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Speaker 1: Welcome to a special edition of the Minnesota Vikings Podcast.

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Speaker 1: I'm Craig Peters, senior editor of Vikings dot Com, and

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Speaker 1: I have the honor of hosting this episode that highlights

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Speaker 1: Bob Hagen's thirty two years in the Vikings public relations department.

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Speaker 1: Bob retired this offseason, but really, the decades on the

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Speaker 1: job never felt like work. Each day was a continuation

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Speaker 1: of a dream for someone who grew up a Vikings

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Speaker 1: fan during the Purple People Eaters era. Over time, Bob

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Speaker 1: became a friend of friend Tarkenton, a cabin guest of

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Speaker 1: Bud Grant, and like a son to Sid Hartman. But

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Speaker 1: you didn't have to be famous to become a friend

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Speaker 1: of Bob's.

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Speaker 2: You could just be youth.

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Speaker 1: Bob's love for the Vikings was joined by a deep

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Speaker 1: commitment to building and maintaining relationships. Between his knowledge of music,

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Speaker 1: his seal for attending live concerts, and sharing some piping

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Speaker 1: hot pizza. Bob was all about bringing people together. Bob's

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Speaker 1: intertwined thread with the Vikings began long before he started

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Speaker 1: with the team in nineteen ninety one.

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Speaker 3: The year was nineteen seventy eight, and I was in

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Speaker 3: fourth grade and my my mom gave me a note

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Speaker 3: that day to get out of school early because I

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Speaker 3: had a dentist appointment, and she picked me up, got

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Speaker 3: out of school.

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Speaker 2: We start driving and we drive.

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Speaker 3: We drive by this huge building where the doctors and

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Speaker 3: dentists were that we always went down, Like, isn't that

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Speaker 3: the building? And she goes, yeah, we got to go

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Speaker 3: somewhere else first though, and I go okay. So she

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Speaker 3: takes me into downtown Wisetta and it's it was a

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Speaker 3: little one off bookshop and somehow my mom knew about

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Speaker 3: a private deal that Fran was doing a book signing

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Speaker 3: down there. By this time, I'd been Frank Turkington for

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Speaker 3: Halloween four or five times. So I get up to

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Speaker 3: meet him, and I mean, it's as clear as day now.

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Speaker 3: I can just see him talking to me. He goes, hey,

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Speaker 3: how are you doing? And what's your name?

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Speaker 2: And Bob.

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Speaker 3: Then I said to him, I go, you know you

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Speaker 3: and I have the same birthday and he goes wow.

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Speaker 3: He goes, so your birthday must be February the third.

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Speaker 2: And I looked at him and I go, how did

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Speaker 2: you know that? You know? And I'm like, I did

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Speaker 2: even know that. I just told him.

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Speaker 3: We had the same birthday. But that was a great interaction.

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Speaker 3: I mean that was nineteen seventy eight. Here we are

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Speaker 3: nineteen ninety one, thirteen years later. I'm working for the

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Speaker 3: Vikings and basically somewhere ninety two, I think I became

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Speaker 3: his contact. Here I became the guy he called all

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Speaker 3: the time. And he lives in Atlanta, and you know,

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Speaker 3: we've been close, tight friends. He calls at least three

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Speaker 3: times a week. This is my boyhood idol becomes one

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Speaker 3: of my closest friends.

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Speaker 2: I mean, that just.

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Speaker 3: Doesn't happen to I don't think it happens to anybody,

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Speaker 3: you know. I mean so, I mean, I consider myself

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Speaker 3: very fortunate to have had that happen, and just the relationship.

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Speaker 2: We'll be able to create over over the years. It's

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Speaker 2: been a ton of fun.

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Speaker 4: Bob has become a friend, and it's way beyond just

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Speaker 4: the Vikings. We have a great time in talking about

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Speaker 4: all the things that are going on in the National

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Speaker 4: Football League and college football. And it's comic relief to

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Speaker 4: be able to talk to Rob Bob about the NFL,

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Speaker 4: because who can predict who's going to win today or tomorrow,

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Speaker 4: next week and who's going to be the quarterback or

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Speaker 4: who's going to make the defensive player, who's going to

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Speaker 4: do this? And where's this coach going to that? Because

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Speaker 4: it's always something going on, so it's newsworthy. He drops

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Speaker 4: his ego at the door. I mean, he he's just

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Speaker 4: a good guy and that means a lot to me.

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Speaker 4: We all are looking for people that we can work with,

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Speaker 4: to be friends with, or that that are that are

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Speaker 4: just good guys, and he is just the epitome of

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Speaker 4: a good guy. And the Vikings have been very lucky

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Speaker 4: to have him there for his entire adult life.

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Speaker 1: Bob start in the twins aties media market began with

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Speaker 1: an internship while a student at Iowa State. He interned

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Speaker 1: at eleven with Randy Shaver.

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Speaker 5: I just remember him being very curious, just trying to

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Speaker 5: soak in as much as he could soak in love sports,

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Speaker 5: all kinds of sports, but just really wanted to kind

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Speaker 5: of see the workings of how a TV station kind

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Speaker 5: of gathers their information. And I think that helped him

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Speaker 5: and his job here.

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Speaker 3: I needed four hundred dollars and they were paying zero dollars,

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Speaker 3: and so luckily I was living with Mom and dad

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Speaker 3: at home and I made it work.

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Speaker 5: Back in those days, it was a lot of hands

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Speaker 5: on work by interns. It's not as much anymore, but

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Speaker 5: back in the day, you were writing, you were doing interviews,

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Speaker 5: you were going out on stories, you were doing all

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Speaker 5: those things. And again, I just think that background in

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Speaker 5: doing that probably gave him a good insight as to

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Speaker 5: what was needed, so that when he got the job

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Speaker 5: here and worked his way up here, he had that

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Speaker 5: inside view.

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Speaker 1: After interning at Caro Levin, Bob reached out to Dan

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Speaker 1: Indy in the Vikings public relations department.

