Vikings legend Mick Tingelhoff passes away

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Nice story by Mark Craig in the Strib. Unfortunately, later in his life Tinglehoff had memory and cognitive issues. When he was elected to the Hall of Fame, he stood on the stage while someone else spoke on his behalf, because he was not able to speak coherently at that point.
 

I saw a Vikes game at the Dome (pretty sure it was 2005) and then was staying Downtown for a concert at First Ave, so I killed time by eating at Champs (also on First Ave). I had bellied up to the bar, and Tingelhoff happened to sit in the chair next to me. Very quiet, but pleasant.
What I remembered the most visually was just how much his hands & fingers were scarred and mashed up.

In the early to mid-70s, my parents were friends of Dave Osborn's in-laws and there were a few times we had been invited to some boating outings near Cannon Falls on Osborn's pontoon. I was really young (5 or 6 yrs old) so my memories were quite faint, but there was a time or two that Tingeloff (and Paul Krause) were also there. My parents had always said that all of the Vikes were quite friendly in general, and could not have been nicer to me specifically, that I was just in awe of them. I relayed the story to Mick, he said those guys were still his closest friends and was happy for the good memories.
 
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