Eller

In an era where sports figures have become what movie stars were in another generation - the spoiled, petulant children we watch as much off the field as on - it's good to see Carl Eller make the football hall of fame.

I've never been a Vikings fan; even their "glory days" were boring. I've been a Bears fan since before I knew what football was, and I always will be.

But Eller was something special:

Old Vikings never will forget Eller's 1973 attention-grabbing speech about team effort during halftime in a playoff against Washington. The Vikings were trailing 7-3 when Eller, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, started speaking passionately about how poorly the team had played in the first half. He punctuated his talk by kicking a stand that was holding a chalkboard. The stand collapsed, the chalkboard fell onto the heads of a few teammates. The Vikings played far more enthusiastically in the second half and won the game, 27-20.

And more, from his induction speech:

"What can I do with this great honor?" he asked. "I can use it to help young African-American males to participate fully in this society. I can give a message that will lead them toward the great colleges and universities of our nation, not to prisons and jail cells."

Eller was always the good Viking.

Posted by Mitch at August 10, 2004 04:36 AM | TrackBack