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Speaker 2: I came in for an informational interview and I left

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Speaker 2: with an internship.

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Speaker 6: You're going to come and work for us for really

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Speaker 6: them training camp with five or six weeks long for

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Speaker 6: the month of July, maybe a little bit longer. You know,

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Speaker 6: it would be a season long thing. You know, looking back,

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Speaker 6: it was far and away the best thing that I

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Speaker 6: ever did at the Vikings with hire Bob Hagen.

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Speaker 3: He would say, come find me and I'll let you

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Speaker 3: know if you have to be in tomorrow. We're about

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Speaker 3: two and a half weeks in and I saw him

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Speaker 3: in the parking lot and I said, do you need

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Speaker 3: me tomorrow, and he said, I don't want you to

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Speaker 3: ask me again. You come in every day until somebody

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Speaker 3: tells you not to. So thirty two years later, I

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Speaker 3: just kept coming in.

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Speaker 1: That first season included a moment that Bob and Dan

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Speaker 1: can now laugh about.

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Speaker 2: We were ahead twenty to three, we had the civil silenced.

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Speaker 6: In my recollection, he said something to the effect of, so,

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Speaker 6: what's a plane ride like home after a win? And

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Speaker 6: no sooner did he say that than we looked up

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Speaker 6: and the Lions completed a long pass for a touchdown

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Speaker 6: and eventually they won the game. So we've always kind

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Speaker 6: of joked like he cursed it. I'll be like, yeah,

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Speaker 6: and it's your fault that we lost in Detroit in

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Speaker 6: nineteen ninety one, even though we both know that has

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Speaker 6: nothing to do with it. But it was just a

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Speaker 6: unique moment for the two of us, and we also

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Speaker 6: know a I mean, that had no outcome on the game.

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Speaker 6: It just so happened. He said it as the Lions

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Speaker 6: are throwing this long bomb.

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Speaker 2: So I did.

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Speaker 3: I turned to Dan in the press box and I

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Speaker 3: just say, you know, what's it like on the plane

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Speaker 3: ride when you win on the way home? And then

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Speaker 3: it just one thing led to another to another, and

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Speaker 3: I think we lost the game twenty four to two.

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Speaker 3: And the Silver Dome was you know, it was a

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Speaker 3: loud building too. It was kind of like the old

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Speaker 3: Metrid home and the place was roaring, and Barry Sanders

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Speaker 3: was Barry Sanders and did some miracles things out there.

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Speaker 1: Bob's first road trip that season had included a production

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Speaker 1: meeting with Jim Nantz and Hank Stram in New Orleans.

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Speaker 3: I just remember they had this big table and they

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Speaker 3: had this like, you know, really nice tablecloth, Kurt and

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Speaker 3: whatever you want to call it over the table.

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Speaker 2: It is really nice.

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Speaker 3: And Hankstram took out a sharpie and just started drawing

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Speaker 3: on this you know thing. I mean, he's destroying it.

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Speaker 3: The hotel's not going to be able to wash this

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Speaker 3: and use it again. He's got sharpie and he's doing

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Speaker 3: plays with Jerry Burns and say, you know, do you

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Speaker 3: take this receiver out here? When they got the coverage

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Speaker 3: coming from this way, and you know, that was pretty good.

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Speaker 1: Production meetings became one of Bob's favorite aspects of the job.

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Speaker 1: I mean, winning producer Fred Godelli describe what podcast crews

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Speaker 1: hope for from those sessions, and Michelle Tafoya always enjoyed

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Speaker 1: Minnesota hosting Sunday Night Football.

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Speaker 7: Are you going to be able to speak with the

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Speaker 7: coaches and players you want to speak with? Are you

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Speaker 7: going to be able to speak with them in a

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Speaker 7: timely fashion? Are you going to get all the information

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Speaker 7: you know that team's put out, you know, in time

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Speaker 7: to really absorb it and use it in the telecast.

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Speaker 7: It's going to be a pleasurable experience when you visit

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Speaker 7: that day for practice if they're the home team, and

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Speaker 7: then the production meetings and at the hotel you know

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Speaker 7: if they're the road team, and with Bob, when you

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Speaker 7: knew the Vikings were on the schedule that week, you

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Speaker 7: could take a sigh of relief and say, Hey, this

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Speaker 7: is going to be a great experience this week. We're

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Speaker 7: going to get what we need. It's going to be

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Speaker 7: a real professional environment. And you know that isn't always

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Speaker 7: the case every single week.

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Speaker 8: It was always a great source of try for me

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Speaker 8: to bring the Sunday Night Football crew to Minnesota because

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Speaker 8: I knew the treatment we would get by the Vikings

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Speaker 8: would be first rate, and it always was, and Bob

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Speaker 8: Hagen was the tip of the spear as far as

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Speaker 8: that went. He just made sure everything was prepared, everything

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Speaker 8: was ready, everything was easy, everything was thorough. The entire

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Speaker 8: Sunday Night Football crew absolutely loved Bob for that. He

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Speaker 8: treated us with so much respect for our time and

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Speaker 8: for what we were trying to do, and so I

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Speaker 8: always felt really good about that. Like heck, even when

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Speaker 8: we covered the game, the wildcard game against the Owl,

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Speaker 8: when it was seven below right at kickoff, Bob still

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Speaker 8: made sure we had everything we needed and it I

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Speaker 8: just don't think there was anyone better. And our crew

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Speaker 8: absolutely loved Bob.

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Speaker 2: I loved when they would come into town.

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Speaker 3: It was always three times as much work as a

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Speaker 3: regular game, but in the end, it was worth it

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Speaker 3: just to you know, hang around the those people and

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Speaker 3: have those relationships and you know, be a part of such,

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Speaker 3: you know, an amazing broadcast. Bob's colleagues Tom West and

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Speaker 3: John Exstrom noticed his emphasis on those production meetings.

