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The Three Greatest
		Harry Peter 'Bud' Grant, born May 20th 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin. A three sport athlete at the University of Minnesota (football, basketball and baseball), he was drafted in 1950 by the Philadelphia Eagles (1st round, 14th overall) and the Minneapolis Lakers (4th round, 42nd overall). After two years with the Lakers as a reserve (2.6 pts per game) and membership on the 1950 championship team, Bud went to Philadelphia for the 1951 season where he started as a defense end (leading the team in sacks) and then switched to wide receiver his second year (2nd in NFL receiving, with 997 yards). When his contract expired the end of his second season, the Eagles foolishly allowed him to become what was effectively the first football free agent and Bud moved to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers where he played or coached in a total of seven Grey Cups, winning four. Originally offered the head coaching position at the new Minnesota expansion team in 1961, Bud finally conceded and joined the Vikings in 1967. Four Super Bowls later, the Lepisto brothers give him the highest seat on our Vikings Tribune of Honor.
		Francis Asbury Tarkenton, born February 3rd, 1940 in Richmond, Virginia. Led the University of Georgia to the Southeastern Conference Championship in 1959, MVP of the Hula Bowl, both Athletic and Academic All-American and lettered in baseball. Drafted in 1961 by the Vikings (3rd round, 29th overall), Fran passed for four touchdowns to beat the Bears in the first Vikings game ever. At the time of his retirement, Tarkenton held essentially every NFL passing record. Perhaps more remarkable was his ability to run the ball: 3,674 yards in 675 carries (5.4 average and 32 td's). Dan Marino, the player to ultimately break Tarkentons?s passing records, averaged of 0.3 yards per carry (87 total) with 9 td's. The Lepisto brothers salute number 10 as the greatest player to wear Vikings purple.
		Metropolitan Stadium, aka the twenty-third Viking. Completed in 1956 (and paid for by the City of Minneapolis, not Bloomington where it is located), the 'Met' was originally the home of the Minneapolis Millers (a New York Giants farm team). The Miller?s satisfaction of playing in one of the finest sports facilities of its day was short-lived, however, as it was 30,000 seat bait meant to draw the major leagues. In 1961, the Washington Senators and the expansion Vikings played their first of twenty seasons there and the Millers and the St. Paul Saints were folded. Never was home field advantage more advantageous and as we all know, never have the Vikings gone to a Super Bowl playing elsewhere. The Lepisto brothers doff their respective caps to this monument of finger-numbing pain and talent equalization.