Scott Studwell's Stare to be Inducted Into Ring of Honor

There’s a good chance that you’ve never heard of one of the best Vikings to ever don the purple, at least as a player.  Scott Studwell, arguably the best linebacker in Vikings history, will have his name enshrined in the Viking Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony Nov 26.  As a guy that has been a Vikings fan since the early 1970’s, I was surprised that he wasn’t already in there, and then when I realized how overlooked he has been both as a player and a front office executive it didn’t really surprise me at all.

His time as a player was a ‘tweener’ period for the organization—his rookie season was 1977, the season after the Vikings appearance in SB XI, and his career ended in 1990, right before the Vikings string of success with The Sheriff, Denny Green.  The 1980’s, with the exception of the deep playoff run in 1987, was a pretty forgettable decade for the Vikings, both on and off the field.  Bud Grant retired, Les Steckel was hired and fired, the franchise moved away from the frigid Bloomington prairie into the downtown Metropimple, and the Vikings traded for Herschel Walker.  If the 1970’s were a decade of excellence highlighted with four Super Bowl trips, the 1980’s were marked by mediocre football, some pretty bad teams, one historically bad trade, and one magical run during a strike-shortened season that slipped through Darrin Nelson’s hands.  On the fucking goal line.  As time expired.  FUCK!  Sorry, better now.

During Studwell’s career, the Vikes only made the post season 7 times, 3 of them in Studwell’s first four years as the Purple People Eaters aged and retired.  All Studwell did was retire as the Vikings all-time leader in combined tackles, defensive tackles, single season tackles, single game tackles, and soul crushing stares that would make opponents wet their pants.  Seriously, you old guys and gals remember—he had the Mike Singletary stare down long before Mike Singletary was in the NFL.  I mean Jeebus, he looked at me through the TV with that stare of his and it would give a kid nightmares.  It was the most intense look I’ve ever seen on a human being’s face. 

I’ve been scared four times in my life—three of them were in Afghanistan when I thought I might not be making it home after all, and the fourth was when I got to meet Scott Studwell in 2006 when I covered the Vikings for a now defunct web site.  When I looked him in the eyes and shook his hand (his grip broke four bones in my hand, by the way) I thought he was going to kill me as he was smiling and saying ‘nice to meet you, Ted’.  He doesn’t look at you; he looks THROUGH you still, to this day.  And he is a dude whose bad side I seriously would not want to get on.  Ever.  Studwell and Mike Tomlin were the nicest guys I met up there, though.

But most of today’s Vikings fans only know Studwell as the front office guy that is in charge of college scouting.  If you want to completely discount Studwell’s numbers as inflated because he was a talented guy on a bad defense, then fine.  I respectfully submit you’re wrong and HIGHLY advise you not to let Mr. Studwell know how you feel lest he burn a hole into your soul.  I would still submit he should be inducted just based on his body of work as a personnel guy.  Think about this for a minute—when Studwell joined the Vikings front office, they were just starting to feel the fallout of the Walker trade and how many draft picks they DIDN’T have, and made lemonade out of lemons, finding mid to late round gems like Jake Reed (3rd in 1991), Brad Johnson (9th in 1992), and Ed McDaniel (5th in ’92).  All of those players became significant contributors to the consistent 1990 playoff teams under Dennis Green, and Studwell’s efforts have only increased over time, resulting in what is arguably some of the strongest drafts in recent memory since 2006.

But like his playing days, he never really gets his due credit for his contributions.  He logs thousands of miles on the road looking at potential NFL players, and his department largely determines who could be a Viking and who couldn’t.  Yeah, the future superstars like Adrian Peterson are easy, but finding that 4th and 5th round guy that can become a Pro Bowler is where Studwell’s department makes their money.  And they’ve had a lot more hits than misses in his time in the front office, which mirrors his savage play on the field.

Congratulations to Scott Studwell.  Thanks for giving a shit and playing to the final gun when it looked like some of your teammates in the early 1980’s weren’t, and thanks for helping keep the roster stocked with enough talent that we can today legitimately call the Vikings a team that is a Super Bowl contender.

All I have is one request.  Please don’t look directly into the camera during your induction ceremony.  I’m older know and have a weaker bladder, and even though I know you have no malice in your heart, I’ll still pee myself from fright.