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Speaker 9: You realize the scope of the reach of that broadcast,

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Speaker 9: and and it's kind of simple human dynamics. The better

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Speaker 9: you treat them, the better they're going to treat you.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 9: Plus you just you know, those those guys are and

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Speaker 9: girls are the top of their profession. I mean, they

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Speaker 9: just they deserve that professional courtesy and professional respect that

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Speaker 9: you get them what they want more than they want.

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Speaker 9: If they ask you for a list of players at

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Speaker 9: the beginning of the week, it's you know, it's a

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Speaker 9: challenge to knock them all down, you know, to sweep

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Speaker 9: the plate clean.

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Speaker 10: If you know Bob, you look in his office, he

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Speaker 10: likes to chew on pencils. He likes to chew on

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Speaker 10: pins when he gets nervous. So I'm sure he would

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Speaker 10: probably go through a few more pencils and pins during

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Speaker 10: those weeks. But the incredible relationships he would have, but

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Speaker 10: people like Fred Getdeli, you know, the on air talent,

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Speaker 10: those are just things that he never He would always

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Speaker 10: make those a priority, and so that would translate down

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Speaker 10: to our staff just make sure every single detail was

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Speaker 10: a plus. And not that we would do any less

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Speaker 10: for a noon game on Fox, but we just understood

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Speaker 10: the importance of these national games, and especially like early

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Speaker 10: in my career, like there wasn't Thursday night football, there

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Speaker 10: wasn't Flex games, but like when they're coming to Minnesota,

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Speaker 10: Bob always made a point like, yeah, it might not

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Speaker 10: be the best weather here if you're coming in the

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Speaker 10: winter time. But like, we want to put out our

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Speaker 10: best effort because we want people to come back here

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Speaker 10: because they love to work with the Minnesota Vikings, and

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Speaker 10: we would always go above and beyond on getting them

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Speaker 10: players and coaches and access to front office members. You know,

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Speaker 10: I think that's something he took incredible pride in and

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Speaker 10: that's why those relationships have been so strong, because he

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Speaker 10: poured so much into those games and every game that

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Speaker 10: it just people truly felt like they were important and

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Speaker 10: that they weren't being burden on our staff, like we

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Speaker 10: really wanted to help them out. And that's that's the truth.

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Speaker 10: Even to today.

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Speaker 3: I want to treat all the media great. I want

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Speaker 3: to treat our in house media grade. I want to

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Speaker 3: treat our local TV, you know, radio print, treat all

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Speaker 3: of them well. But don't lose sight of the fact

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Speaker 3: when the TV crew comes in here that you know,

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Speaker 3: so many more high balls are going to be on

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Speaker 3: them than all the other things you did the rest

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Speaker 3: of the week combined.

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Speaker 7: He you know, he made it pleasurable, He made it fun,

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Speaker 7: and he always made sure that you were getting what

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Speaker 7: you needed in a timely fashion, and he really stood

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Speaker 7: out to me for all those things Bob was great about,

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Speaker 7: you know, bringing Bud Grant onto John Matt's bus, about

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Speaker 7: bringing Sid Hartman, you know, into our production meeting. You

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Speaker 7: know some of the Viking legends, whether it was Alan

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Speaker 7: Page or Carl Eller. You know, he would bring them

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Speaker 7: over to speak with us and and use them to us.

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Speaker 7: And you know, one of my most vivid memories of

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Speaker 7: Bob is we were sitting on Madden's bus. We had

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Speaker 7: just finished our watching practice over at Meat and Prairie,

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Speaker 7: and we were getting ready to leave. And who walks

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Speaker 7: on the bus is Bud Grant with Bob right behind him.

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Speaker 7: And Bud looks at John. The immediately exchanged pleasantries. You

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Speaker 7: could tell there was a great respect there. And then

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Speaker 7: the first words out of Bud's mouth art, John, can

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Speaker 7: you believe how bad the officiating is? And you know

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Speaker 7: this is in two thousand and three, and everybody on

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Speaker 7: the bus just burst laughing because here are these two

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Speaker 7: coaching icons, two Hall of famers, and the first thing

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Speaker 7: they can talk about is how bad the officiating is.

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Speaker 1: Fred and Bob worked together on another iconic moment, Chris

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Speaker 1: Carter's one thousandth catch.

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Speaker 7: It was a really great emotional moment, and you know,

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Speaker 7: that was really all made possible because Bob really trusted

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Speaker 7: me and he persuaded Chris and Melanie to wear the

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Speaker 7: mics that year. That was my final year at ESPN

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Speaker 7: producing their version of Sunday Night Football. But we won

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Speaker 7: THEAMBI that year for Best Series and that segment, in

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Speaker 7: my opinion, is why we won it. We set it

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Speaker 7: up and then Chris delivered, and then we had the

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Speaker 7: great moment with him and his family. So again kudos

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Speaker 7: to Bob for, you know, making that happen for us.

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Speaker 1: Fox nine's Don Mitchell observed Bob's style that allowed staff

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Speaker 1: to develop through their own approaches, whether it was an

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Speaker 1: intern like Kelly Klein or staff members like Tom West

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Speaker 1: and Jeff Anderson.

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Speaker 11: You could see that he allowed people to be themselves.

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Speaker 11: You know, Kelly Klein, be yourself but learn at the

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Speaker 11: same time, and then she went off into like the

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Speaker 11: scouting and then where she is now with Denver, but

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Speaker 11: just to see it's all right, I'm going to train you,

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Speaker 11: but you don't have to be me. So from the

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Speaker 11: TV side of things and seeing a PR person do that,

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Speaker 11: I thought It was fantastic.

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Speaker 12: It was evident from the moment I came in that

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Speaker 12: you know, these guys are like, they're totally different, but

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Speaker 12: they're like two peas in a pot, and you know,

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Speaker 12: in terms of I mean, they're just they were just

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Speaker 12: tied together.

