Bud Grant Speaks, And You Ought To Listen

by Christopher Gates on Feb 22, 2012 4:48 PM CST in Minnesota Vikings

Bud Grant is one of the finest coaches in the history of the National Football League. Anyone that thinks otherwise probably shouldn't even be allowed to watch football, let alone attempt to discuss it with other adults.

With that being said, you're probably going to be quite happy to know that the Star-Tribune has put together a three-part interview with the legendary coach. The interview touches on all sorts of subjects, ranging from the protection of quarterbacks by the National Football League, end zone celebrations, and even how important it is to eat your vegetables. It turns out that Coach Grant is even dating again at the ripe old age of 84 after his wife of nearly 60 years passed away in 2009.

This link here will take you to Part One of the interview.

This link here will take you to Part Two of the interview.

And this link here will take you to Part Three of the interview.

The man does part of the interview with a football in his hand that's shaped like Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, for crying out loud. And yes, I know that it's Raphael because of the sai and the red mask. Why are you laughing WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING!?

In any event, I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did, folks.

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Part One Favorite

Interviewer: “At the TCF game, you were in a short-sleeve shirt…it was COLD out! How could you stand it?”

Bud Grant: “Well…you must be from the south.”

CLASSIC. Love it!

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Feb 22, 2012 4:59 PM CST reply actions

Part Two Favorite

Interviewer: “Is there ever a time when you’re hunting that you feel more like the prey, rather than the hunter?”

Bud Grant: “Umm…not with a gun in my hand, no.”

LOL…what a dumb question too, but his response was classic.

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Feb 22, 2012 5:07 PM CST reply actions

Part Three Favorite

Interview: “Have you ever checked your Wikipedia page for inaccuracies?”

Bud Grant: “What’s a wikipedia?…I don’t even own a computer.”

I wish he was still coaching. This guy is GOLD, Jerry! GOLD!

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Feb 22, 2012 5:10 PM CST reply actions

what a great human being.

by statue_left on Feb 22, 2012 5:33 PM CST via iPhone app reply actions

Good Interview!

I know this is mostly a fluff piece and now that I think of it Bud doesn’t like going into too much depth of the inner workings of his relationships with players and other coaches. I’ve heard a few accounts of Alan Page being let go and Alan wanting to leave so on and so forth. I think any coach younger than Grant holding a Ninja Turtle football wouldn’t be taken seriously. Do we love Coach Grant because he doesn’t say much or is mostly mysterious? (Seriously, I don’t think we got any new information from this interview?)

I think he would’ve been allowed to coach for however long he wanted. Agreed?

by Mike S on Feb 22, 2012 6:15 PM CST reply actions

Re: the Ninja Turtles

I may or may not have watched the entire TMNT live action movie from 1991 a couple weeks ago. Chris, wear your 90’s dork trivia with pride!

Proud contributor to Daily Norseman and SB Nation Minnesota.
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by Eric J. Thompson on Feb 22, 2012 7:15 PM CST reply actions

As long as nobody breaks into Ninja Rap, I'm good.

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Feb 22, 2012 8:06 PM CST up reply actions

GO NINJA GO NINJA GO!

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by Christopher Gates on Feb 22, 2012 9:50 PM CST up reply actions

LOL!

Ponder. Peterson. Percy. Purple Perfection.

by CCNorsemen on Feb 22, 2012 10:02 PM CST up reply actions

A Great Man and...

My All-time favorite HC!

"Skol Vikings! Let's win this game Skol Vikings!

by DaRange on Feb 23, 2012 6:27 AM CST reply actions

Bud Grant.

A man among men. That was enjoyable.

Build up your weaknesses until they become your strong points." --Knute Rockne

by abba7 on Feb 23, 2012 8:04 AM CST reply actions

Coach Grant

Even at age 84, the Great Man is clearly sharp and on-point. 19 grand kids and 5 or 6 great grandkids, all living within 30 miles of his desk! HAH! Maybe they should rename the town to, ‘Grantsville’! An interview with a Vikings living legend.

Very good interview, humourous and respectful at the same time. And I can’t begin to say how much I appreciated the way he limited the information on Coach Grant’s companion, that showed tremendous class and respect. Kudos to the interviewer!

This one made my day. Thanks, Chris, for passing this on.

p.s. Maybe the DN staff could wrangle some interviews with Vikings from the past, now that, you know, you’re all special and stuff, and get press-passes to training camps, and get to schmooz with Big Guys in Purple, maybe bring back some cool pictures, and audio, and youTube stuff, hint hint

Ah, ah,
We come from the land of the ice and snow,
From the midnight sun where the hot springs blow.
The hammer of the gods will drive our ships to new lands,
To fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming!
SKOL!

by DCPurple on Feb 23, 2012 9:30 AM CST reply actions

Enjoyed

Honest and enjoyable.

by ZygiZag on Feb 23, 2012 1:48 PM CST reply actions

Not as good an interview as it easily could have been.

Don’t misunderstand me; Bud Grant is awesome and still the same quality man he always has been. Sharper than most 30 year-olds, and he is in his 80s! But the interviewer (I don’t have a clue who she is) is embarrassingly bad. It reminded me of a lot of High School amateur radio interviewers covering one of the coaches after a big game. Awful questions, a lot of missed opportunities, and a sloppy dialect to boot. Pardon me for being critical, but how do some of these people get jobs doing this type of work, when they clearly stink at it? Standards in almost every walk of life have dropped to new lows.

Regardless, Bud is one of the all-time greats. As a coach, certainly, but as a man’s man who tells it straight and never would make excuses for himself… he has no peers. I bet he could still out-coach half of the jerks in the League today. But the players would never put up with his standards. They would rather endorse snack foods and dance in the end zone.

by misterdizz on Feb 23, 2012 1:52 PM CST reply actions