Minnesota Vikings To Honor Bud Grant With Jersey Patch For 2023 Season Opener
Only a few months ago, the Minnesota Vikings lost one of their own, legendary head coach Bud Grant. Now, five months later, the Vikings are honoring their Hall-of-Fame coach with a jersey patch on their newly announced throwback jerseys.
Grant passed away on March 11 at the age of 95. The Vikings organization released a statement following the passing of their legendary coach.
“We are absolutely devastated to announce legendary Minnesota Vikings head coach and Hall of Fame Bud Grant has passed away this morning at age 95. We, like all Vikings and NFL fans, are shocked and saddened by this terrible news.”
The Minnesota Vikings hired Grant as head coach on March 10th, 1967. He would go on to serve 18 seasons as the Vikings’ coach and lead them to a record of 158-96-5 in the regular season and 10-12 in the postseason. Of those 12 losses in the postseason, four of them came in the Super Bowl. The Vikings would win the final NFL championship before the merging of the AFL and NFL. They would go on to lose to the Chiefs in Super Bowl IV.
“I’m proud of the name Viking,” Bud said in a 2021 interview, before smiling as he added, “I mean, it’s not like we’re a bird or a reptile or something.
“We’re Vikings. And we’re unique. I’m proud to be a part of Minnesota. I’m proud to be a Viking, and I’m proud of the history,” Bud continued. “I think the Viking name has permeated the whole country. If you mention ‘Viking’ to anybody, they’ll say Minnesota. I’m proud of being a part of the Vikings for all these years, and I think everybody in Minnesota is, too.”
The Vikings will include the patch with Grant’s iconic signature in their season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sep.10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Minnesota Vikings president and owner Mark Wilf spoke on the addition of the Bud Grant patch to the team’s new uniforms.
“I want to make you all aware that we’re going to be recognizing Bud Grant throughout the 2023 season,” Wilf said. “As I said at the time we lost Bud earlier this year, no single individual more defined Minnesota sports and the Minnesota Vikings brand than Coach Grant. And it’s impossible to describe the impact that he’s had on the Vikings and the community.
“As owners, we cherished the nearly 18 years with Bud. We got to know him on a personal level, and it was a tremendous loss for the organization and, of course, the entire state of Minnesota,” Wilf continued. “As an organization, we wanted to find meaningful ways to honor Bud both at the time of his passing and throughout this season – and really allow our fans to be involved because of the relationship Bud had with the fans.
“We intend to wear patches with Bud’s iconic signature on our Classic uniforms for the season opener at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sept. 10, just a few weeks away. It’s fitting to do so when the entire game will be honoring those great teams of the 60s and 70s,” Wilf added. “We also plan to be wearing helmet stickers throughout the entire 2023 season to continue honoring Bud, and we’re going to announce additional elements of the home opener that will pay tribute to Bud as we get closer to the game itself.”
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