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On Saturday, prior to their preseason contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Minnesota Vikings paid tribute to their former offensive line coach, the late Tony Sparano.
A moment of silence was held prior to the game’s kickoff, and a video was shown on the big screens at U.S. Bank Stadium. You can see the full tribute video below, courtesy of the Minnesota Vikings official Twitter account.
This season, we're doing it for Tony. pic.twitter.com/IUj8FAKJiC
— Minnesota Vikings (@Vikings) August 18, 2018
The video includes brief quotes from both Vikings’ General Manager Rick Spielman and head coach Mike Zimmer, as well as Tony Sparano, Jr., who is currently the assistant offensive line coach for the Jaguars. Sparano’s family also served as honorary captains for the game. As you can see above (courtesy of Peter King’s Twitter account), the Vikings will also be wearing a “TS” decal on their helmets this season in Sparano’s memory.
The video was shown on the NFL Network’s broadcast of yesterday’s game, but in the event that anyone missed it, you can see it here.