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Speaker 2: And but you know.

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Speaker 12: Tom was more tough love I think, you know, he

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Speaker 12: would literally walk up to you and name a player

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Speaker 12: on the roster, and your job was to tell him

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Speaker 12: everything about that player, a school, height, weight, you know,

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Speaker 12: the whole deal, right, and and he kind of chastised

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Speaker 12: you if you couldn't do it.

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Speaker 2: Bob, it's pretty hard to get.

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Speaker 12: Bob to even raise his voice, you know. I don't know,

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Speaker 12: over the twenty years, he's done it more than three

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Speaker 12: or four times. And one of those, one or two

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Speaker 12: of those might have been that, you know, we didn't

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Speaker 12: have the right snacks on game day, or we didn't

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Speaker 12: have the right pizza.

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Speaker 2: I'm not I'm not you know, being funny.

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Speaker 12: He just he doesn't get worked up about too many things,

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Speaker 12: you know. And and so it was this interesting dynamic

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Speaker 12: for sure between the two guys. But obviously it worked,

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Speaker 12: and you know, and it's led to a lot of

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Speaker 12: us being in the league.

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Speaker 9: I never thought of it as work, you know, ever

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Speaker 9: in lives. That's because you know, Bob operate. Bob is

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Speaker 9: so easy to work with. You know, we got along

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Speaker 9: good opposites a tract. He couldn't get two more different guys.

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Speaker 9: But he's a town kid and I'm a country kid.

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Speaker 9: He doesn't know what to working as a attractor, and

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Speaker 9: I don't know much about dinner parties and whatever.

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Speaker 1: Jeff's start with the Vikings overcame a prank by a

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Speaker 1: college roommate.

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Speaker 12: When I was a college student, and I called the

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Speaker 12: Vikings and asked to be able to shadow him in

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Speaker 12: the communications department for a few weeks. And you know,

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Speaker 12: he called back to my dorm room a couple of

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Speaker 12: days later, and my roommate answered the phone, thinking he'd

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Speaker 12: be funny, answered the phone pizza hut. You know, And

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Speaker 12: and I think about that moment like it could have

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Speaker 12: ended immediately. You know, he could have made the decision

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Speaker 12: as a professional to not call back and just to

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Speaker 12: move on, you know, And instead, instead he tried back,

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Speaker 12: and and you know, and then I had the chance

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Speaker 12: to come and shadow with him and and be a

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Speaker 12: part of that, and and stayed in touch with him

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Speaker 12: throughout the rest of college, and then he hired me

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Speaker 12: as an intern coming out of college. And you know,

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Speaker 12: a couple of years later, I left for NFL Europe

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Speaker 12: and I was in Germany working in Hamburg, and and

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Speaker 12: I won't forget the call that you know, he made

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Speaker 12: to me in that moment and asked, are you ready

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Speaker 12: to come back to the Vikings and offered me that

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Speaker 12: full time, full time role. So I'm obviously forever indebted

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Speaker 12: to him for bringing me into the fold here and

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Speaker 12: and being such a part of you know, my career

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Speaker 12: and my in my personal life as well.

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Speaker 1: Absolutely, And just to be clear, when when your roommate

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Speaker 1: answered it's a hut, did you get on the phone immediately,

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Speaker 1: did you know what had happened in the moment or

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Speaker 1: did you find out after the fact.

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Speaker 12: Well, I knew that he was going to be calling,

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Speaker 12: and you know, and obviously back in those days, you know,

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Speaker 12: I had a cell phone for emergency use only. So

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Speaker 12: he's calling my you know, my dorm suite and line,

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Speaker 12: and so I was kind of waiting on his call,

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Speaker 12: and I was sitting in the other room, and I

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Speaker 12: heard the phone ringing, and I heard my roommate answer,

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Speaker 12: and I just started.

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Speaker 2: Yelling no, no, no, no, running.

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Speaker 12: Down the hallway, you know, to to him, and he

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Speaker 12: had already hung up at that point. So but he

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Speaker 12: he called right back, thankfully, I don't thinking that he

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Speaker 12: had the wrong number.

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Speaker 1: John Eckstrom joined the Vikings as an intern in two

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Speaker 1: thousand and nine after working in minor league baseball.

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Speaker 10: I was just a little bit anxious, like going like,

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Speaker 10: this is my boss, this is who I'm picking up

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Speaker 10: my life and moving to work for. And as soon

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Speaker 10: as I met him, like it was, you know, all

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Speaker 10: my stress or anxiety you know, quickly went away. And

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Speaker 10: you know, Bob, from what I thought was maybe like awkwardness,

375
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Speaker 10: it definitely wasn't awkwardness. It was just kind of like

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Speaker 10: some of his unique quirks of who he is. Bob,

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Speaker 10: you know, is a great friend, a great person in

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Speaker 10: my life, not only professionally but but personally. The biggest

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Speaker 10: takeaway from Bob is, you know how he always kept

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Speaker 10: in touch with so many different people, regardless of your stature,

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Speaker 10: your status, you know, currently working, not working, retired, whatever,

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Speaker 10: former player, current player, Bob just knows everybody you know,

383
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Speaker 10: and so it was great to see him operate and

384
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Speaker 10: really instill some of those habits in myself and the

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Speaker 10: other workers that were coming up underneath them. Bob was

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Speaker 10: always he always enjoyed being at work. You know, I'd

387
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Speaker 10: never showed up to work and saw Bob being upset

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Speaker 10: or down because it's another day of work. Like you

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Speaker 10: can tell, he truly loved his job, win or lose.

390
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Speaker 10: Coming off a road trip, you know, ninety five degree

391
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Speaker 10: training camp day in man Cato, Bob was excited and

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Speaker 10: appreciated to be there, and I think that really spread

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Speaker 10: throughout the staff on You got to appreciate what you

394
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Speaker 10: got and be grateful for the opportunity that you have.

