MINNEAPOLIS — Bud Grant, the stoic and demanding Hall of Fame coach who led the Minnesota Vikings and their formidable Purple People Eaters defense to 4 Super Bowls in eight years and lost all of them, died Saturday.
He was 95 years old.
The Vikings announced Grant’s death on social media.
“We’re completely devastated to announce that legendary Minnesota Vikings head coach and Hall of Famer Bud Grant passed away this morning at the age of 95,” the post read. “We, like all Vikings and NFL fans, are shocked and saddened by this terrible news.”
Wearing his signature purple Viking hat and Grant’s stony face, he became synonymous along with his teams.
He was a mainstay amongst coaches of his era, a decorated group that included Don Shula, Tom Landry, Chuck Noll, John Madden and Hank Stram.
Grant, nonetheless, was not occupied with praise.
“The one reason I see a head coach getting credit for something good is because he gets blamed a lot when something is bad,” Grant once said. “I feel the whole secret isn’t to react to either good or evil.”
![Bud Grant](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-1170214214.jpg?w=1024)
He led the Vikings from 1967-85, taking a 12 months off in 1984, en path to a 158-96-5 record with 11 divisional championships in 18 seasons.
He went 10-12 in the playoffs. When he retired, Grant was eighth on the NFL’s all-time win list.
After replacing fellow Hall of Famer Norm Van Brocklin, Grant assembled a decent line of defense dubbed the Purple People Eaters.
The road – whose motto was “Meet the quarterback” – was joined by a strong offensive that helped Minnesota reach the Super Bowl in 1970, the last edition of the big game before the AFL-NFL merger.
The much favored Vikings lost 23-7 to Kansas City, setting the tone for an infamous series of title game losses against Miami, Pittsburgh and Oakland from a perceived minor conference after the 1973, 1974 and 1976 seasons.
“If you should succeed, perhaps survive is a greater word,” Grant said during his 1994 Pro Football Hall of Fame induction address in Canton, Ohio. “You might have to place up with losing. You die each time you lose, but you could have to just accept that.”
An avid outdoorsman who spent much of the off-season on fishing trips in Alaska or hunting trips in Arizona, Grant was also a successful coach in the Canadian Football League who became the first person elected to the Hall of Fame in each the CFL and NFL.
He won 4 league championships during his 10 years in Canada.
Harry Peter Grant Jr. was born on May 20, 1927 in Superior, Wisconsin and was nicknamed Bud by his mother.
He overcame polio as a baby and have become a triathlon star in highschool.
![Bud Grant](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-96168375.jpg?w=1024)
He learned early about the coaching business after enlisting in 1945 and played for a team at the Great Lakes Naval Station near Chicago led by Paul Brown, who went on to the Hall of Fame as a coach, executive and owner of the NFL.
From there, Grant played football, basketball and baseball for the University of Minnesota, a nine-time postman who was drafted by each the NBA and NFL.
He first played basketball, playing two seasons for the Minneapolis Lakers and winning a title with them in 1950.
Nevertheless it was in football that Grant really excelled, first for the Philadelphia Eagles.
He was second in the NFL with 56 receptions and 997 yards in 1952 before a contract dispute sent him to Winnipeg in the CFL.
After playing as a two-way player for the Blue Bombers, once intercepting five interceptions in a playoff game, he became their coach and took them to 6 Gray Cup games – winning the title in 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962.
Grant won 102 games as head coach of the CFL.
![Bud Grant](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-1046107602.jpg?w=691)
This attracted the interest of the Vikings, who lured him back across the border in 1967.
With stars resembling Fran Tarkenton, Carl Eller, Alan Page, Paul Krause and Ron Yary – all part of the Pro Football Hall of Famers – Grant led the Vikings to 10 Central Division crowns in 11 seasons.
Disciplined to the core and emphasizing sharp focus, Grant went up to now as to have his players practice standing at attention during the national anthem.
He infamously took the Vikings outside during the cold winter for training and banned the use of side heaters during matches at the Metropolitan Stadium.
On January 10, 2016, when the Vikings hosted their coldest game in franchise history in the first round of the playoffs against Seattle, at the University Stadium during the construction of their constructing, Grant was the honorary captain.
He got here out for the pre-game coin flip wearing a Viking cap and a short-sleeved purple polo shirt, looking able to play golf in minus 6 degrees Fahrenheit and minus 25 degrees with a cold wind.
Grant retired after the 1983 season, replaced by Les Steckel, whose fiery approach was the opposite of his calm predecessor, and went 3–13.
Grant returned for one season, ending 7–9 before longtime offensive coordinator Jerry Burns was promoted to the top job.
Although Grant was done coaching by then, his influence on the team and the city remained.
Grant continued to live in the same suburban home he had bought upon arriving in 1967, in Bloomington, lower than 10 miles from the Metropolitan Stadium.
![Bud Grant](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/03/GettyImages-53155462.jpg?w=683)
He became something of an envoy for the Vikings in the community, sometimes lending his voice to lobbying for a alternative for the Metrodome where the team played from 1982 to 2013.
As often as possible, he went on hunting and fishing trips with family and friends.
On one particularly harrowing hunting visit to Canada in 2015, Grant’s pilot safely flipped a twin-engine plane after landing gear and dashboard instruments failed.
Grant also showed more of his soft side.
Following the university’s return to on-campus soccer, at TCF Bank Stadium in 2009, the Gophers named him and eight other former players as honorary captains.
His face shook and his eyes sparkled as fans cheered his name during the pre-match ceremony.
There have been also Grant’s famous garage sales, where he signed autographs for many who bought his items for at least $25, including memorabilia from his playing and training days, and even equipment used outside.
During a three-day event in 2017, custom-made dolls with figures in his likeness might be purchased.
Grant would sit in a chair outside his house and sign contracts with an infinite line of admirers, some coming from abroad to leaf through the old coach’s belongings.
The Vikings kept a spacious office for him at their suburban headquarters, still listing him as a consultant in all their band directories.
Every time a latest coach or director was hired, Grant was normally one of the first people Vikings brought in.
When he turned 95 on May 20, 2022, the team arranged a Zoom call for him and a few of his former players. Jim Marshall led the group in a virtual singing of “Blissful Birthday”.
He’s survived by his partner Pat Smith, six children, 19 grandchildren and, as of 2021, 13 great-grandchildren.
His wife, Pat, with whom he had been with for 59 years, died in 2009. One son, Mike Grant, built a strong football program at Eden Prairie High School, a 15-minute drive from his father’s home, winning 11 state championships over a 22-year period from 1996-2017.