 16 games.

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Arguably, Bud Grant's best game was on October 28, 1953. When he played on defence in that game, he had 5 interceptions in a 43 - 5 rout against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

He was only 29 when appointed as Head Coach for the Blue Bombers.

Winnipeg competed in six Grey Cup games during Grant's 10-season tenure, winning four (1958, 1959, 1961, 1962). In 1961, the Bombers again faced the Tiger-Cats and won 21-14 in the first Grey Cup game to go into overtime. Winnipeg and Hamilton met again in the 1962 Grey Cup, with the game being postponed with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter due to zero visibility in the famous "Fog Bowl." The game resumed the next morning, and Grant coached the Bombers to a 28?27 victory.

https://www.vikings.com/news/longform/bud-grant-interceptions-pro-football-record

[BBRT]

Last I shed a tear re: blue bombers was when we traded Roberts away.

Condolences to all his family, friends, ex players

He was a man to cherish

Amen! As most know I am a transplanted Yankee with a tie in to the CFL that goes back to the 1960's (I saw Leo Lewis for the first time then). I was a delivery boy for the Des Moines papers and got to go to a number of Iowa Hawkeye games and hence become familar with guys like Kenny Pleon, Ray Rauch , Bobby Jetter etc. And of course a big Forest Evashevski fan when he was the headcoach at Iowa - and there in was where I learned of Bud Grant and his time with the Bombers. Once I married into our CFL family in the Peg I learned first hand how great Bud was. I only had one chance to meet him in the Peg and that was later in life but we did chat about Iowa football the players and of course Coach Evashevski (along with the Wing T and related formations). Bottom Line he was a man to cherish and I am glad to have known him and his history - and that is why even living in Calgary - I will always be a Bomber Diehard!

RIP Coach!

[Lincoln Locomotive]

Definitely was influential in me becoming a Bomber fan for life....he was a great player and even greater coach!    Best coach in Bomber history in terms of overall success with 6 Grey Cup appearances in 10 years and winning 4.    It was definitely a golden era for the Bombers and I was fortunate enough to witness it in my formative years.   
A few quotes of his that always stuck with me:   When asked in his retirement from coaching, who was the best player he ever coached.... "Leo Lewis on either side of the border.". 
When asked, while he was still coaching what were the keys to his success...."Having a good wife, a good dog and a good quarterback"
What I admired the most about him was his wry sense of humour, his unruffled demeanour and his humility.   He was a good human being!

[blue_gold_84]

A legendary human. Rest In Peace.

[Foxhound]

Here are some excerpts from Bud Grant's simply phenomenal career:

1. He had poliomyelitis as a kid. He accordingly took up sports to help strengthen his leg muscles!

2. He lettered in three sports at the University of Minnesota - football, basketball and baseball! Twice he was All Big-Ten in football.

3. He was drafted in the first round by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1950. But he was also drafted in the fourth round by the Minneapolis Lakers though! He chose basketball and played 35 games for the Lakers in the latter part of the 1949-50 season. He stayed with the Lakers for one more season and played 61 games in 1950-51.

4. He then realized he would never achieve much in the NBA. He elected to switch to football and joined the Philadelphia Eagles for the 1951 season. He played defensive end that season leading the Eagles in sacks.

5. He switched to wide receiver for the 1952 season and was second in the NFL in receiving yards with 997! He then thought he merited a healthy salary increase. The Eagles disagreed and told Grant to take it or leave it. He opted to leave it, and instead signed with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for more money.

6. He played both defensive back and offensive end for the Blue Bombers for the next four seasons. He led the Western Interprovincial Football Union in receiving yardage in 1953 and 1956, pass receptions in 1953, 1954 and 1956, and was named a W.I.F.U. all-star in 1953, 1954 and 1956.

7. He still holds the CFL record for most interceptions in a playoff game with five!

8. In 1957 he was named the head coach of the Blue Bombers at the age of 29! When later asked how long it took his former teammates to realize that he was now the boss, he replied "About five minutes."

9. He coached the Blue Bombers to a Grey Cup berth that very first year in 1957 and then again in 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962 and 1965 with the Blue Bombers emerging triumphant in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962. Ironically all six of those Blue Bomber Grey Cup games were against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

10. The tradition of Blue Bomber linemen playing games in sub-zero November temperatures with bare arms against their similarly bare armed rivals with the Edmonton Eskimos may have originated during Bud Grant's tenure in the fifties. Simple intimidation "What, you call this cold? Welcome to Canada, sissy boy." Those were the days when the Western final was a best of three game affair played over the course of eight days. Football players were tough in those days.

11. He was offered the job of head coach of the Minnesota Vikings in 1961. He turned it down at the time, but relented and accepted the position in 1967.

12. He then engineered a rare trade between teams in the separate leagues when he acquired QB Joe Kapp from the British Columbia Lions in exchange for Canadian WR Jim Young. Young would go on to earn the appellate "Dirty Thirty" with the Lions and was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame after retirement.

13. He wouldn't allow heaters along the Viking sidelines during games. He wanted his players to stay focused on winning the game and not warming up by the heaters. When you saw the Vikings standing like ice giants along the sideline in their purple cloaks while the other team huddled miserably by their heaters, it was pretty obvious which team would win the game!

14. He coached the Minnesota Vikings to Super Bowl appearances in the 1969, 1973, 1974 and 1976 NFL seasons.

15. When many players took to celebrating TDs with outlandish antics in the end zone in the late seventies, Viking players did not. When a reporter asked Bud whether there was a team rule prohibiting such celebrations, his reply was "No, there's no such rule. They just better not."

16. Bud Grant didn't like to see players fidgeting during the national anthem. He thought that standing respectfully at attention would earn not just the respect of the fans but also of the players on the other team. He accordingly had giant defensive end and former National Guardsmen Carl Eller lead his Viking teammates in national anthem practices.

17. The player Bud Grant considered to be the best he ever coached in either league was Leo Lewis who played halfback for the Blue Bombers between the years 1955 and 1966. Leo had rushed for 8861 yards with a remarkable average of 6.6 yards per carry. You can therefore imagine Bud's astonishment in 1981 when he was told that a fellow named Leo Lewis had walked into the Vikings' training camp asking for a tryout. The applicant was the son of the Leo Lewis that Bud had coached in Winnipeg. Leo Lewis III not only made the roster that year but played for the Vikings as a wide receiver and punt returner until 1991.

18. Bud Grant had a fear of flying. His Blue Bombers (and of course Vikings) always flew to their games though. "The players sleep more restfully in a hotel than they do on a train. I don't matter." was his explanation. 'Nuff said.

19. He was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1994.

20. A statue of Bud Grant was unveiled outside Winnipeg's Investors Group Field in October 2014.

21. Bud Grant's name was added to those of QB Ken Ploen, OL Chris Walby, FB Gerry James, WR Milt Stegall, QB Dieter Brock and HB Leo Lewis.on the Blue Bombers' Ring of Honour at halftime of a game against the Edmonton Eskimos that took place in late September 2016:

R.I.P. Bud Grant (20 May 1927 - 11 March 2023)

Perhaps the greatest gridiron football coach ever.

[blue_or_die]

RIP coach. One of, if not the, greatest associated with the WFC, ever.