Alan Page To Retire From Minnesota Supreme Court

Alan Page has accomplished a lot over the course of his life, both on the football field and off of it, and has spent the past 22 years as a member of the Minnesota Supreme Court. He even helped to build the Pro Football Hall of Fame that he's a part of in his home town of Canton, Ohio. (Not in a metaphorical sense, either. . .he actually helped build the thing.) Soon, he will be moving on to another chapter of his life. . .though not necessarily because he wants to.

Page will turn 70 years old in August, which is the age that the Minnesota state constitution mandates that he must retire from the high court. In an interview with the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, he said that his retirement will allow him to focus more on his charity work, which includes the Page Education Foundation. That foundation has provided grants for 6,000 students totaling over $12 million. (And they were gracious enough to invite us to one of their big get-togethers once.)

Page's on-field exploits are every bit as legendary as what he's done off the field. He was the first defensive player to be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by the Associated Press (and still just one of two defensive players to win that award). He was a six-time first-team All-Pro, and was twice named the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year.

Oh, and he was also voted the Greatest Viking of All Time by the readers of our humble little web site here. My guess is that he still probably doesn't know. But hey, it's something.

We'll probably revisit this when his retirement actually comes about, but there's never a bad time to point out the accomplishments of someone as outstanding as Alan Page.