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Speaker 1: Sam Newton got his foot in the door as a

396
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Speaker 1: student in Mankato.

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Speaker 13: It's just kind of watching him interact and how he

398
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Speaker 13: built up our department and then how we've all kind

399
00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:02,639
Speaker 13: of elevated it through the years, and then you can

400
00:20:02,680 --> 00:20:05,359
Speaker 13: see how Bob does it, how Jeff does it, and

401
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Speaker 13: it's just, I mean, a perfect spot to grow For

402
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Speaker 13: someone like me. What we do isn't always unicorns, rainbows

403
00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,880
Speaker 13: and the most fun environments to be in, but that's

404
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Speaker 13: something he always did, was have fun. Like it was

405
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Speaker 13: the term quasi uses that joyful pursuit of excellence. That's

406
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Speaker 13: Bob summed up. It was just happy, the happiest guy.

407
00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:31,880
Speaker 13: If he can have that joyful mindset and happy throughout

408
00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:33,399
Speaker 13: and that gives you a lot of hope as a

409
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Speaker 13: young person in this industry, and he can follow those footsteps.

410
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Speaker 1: Bob's deep commitment to relationships was appreciated by Kate STPs.

411
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Speaker 1: Joe Schmidt, you.

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Speaker 14: Said the magic word relationships. You know, this business is

413
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Speaker 14: all about relationships, and Bob is a.

414
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Speaker 2: Master at them.

415
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Speaker 14: We did several liking shows and Bob would help line

416
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,440
Speaker 14: up the guest and we would give them a gift

417
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,000
Speaker 14: certificate the best buy for on the guest, and I

418
00:21:01,040 --> 00:21:04,000
Speaker 14: had to go through our accounting and so forth. You know,

419
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Speaker 14: whether it was Joey Browner or whether it was you know,

420
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:09,000
Speaker 14: Chuck Forman and then later would have been Robert Smith

421
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Speaker 14: In any way, one time Bob ended up being a

422
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Speaker 14: guest because somebody didn't show up. So I thought, what

423
00:21:14,359 --> 00:21:16,199
Speaker 14: the heck Bob was a guest. So I went up

424
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Speaker 14: to the account and I said, Bob Hagen needs a

425
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Speaker 14: gift certificate. She's a fighting span. Who's Bob Hagen? Oh,

426
00:21:23,080 --> 00:21:28,760
Speaker 14: he's their new deep snapper, so Bob ended up getting

427
00:21:28,760 --> 00:21:33,120
Speaker 14: a gift certificate to Best Buy it. We still chuckled

428
00:21:33,119 --> 00:21:36,080
Speaker 14: about that one because Bob said, whatever I opened my refrigerator,

429
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Speaker 14: I think of you.

430
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Speaker 11: You know, one thing about Bob that I love is

431
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Speaker 11: it's not all about the business. He'll ask about you,

432
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Speaker 11: you know. So during my time that I've been here,

433
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Speaker 11: I've lost both my parents and my dog all within

434
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Speaker 11: a four year span. And he would come over and

435
00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:56,240
Speaker 11: it was always how are you first, you know, and

436
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Speaker 11: then talk about you. And it wasn't like, all right,

437
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Speaker 11: I'll be nice and then I'll get to what I

438
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Speaker 11: really need. Sometimes that's all he talked to you about

439
00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:06,120
Speaker 11: was oh, I hear you're going to on a trip here,

440
00:22:06,160 --> 00:22:08,120
Speaker 11: And when I went, it was this, or how are

441
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:10,960
Speaker 11: you doing after this? Or I even fainted once in

442
00:22:10,960 --> 00:22:14,040
Speaker 11: the Vikings locker room kind of during that time. I

443
00:22:14,040 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 11: probably wasn't taking care of myself very well in that span.

444
00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:20,520
Speaker 11: And the phone calls and it's not a major deal,

445
00:22:20,840 --> 00:22:24,480
Speaker 11: that's the thing. It's like this, it's this velvet touch

446
00:22:25,040 --> 00:22:28,000
Speaker 11: of just I'm not prying, but I'm just checking in.

447
00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:31,840
Speaker 11: I'm being professional, but I'm your friend. It's this unique

448
00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 11: balance that's really kind of It's one of a kind,

449
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:36,840
Speaker 11: it really is.

450
00:22:37,359 --> 00:22:40,000
Speaker 10: There is no doubt that Bob is truly invested in

451
00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,120
Speaker 10: you as a person, and you can always bring any

452
00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:46,520
Speaker 10: problems to him that are outside of work and he's

453
00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:48,399
Speaker 10: going to be there to listen and give advice. So

454
00:22:49,280 --> 00:22:53,359
Speaker 10: just an awesome quality too. Yeah, he's a boss, but

455
00:22:53,720 --> 00:22:56,479
Speaker 10: he cares about the individual and he cares about your family.

456
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,000
Speaker 12: One of the things he taught all of us, and

457
00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:02,879
Speaker 12: right out of the gate when you joined the Vikings,

458
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:05,560
Speaker 12: he was clear about it was the value of relationships.

459
00:23:05,680 --> 00:23:10,040
Speaker 12: And I almost have to sometimes remind myself, you know,

460
00:23:10,119 --> 00:23:12,320
Speaker 12: to let that rub off on me, because I have

461
00:23:12,359 --> 00:23:15,000
Speaker 12: a tendency to focus on the job functions and the

462
00:23:15,040 --> 00:23:18,879
Speaker 12: process and the structures and and and a lot of

463
00:23:18,880 --> 00:23:21,719
Speaker 12: what we do just comes down to people and caring

464
00:23:21,760 --> 00:23:24,400
Speaker 12: about people, and he's so good at that.

465
00:23:24,760 --> 00:23:27,960
Speaker 2: I just think I was always just being myself.

