Harry Peter "Bud" Grant Jr. (born May 20, 1927) is a former head coach and American soccer player, Canadian football, and former basketball player in the NBA. Grant served as head coach of Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) for eighteen seasons; he was the head coach of both teams (1967-83) and fourth (1985). Before coaching the Vikings, he was the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL) for ten seasons, winning the Gray Cup four times. Grant was the most successful coach in Viking history, and the third most successful professional football coach overall (behind Don Shula and George Halas), with a combined 290 victories in the NFL and CFL. Grant was elected to the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1983 and to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994. He is the first coach in the history of professional football to guide the team to the Gray Cup and Super Bowl.
Grant attended the University of Minnesota and was a three-sport athlete, in soccer, basketball, and baseball. After college, he played for the Minneapolis Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA), the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL.
On October 23, 2014, the Grant statue was unveiled in front of Winnipeg Blue Bombers' new stadium, Investors Group Field.
Video Bud Grant
Personal life
Childhood
Bud 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 the sport to strengthen the leg muscles that weakened over time. He started with baseball, adding basketball and soccer as he got older. Due to the lack of an organized school team, he arranged an inter-neighborhood soccer game and contacted children from other schools to participate. Over the weekend, he will spend his time outside alone hunting rabbits. In late adolescence and college, he played organized baseball in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Family
Bud married Pat (formerly Patricia Bellew; born March 28, 1927) in 1950, and they have six children. Their son Mike Grant has been head coach of football for Eden Prairie High School in Eden Prairie, Minnesota since 1992. Mike Grant has been training Eden Prairie to ten state championships since 1996. Bud Grant's grandson, Ryan Grant, is a midfielder and midfielder in Eden Prairie and playing at the University of Minnesota (2008-2012) as a linebacker. Bud's grandson, Jenny, is married to former NFL midfielder Gibran Hamdan. Pat Grant died in 2009, Parkinson's disease.
Maps Bud Grant
Play career
High School and college
Grant played soccer, basketball and baseball at Superior Central High School (Wisconsin). He graduated from high school in 1945 and enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He was assigned to the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois and played on a football team coached by Paul Brown. Using a letter of acceptance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to be removed from service, Grant decided to attend the University of Minnesota instead. He is a three-ball sportsman, nine-letterman in soccer, basketball and baseball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, winning the Big Ten award in football twice.
Professional basketball
After leaving the University of Minnesota, Grant was chosen both in the NFL and the NBA Draft. He was selected in the first round (the fourteenth overall) of the 1950 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles and the fourth (forty-second overall) round of Minneapolis Lakers elections in the 1950 NBA draft. He played thirty-five games during the NBA season 1949-50 and signed with the Lakers for the NBA season 1950-51. He chose to continue his basketball career with the Lakers as they are local and because he was offered a raise to stay for the season. Grant's personal friend, Sid Hartman, is the Lakers general manager, who may have influenced his decision to stay with the team. He averaged 2.6 points per game in two seasons as a reserve with the Lakers and became a member of the 1950 championship team.
Professional football
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 defender and led the team in a sack (unofficial statistics at the time). He switched to the offense as wide receiver for the second season with the club and second in the NFL to receive a yard, with 997 yards on fifty-six catches, including seven goals.
The Grant contract expired at the end of the 1952 NFL season and the Eagles refused to pay what he thought was worth. The Winnipeg Blue Hunters of the CFL have been attracted to Grant in college. Left grant for Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada in 1953 and became the first professional player to "play his choice" and leave for another team. He played for the Blue Bombers until 1956 as an offensive end and was named three-star Western Conference three times. He led the Western Conference in reception reception for 1953, 1954, and 1956 seasons and received a meter for the seasons of 1953 and 1956. He also held the distinction of having five interceptions in the playoff game, played on October 28, 1953, which is a CFL record. The Blue Bombers played for the Gray Cup in 1953, but lost to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 41st Gray Cup game.
