The subject of the Bud Grant memorial service would have approved of the tenor of the ceremony. The dress code was casual, as were the conversations.
Scott Studwell wore one of his best pairs of cargo shorts. Mike Grant, one of Bud's sons, looked at the sunshine beaming through the clear plastic roof panels and said: "My dad would have wondered why you were here on this beautiful day in the spring. He would have said, 'Why aren't you at the cabin?' "
For about 90 minutes at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, Bud Grant's family, friends, former players and colleagues reminisced about the Hall of Fame Vikings coach, portraying a man who was hypercompetitive yet hardly single-minded.
They said he loved his family, the Vikings, the outdoors and old-fashioned cash, sometimes even in that order.
Emcee Mark Rosen, who covered Grant as a local television star, introduced video clips from Fran Tarkenton, Jim Marshall and Ahmad Rashad. Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose father, Jim, covered Grant and the Vikings for the Minneapolis Tribune and Star Tribune, presented Mike Grant with a framed congressional statement honoring his father.
The theme of the event was titled "Bud Grant — He Did It His Way." Former players Carl Eller, Chuck Foreman, Stu Voigt and Studwell sat on a couch and comfortable chairs to tell stories about Grant, portraying a coach who could command a room with a stare and a team with a nod.
PaulWiggin, the longtime Vikings defensive line coach, told a story about Pete Carroll, then a young defensive backs coach, showing up to practice early one day, eager to please. Grant strolled in on time. Carroll eagerly asked Grant what the plan was. Grant said, according to Wiggin, "You're the defensive backs coach. Go coach the defensive backs.''
Wiggin said that at training camp Grant once assigned Carroll to go to the Mankato library and prepare a report on the Kyber Pass. "I never knew why he did it,'' Wiggin said. "It didn't make sense to me. That was Bud's way of doing things."