466
00:23:28,280 --> 00:23:32,359
Speaker 3: And you know, in college, I was the guy that

467
00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 3: would get along with everybody, and obviously, you know, I'm

468
00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:39,879
Speaker 3: a huge sports fan in that but I had plenty

469
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,200
Speaker 3: of friends in college that had zero to do with sports,

470
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,800
Speaker 3: and that was fine. You know, my wife always says,

471
00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:49,399
Speaker 3: you have an incredible group of friends. You also have

472
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,320
Speaker 3: a bunch of very odd friends, But I mean they

473
00:23:53,480 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 3: I like characters, and characters kind of make the world

474
00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 3: go round.

475
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:03,000
Speaker 13: It was how crazy, ridiculously strong these relationships had been

476
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:06,800
Speaker 13: built through decades, and not just with a couple people.

477
00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:08,920
Speaker 13: Everywhere we'd go we got a road game, and there'd

478
00:24:08,960 --> 00:24:12,320
Speaker 13: be someone that he'd known from decades ago that they'd

479
00:24:12,320 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 13: stayed in touch, and it was just incredible to see

480
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:17,920
Speaker 13: the depth of the relationships throughout the years.

481
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:25,960
Speaker 6: He's a master connector of people. His ability to recall things,

482
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 6: it's just been partwarming for me to watch, and it's

483
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:33,800
Speaker 6: a point of pride that, you know, really all I

484
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,880
Speaker 6: had to do was say, yeah, come and work for us,

485
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,160
Speaker 6: and then help him get get hired on everything he's

486
00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:42,240
Speaker 6: done since has really been primarily his doing.

487
00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 1: Longtime Viking's equipment manager Dennis Ryan's career overlapped with each

488
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:48,480
Speaker 1: of Bob's thirty two seasons.

489
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 15: Bob makes friends easily. He always has. He's very likable.

490
00:24:53,320 --> 00:24:56,840
Speaker 15: He finds the positive and everything, you know, no matter

491
00:24:57,240 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 15: the diarists, the circumstances, Bob was going to find Hey, but.

492
00:25:01,320 --> 00:25:02,040
Speaker 2: This was good.

493
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:05,560
Speaker 1: Sam Farmer with the Los Angeles Times knew Bob through

494
00:25:05,640 --> 00:25:09,280
Speaker 1: covering Super Bowls, but their relationship has grown the most.

495
00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,520
Speaker 16: At Wimbledon, Bob has those relationships, and I think he

496
00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:16,720
Speaker 16: was an incredible ambassador for the franchise, not just a

497
00:25:16,760 --> 00:25:22,600
Speaker 16: franchise for Minnesota. You know, he's a synonymous with Minnesota

498
00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,040
Speaker 16: and certainly with the Vikings.

499
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:29,880
Speaker 1: Bob's investment in relationships showed its greatest value in tough times.

500
00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,480
Speaker 1: Just ask voice of the Vikings Paul Allen.

501
00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:35,439
Speaker 17: Really, the most memorable for me would be after the

502
00:25:35,480 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 17: two thousand and nine season and the NFC Title Game

503
00:25:38,320 --> 00:25:41,760
Speaker 17: loss at New Orleans. But you know, see Bob had

504
00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:45,119
Speaker 17: so much to do after that game that I didn't

505
00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,440
Speaker 17: really get, you know, like a feel for how he

506
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:53,280
Speaker 17: truly felt with that incredibly emotional loss. So that that

507
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:58,080
Speaker 17: comes to mind first and foremost because of how close

508
00:25:58,160 --> 00:26:02,040
Speaker 17: to the Super Bowl the team was and how emotional

509
00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,800
Speaker 17: the game ended up being given it went to overtime.

510
00:26:05,280 --> 00:26:07,440
Speaker 17: But you know, now that I think about it for

511
00:26:08,160 --> 00:26:12,399
Speaker 17: just a little bit, is after the Vikings lost to

512
00:26:12,480 --> 00:26:16,399
Speaker 17: Seattle at the College Stadium. It's I don't want to say,

513
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:19,120
Speaker 17: you know, like that is the saddest that I've seen

514
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:23,160
Speaker 17: Bob or saddest. I was where we needed to console

515
00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,479
Speaker 17: each other. And we've done that for many different things

516
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,159
Speaker 17: and many different scenarios during the twenty plus years that

517
00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 17: I've known it, But that was an angry locker room.

518
00:26:33,480 --> 00:26:37,359
Speaker 17: And that was a very very angry locker room with

519
00:26:37,480 --> 00:26:42,280
Speaker 17: players that were borderline that they were sitting on some

520
00:26:42,359 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 17: heavy vitriol and about ready to burst. So Bob watching

521
00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 17: Bob navigate that and navigate working with the head coach,

522
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:53,600
Speaker 17: Mike Zimmer, who was hot, he was very sad. And two,

523
00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:59,200
Speaker 17: that's something they'll never forget because the job that Bob held, well,

524
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:03,560
Speaker 17: there's an art that goes into that job, and the

525
00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:08,840
Speaker 17: artistry or the nuance and the intricate nature of how

526
00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:11,760
Speaker 17: to handle things that don't come in a handbook these days.

527
00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,320
Speaker 17: Quite honestly, in my walk of work, with the three

528
00:27:16,400 --> 00:27:20,280
Speaker 17: jobs that I do quite frequently, I noticed it's lost.

529
00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:23,400
Speaker 1: One of the strongest relationships Bob built during his time

530
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:26,720
Speaker 1: with the Vikings was with legendary Twin City sports writer

531
00:27:26,920 --> 00:27:27,560
Speaker 1: Sid Hartman.

532
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:30,040
Speaker 3: It was always an adventure when he came out here

533
00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:32,359
Speaker 3: and he was here, you know, four days a week

534
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,080
Speaker 3: and you know, some days he'd have off, but then

535
00:27:35,119 --> 00:27:37,000
Speaker 3: when you knew and you knew and he was here,

536
00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:38,880
Speaker 3: because I mean, I would have my hands full. I'd

537
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,320
Speaker 3: have to take him everywhere and do everything with him.