Train a career
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
The Blue Bombers management decided that they needed a new coach before the 1957 season. On 30 January 1957, Grant accepted the position of coaching the head of the Blue Bombers after impressing management with his ability to make adjustments to offense and defense as a player. Club president, J.T. Russell, thought that Grant could train even if no one did. Grant will remain the head coach of the Blue Bombers until 1966. At the age of 29 (he will be 30 years old when he trains his first game), Grant became the youngest head coach in CFL history.
For ten seasons as head coach in Winnipeg, he led the team to six Gray Cup appearances, won four championships in 1958, 1959, 1961, and 1962. He completed the Blue Bombers coaching career with a regular season record of 105 wins, 53 losses, and two ties and an overall record of 122 wins, 66 losses, and 3 ties. Grant was a CFL Coach of the Year in 1965. Grant took on additional responsibilities as club manager between 1964 and 1966. Max Winter, founder of Minnesota Vikings, contacted Grant in 1961 and asked him to train a new NFL expansion team. Grant rejected the offer and remained in Winnipeg until 1967 when Winter and General Manager Jim Finks managed to lure Grant to Minnesota.
Minnesota Vikings
Grant continued his coaching success at the NFL when he took over from the original coach, Norm Van Brocklin. During his tenure as Viking head coach, Grant was known for instilling discipline in his team and showing lack of emotion during the game. He believes that football is a controlled game of emotion and the team will not follow the coach's lead if he panics or loses his composure during the game. He asked his team to stand upright in a straight line as long as the national anthem was played before the game and even had a national practice. Grants require outdoor exercise during the winter to get players accustomed to cold weather and will not allow heating on the sidelines during the game.
Grant and Finks set up a rare trade among the leagues, which brought Joe Kapp from the British Columbia Lions to the Vikings. In return, the Vikings send Jim Young, a Canadian-born player, back to his home country.
In the second year, Grant led the team to the division championship and his first NFL playoff appearance. In 1969, he led the team to the first NFL Championship and their first appearance in the Super Bowl. Vikings lost in Super Bowl IV to American American Football League champion Kansas City Chiefs. Before the 1970 season, Minnesota released Joe Kapp. After starting Gary Cuozzo in quarterbacks in 1970 and 1971, Viking regained Fran Tarkenton before the 1972 season. During the 1970s, Vikings would appear in three other Super Bowls (VIII, IX, and XI) under Grant and lose each other. respectively, but he is the first coach to lead the fourth team of the Super Bowl. He retired after the 1983 NFL season and was replaced by Les Steckel, who led the team to a 3-13 record the following season. Steckel was sacked as head coach after the 1984 season and Grant returned as coach for Viking in 1985. After a season in which he returned the club to a 7-9 record, he resigned again. Grant retired as the eighth most successful coach in NFL history with an overall record of 161 wins, 99 losses, and 5 ties. In 2014, he also remains the most successful coach in Viking history. During his tenure with Viking, he led the Vikings to four Super Bowls, eleven division titles, one league championship and three NFC conference championships.
Head coaching record
Career post-training
After his retirement, Grant became a less prominent public figure and focused on hunting and fishing and supporting environmental reform. He has been a spokesman for the rights of hunting and fishing agreements of Native Americans in Minnesota. In 1993, Grant's efforts resulted in death threats. In 2005, he spoke at a Capitol meeting in Minnesota for wetland conservation, wetland wildlife, and water. Grant spoke to 5,000 supporters, saying, "In this legislative session, we want to see some action, it's more important than any stadium they can build in this country."
Grant is still listed as a consultant for Viking and maintains an office at team headquarters in Eden Prairie.
See also
- List of National Football League head coaches with 50 wins
- List of professional field soccer coaches with 200 wins
References
Further reading
- McGrane, Bill (1986). Bud: The Other Side of Glacier . Harper & amp; Line. ISBN: 0-06-015583-3.
External links
- Bud Grant in Pro Football Hall of Fame
- Train stats at cfldb.ca
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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