Milepost 7,574 (Columbus, OH)

We're in Columbus, Ohio, a stop that allowed us to visit some friends and former colleagues.  Two of the people I worked with in my last job were Karen Olstad and Mike Rathke.  Both are now at WOSU in Columbus.  Tonight, we all got together at the home of Karen and her husband Will.  Will is next to Karen, and that's Mike to the right of me.  We had a wonderful time and enjoyed a delicious dinner.

Earlier today, we went to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH.  As with the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown several days ago, I focused on the teams from Minnesota (Vikings) and Seattle (Seahawks).  And like baseball, the team from Minnesota has the longer history and the greater success.

When you go back to the early days of the Vikings, the best known player was Fran Tarkenton. He was an immediate success with the Vikings in 1961, his rookie year and the first year of the expansion Vikings.  He ended his career holding every significant NFL passing record.

The leader of the defense back then was Alan Page.  In 1971, Page became only the second defensive player to be named the NFL's Most Valuable Player.  After retiring from football, Page became a lawyer and was elected to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The Vikings head coach back in those years was Bud Grant.  Grant, who played both professional football and professional basketball, was one of the NFL's most successful head coaches.

The only member of the Football Hall of Fame who spent the majority of his career with the Seattle Seahawks was Steve Largent.  When he retired in 1989, he held several NFL receiving records, including most receptions (819).  Of course, those records are now all held by Jerry Rice, who finished his career in Seattle.

The Football Hall of Fame was enjoyable, though not nearly as good as its baseball counterpart.  I did pretty much skip the section on the Super Bowl.  When your teams are 0-5 in that game, it was just too depressing!

One thing I did learn today was that in 1959, Minneapolis was issued a charter membership in the American Football League, which began play the following year.  However, Minneapolis backed out of that when there was an opportunity for an NFL franchise.  They were replaced in the AFL by Oakland.