538
00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,520
Speaker 3: But overall, I enjoyed every minute of it. It's kind

539
00:27:44,560 --> 00:27:46,840
Speaker 3: of funny like when I first started working here, he

540
00:27:46,920 --> 00:27:49,880
Speaker 3: was seventy years old, and people are like, hey, you're

541
00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:51,679
Speaker 3: not gonna worry about that. Guy is not going to

542
00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:53,840
Speaker 3: be here much longer. And you know here he was

543
00:27:54,400 --> 00:27:57,240
Speaker 3: with me for another thirty years, So I'm glad I

544
00:27:57,240 --> 00:28:02,160
Speaker 3: didn't listen to that and not take a liking to him.

545
00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:04,200
Speaker 9: It was a job where you were having to convince

546
00:28:04,280 --> 00:28:07,040
Speaker 9: other people to see what you saw in the value

547
00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,639
Speaker 9: that Sid Priss, you know which new people to the

548
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:14,399
Speaker 9: Vikings didn't didn't know it, didn't understand it, but they

549
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:16,520
Speaker 9: figured it out pretty soon. So it was it was

550
00:28:16,560 --> 00:28:20,520
Speaker 9: really Sid relations for for all many many years.

551
00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,720
Speaker 13: I caught the back end of Sid, but he was

552
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:27,720
Speaker 13: still fierce and Bob was always making sure he was

553
00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:30,880
Speaker 13: getting what he needed and we were there to help

554
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:32,920
Speaker 13: and make sure it was it was going as well

555
00:28:32,960 --> 00:28:36,760
Speaker 13: as as it should. So that was my early years.

556
00:28:37,640 --> 00:28:40,040
Speaker 13: I'll never forget those moments with Sid and Bob and

557
00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:42,840
Speaker 13: kind of just you knew you were sitting in some

558
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 13: some rarefied air when Sid was around. Always interesting, and

559
00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:48,280
Speaker 13: you know it was a great time too, you know.

560
00:28:48,360 --> 00:28:51,160
Speaker 13: There's those two had nothing but love and respect for

561
00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:53,560
Speaker 13: each other. And seeing the way Bob would plan his

562
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:57,520
Speaker 13: his birthday lunches and the guest list that he'd have

563
00:28:57,640 --> 00:28:59,600
Speaker 13: lined up was was awesome.

564
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:02,600
Speaker 17: But a coo cell and Ali would go back and

565
00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:07,400
Speaker 17: forth with each other jokingly and lovingly, and they would

566
00:29:07,440 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 17: do so on television. Well that reminded me a lot

567
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 17: of Bob and Sid, you know how they would go

568
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,720
Speaker 17: back and forth. And you know even if Sid did

569
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,960
Speaker 17: kind of hear something, well, I mean, Bob would play

570
00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,239
Speaker 17: the bit where like he didn't hear it, you know,

571
00:29:22,480 --> 00:29:25,040
Speaker 17: and then he would come back and say, practice is

572
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:28,640
Speaker 17: almost over? Did you hear me? And then Sid would

573
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:30,880
Speaker 17: smile and laugh and he would come back at Bob.

574
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:36,000
Speaker 17: So the dynamics of their relationship was born not only

575
00:29:36,040 --> 00:29:41,720
Speaker 17: of respect, but equity and love. And when I use

576
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 17: one of several nicknames I have for Bob, and I

577
00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:50,360
Speaker 17: call him mother Hen, well he's mother Hen because of

578
00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:54,840
Speaker 17: the way he cared for, loved, and looked over Sid

579
00:29:55,520 --> 00:29:59,959
Speaker 17: likewise for Bud Gramt, likewise for me, and countless others

580
00:30:00,120 --> 00:30:00,920
Speaker 17: in his life.

581
00:30:01,000 --> 00:30:04,320
Speaker 10: I just love seeing those those guys interact with each other.

582
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,560
Speaker 10: And I'd hear his conversation with Sid clear as day

583
00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,240
Speaker 10: from all the way down the hall, because he's just

584
00:30:09,440 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 10: yelling at the top of his lungs for Sid, you know,

585
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:14,320
Speaker 10: trying to get him out for open locker room or

586
00:30:14,360 --> 00:30:17,360
Speaker 10: for a press conference. Bob would always slip in a

587
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:19,600
Speaker 10: couple of one liners and we all get the chuckle,

588
00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:23,480
Speaker 10: and Sid just never never had a clue. But Bob

589
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:25,600
Speaker 10: just never took He never you know, when it was

590
00:30:25,600 --> 00:30:27,520
Speaker 10: time to work, Bob. You know, no one would grind

591
00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,640
Speaker 10: harder than Bob, but he just never took anything too serious.

592
00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,680
Speaker 10: He just always kept things light and was always looking

593
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,000
Speaker 10: to make jokes. And I think that like that was

594
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,840
Speaker 10: a lot of how he would disarm people, you know,

595
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,280
Speaker 10: and tough conversations or just getting to know people, he

596
00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:47,920
Speaker 10: would use humor and he would just you know, try

597
00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,440
Speaker 10: to kind of make them feel at ease, and that's

598
00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:52,600
Speaker 10: something that Tom West does a great job at too.

599
00:30:53,000 --> 00:30:56,240
Speaker 14: I think that Sid actually kind of treated Bob like,

600
00:30:56,320 --> 00:30:59,440
Speaker 14: you know, like another son, so to speak. They had

601
00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 14: that much of a relationship and and and and Sid

602
00:31:03,520 --> 00:31:05,600
Speaker 14: could be a pain in the butt, as we all know,

603
00:31:05,800 --> 00:31:08,320
Speaker 14: but Bob was able and which is which is really good.

604
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:09,719
Speaker 14: Bob was able to handle that.

605
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 2: You know.

