Vikings to wear patch, helmet decal to honor Bud Grant

UPDATE: Well, the Vikings have given us a look at the patch, at least.

This offseason, we lost legendary Minnesota Vikings head coach Bud Grant at the age of 95. This season, the team will be honoring his legacy throughout the season.

Prior to the team’s night practice at TCO Stadium this evening, Vikings’ owner Mark Wilf announced that the team will be wearing a helmet decal and a jersey patch to honor Grant and his legacy.

The team will, apparently, not have the patches and decals for the preseason, but will start wearing them in Week 1 when they host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2023 season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium.

We’ve been over Grant’s resume numerous times before, but it really goes without saying that there may not be anyone more synonymous with Minnesota Vikings football than Bud Grant. This will be the first time since 1967 that he will not be involved with the team in some way, as he stayed with the team as a consultant even after his coaching days were finished.

As it stands now, we’re not sure what the decals and patches will look like, or whether the team will reveal them before they take the field for Week 1. Hopefully they’ll at least give us a bit of a sneak peek at them before then.