Greatest Minnesota Vikings of All-Time: Alan Page

Grace In The Trenches

Watching Alan Page in his prime was watching one of the Founding Father’s on the NFL’s 3-technique; the inside defensive line position designed to disrupt the flow of an offense and get into the backfield.

Things were less complicated then, but suffice to say, with Hall of Fame caliber ends on his flanks in Eller and Marshall, Page was nearly impossible to stop.

In the Vikings’ immortal home of old Metropolitan Stadium, where cold, snow, and mud cruelly graced the gridiron and opponents dreaded playing, Page was indeed purple and he ate people.

Page was both a nine-time Pro Bowler and a nine-time All-Pro, even through the heyday of Pittsburgh’s Steel Curtain glory.

He played in 218 consecutive games, had 22 fumbles recoveries,  scored three touchdowns and had three recorded safeties, second most in NFL history. In his 10th season in 1976, Page had 18 sacks from the defensive tackle position.

He was also a starter for the Vikings in all four of their Super Bowl losses.

In 1979, to the greatest chagrin of Minnesota fans, Page discovered cardio-vascular exercise and dropped over twenty pounds off his 6-foot-4 frame, creating a conflict with Vikings’ head coach Bud Grant about his playing weight.

It was a conflict that resulted in Page moving south to Chicago to play with the Bears for his last four seasons. In Chicago, Page played at an incredible 215 pounds and recorded 40 more career sacks.

For this author (a lifelong Vikings fan), seeing Page in a Bears uniform was akin to the discomfort and enmity Green Bay Packers fans felt while witnessing their legendary quarterback Brett Favre play in purple in 2009 and 2010.

But, unlike some eternally disgruntled football fans in Wisconsin, we have forgiven Alan Page.

His individual example in professional football, in academics and achievement, and in charity and education is unparalleled in NFL history.

Minnesota Vikings

When enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, speaking in his very own hometown of Canton, Page thanked several of his mentors, coaches and fellow players, but spent the majority of his speech talking about the responsibility of educating the children of our communities..

"“We can’t preach responsibility to our children if we don’t accept it ourselves. We as parents, especially in the black community, must accept that we bear responsibility for our children. We must work with them. Not just by developing their hook shots or their throwing arms, but by developing their reading and their thinking abilities.”"

In 1988, Page was not a first ballot Hall-of-Famer. However, in 2013, Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive tackle Warren Sapp was. That’s a flat-out shame for not only Vikings fans, but for fans of the NFL.

Page was a better player and twice the man. The Hall of Fame selection committee should remember things like that.

To this day, a picture of Alan Page, with his archaic projecting face-mask upon his deep purple Vikings helmet, the 1970s wide horn of white contoured in gold at the crest, hangs proudly in my workroom.

I imagine I’m not the only Vikings fan who has such a picture in such a place.

Thank you, your honor.