Bud Grant

Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (May 20, 1927 – March 11, 2023) was an American professional gridiron football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL).

Grant was born on May 20, 1927, in Superior, Wisconsin, to Harry Peter Sr. and Bernice Grant.

His mother called him "Buddy Boy", which later became "Bud".

As a child, Grant was diagnosed with poliomyelitis and a doctor suggested he become active in sports to strengthen his weakened leg muscles over time.

He started with baseball, adding basketball and football as he got older.

Due to a lack of organized school teams, he arranged football games between neighborhoods and contacted kids from other schools to participate.

During weekends, he spent time outdoors alone hunting rabbits.

In his late teens and college years, he played organized baseball in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

In 1940, Grant and two friends were duck hunting on Yellow Lake in northern Wisconsin when the Armistice Day Blizzard occurred.

Grant survived by sheltering at a gas station while his friends were at a farmer's house.

Grant played football, basketball, and baseball at Superior Central High School.

He graduated from high school in 1945 and enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois and played on the football team coached by Paul Brown.

Using an acceptance letter from the University of Wisconsin–Madison to be discharged from the service, Grant decided to attend the University of Minnesota instead.

He was a three-sport, nine-letterman athlete in football, basketball, and baseball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, earning All-Big Ten Conference honors in football twice.

While at the University of Minnesota, Grant was a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.

After leaving the University of Minnesota, Grant was selected in both the NFL and NBA draft.

He played 35 games during the 1949–50 NBA season and signed with the Lakers for the 1950–51 NBA season.

He chose to continue his basketball career with the Lakers because they were local and because he was offered a raise to stay for the season.

Grant's close friend Sid Hartman was the Lakers' general manager, which may have influenced his decision to remain with the team.

After college, he played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Minneapolis Lakers where he won the 1950 NBA Finals.

Grant left the NBA to play in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles before leaving for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.

A statue of Grant stands in front of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers' current stadium, IG Field.

Grant is the most successful coach in both Vikings and Blue Bombers history.

He is the fifth-most winningest coach in professional football history with a combined 286 wins in the NFL and CFL.

He was selected in the first round (14th overall) of the 1950 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and fourth round (47th overall) selection of the Minneapolis Lakers in the 1950 NBA draft.

He averaged 2.6 points per game in his two seasons as a reserve with the Lakers and was a member of the 1950 championship team.

After the death of Arnie Ferrin in 2022, he became the oldest living NBA champion.

After two seasons in the NBA, Grant decided to end his professional basketball career.

He contacted the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL and agreed to play for the team during the 1951 NFL season.

In his first season with the Eagles, Grant played as a defensive end and led the team in sacks (an unofficial statistic at the time).

He switched to offense as a wide receiver for his second season with the club and ranked second in the NFL for receiving yardage, with 997 yards on 56 catches, including seven touchdowns.

Grant's contract expired at the end of the 1952 NFL season and the Eagles refused to pay him what he thought he was worth.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL had been interested in Grant while in college.

Grant left for Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1953 and became the first professional player to "play out his option" and leave for another team.

Grant was head coach of the NFL's Minnesota Vikings for 18 seasons; he was the team's second (1967–83) and fourth (1985) head coach, leading them to four Super Bowl appearances, 11 division titles, one league championship and three National Football Conference championships.

Before coaching the Vikings, he was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for 10 seasons, winning the Grey Cup four times.

Grant attended the University of Minnesota and was a three-sport athlete, in football, basketball, and baseball.

Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994.

He was the first coach to guide teams to both the Grey Cup and the Super Bowl, the only other being Marv Levy.