Nothing Keeps Bud Grant From A Hunting Trip

Bud Grant, the legendary former head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, has led a pretty exciting life. Between playing in two different professional sports leagues and being one of the greatest head coaches the NFL has ever known, he's accomplished quite a bit. These days, though, Coach Grant is keeping this a little more low-key. . .hanging out with the family, holding garage sales. . .

And, apparently, being involved in plane crashes.

Coach Grant and one of his friends were flying to Canada for a hunting trip in mid-October, when the private plane they were flying made a crash landing as they were attempting to land in Regina, Saskatchewan. Bud was not piloting the plane, but he was a passenger (as was his Labrador retriever).

What happened, exactly? Well, according to Grant's friend Jim Hanson, who was piloting the plane:

Approved to land, Hanson dropped the plane's wheels, and with Grant, watched as a dashboard indicator confirmed "wheels down."

Hanson drifted the sleek craft lower and lower ... until at 100-miles-an-hour-plus, metal grated deafeningly against asphalt. Aircraft parts sprayed like shrapnel, rendering the sleek craft to junk in split seconds.

"The dashboard indicators failed," Grant said. "Something in the landing gear was broken. The indicators said the wheels went down. But they didn't."

Luckily, the plane remained on its belly. . .had it overturned during the landing, the metal that would have been getting shredded would have been right above their heads, and who knows what could have happened.

So, what did they do after their brush with disaster? They did exactly what you'd think.

They said "eff it," rented a U-Haul truck, and went on their hunting trip anyway. Because why wouldn't they?

Thankfully, Coach Grant, his friend, and Boom (the Labrador) all came out of things unscathed.