606
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:12,920
Speaker 12: Obviously a lot of us had the chance to be

607
00:31:13,040 --> 00:31:15,600
Speaker 12: around Sid, and you have so much respect for what

608
00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,040
Speaker 12: that career was and who he was. But Bob was

609
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:23,120
Speaker 12: one of a few people that you know, really got Sid,

610
00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:25,719
Speaker 12: and that Sid just you know, he loved him, He

611
00:31:25,760 --> 00:31:28,640
Speaker 12: loved him like a son. And as it became harder

612
00:31:28,680 --> 00:31:31,440
Speaker 12: for Sid to cover the team on a regular basis,

613
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:34,240
Speaker 12: I mean, Bob was always finding ways to make sure

614
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:35,640
Speaker 12: he was out here and when he was out here

615
00:31:35,640 --> 00:31:37,000
Speaker 12: that it was productive for him.

616
00:31:37,160 --> 00:31:41,880
Speaker 15: Well, I remember Sid was not always easy, and he

617
00:31:41,880 --> 00:31:46,960
Speaker 15: could make life difficult for people, and he was hard

618
00:31:46,640 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 15: to get into his corner. It was hard to make

619
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,760
Speaker 15: your way in there. Bob was one guy and a

620
00:31:53,840 --> 00:31:54,560
Speaker 15: very young.

621
00:31:54,360 --> 00:31:56,240
Speaker 2: Guy was able to do that.

622
00:31:56,480 --> 00:32:02,200
Speaker 15: And Sid had complete respect and love Bob. And you know,

623
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:07,680
Speaker 15: for I'd say, Bob, outside of Fred ZAMBERLETTI would have

624
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:11,680
Speaker 15: been Sid's closest friend and confident And of course Bud

625
00:32:11,680 --> 00:32:16,440
Speaker 15: Grant number one, that you know Sid loved him and

626
00:32:16,480 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 15: respected him, and you can't say that about many people,

627
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:24,800
Speaker 15: maybe Chad Hartman, Bob Hagen, and Bud Grant.

628
00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,680
Speaker 1: Because of Bob's unique relationship with people like Sid Hartman,

629
00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:32,080
Speaker 1: a whole host of unique opportunities presenting themselves.

630
00:32:32,640 --> 00:32:35,720
Speaker 3: There was times when he would can you go to

631
00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:37,920
Speaker 3: lunch tomorrow? Go, I'm going, I'm out with one of

632
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 3: my friends. Well who is it? And I'd say the

633
00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:41,120
Speaker 3: person's name. He's like, well, I don't know who that is.

634
00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 3: I go, I know you don't. They're one of my friends.

635
00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 2: You know.

636
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:46,360
Speaker 3: It's like it's a friend of mine from college. And

637
00:32:46,520 --> 00:32:50,200
Speaker 3: be like, well, I think I'll come along, and he did,

638
00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:52,440
Speaker 3: And he did this like twenty times, and I'd have

639
00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:54,880
Speaker 3: to tell the person I'm like, just so you know,

640
00:32:55,400 --> 00:32:58,480
Speaker 3: Sid Hartman's coming to lunch with us tomorrow and he's

641
00:32:58,520 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 3: going to ask you everything about you, so be ready.

642
00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:04,760
Speaker 3: And those were incredible lunches. I mean, he would invite

643
00:33:04,800 --> 00:33:08,520
Speaker 3: himself to anything, and I never said no, because after

644
00:33:08,560 --> 00:33:11,560
Speaker 3: he did it a few times, I go, this actually works.

645
00:33:11,600 --> 00:33:15,080
Speaker 3: You know, he's respectful and would treat these guys great

646
00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,840
Speaker 3: and usually tell him about something great that he does,

647
00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:21,240
Speaker 3: or you know, whatever business they were in. He would

648
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,880
Speaker 3: try to pretend like he knew all about their business

649
00:33:23,920 --> 00:33:24,640
Speaker 3: too well.

650
00:33:24,680 --> 00:33:27,880
Speaker 1: Bob's relationship with Sid grew over the years. He also

651
00:33:27,920 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 1: connected with Sid's close personal friend, Viking's legendary coach Bud Grant.

652
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:36,200
Speaker 3: You grew up in Minnesota, and it's like, you know,

653
00:33:36,280 --> 00:33:39,200
Speaker 3: that's the only coach that I knew, you know, because

654
00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 3: I was born in nineteen sixty eight, and so it

655
00:33:42,760 --> 00:33:47,080
Speaker 3: was Bud Grant. And obviously we had these incredible, you

656
00:33:47,120 --> 00:33:51,280
Speaker 3: know teams in the seventies and early eighties, and you know,

657
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 3: just you know, I mean, he's just somebody that everybody

658
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:58,040
Speaker 3: looked up to. I mean, he's an amazing figure for

659
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 3: this state, for our league, for our community.

660
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:01,440
Speaker 2: You know.

661
00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,000
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm helping Bud Grant at the time. So

662
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:05,560
Speaker 3: I'm like, you know, no problem, what.

663
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,200
Speaker 2: Do you need done? What do you want me to do?

664
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:10,200
Speaker 2: Do you want me to put the stamps on your mail? Whatever?

665
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:14,080
Speaker 3: Whatever it took, And he knew I knew Vikings history

666
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,239
Speaker 3: well off the bat, and then it didn't take long

667
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:20,840
Speaker 3: because I had developed such a good relationship with Sid.

668
00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:23,279
Speaker 3: And then Sid would always want to come in and

669
00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:26,440
Speaker 3: see Bud and and Sid would say good things to

670
00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,200
Speaker 3: but about me and something. You know, it just all

671
00:34:29,239 --> 00:34:34,000
Speaker 3: worked out, and I had hundreds of lunches with those two.

672
00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:36,600
Speaker 3: I mean, I think anyone would kill to have sat

673
00:34:36,680 --> 00:34:39,920
Speaker 3: down and have one meal with those guys. And it

674
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:43,799
Speaker 3: just became it became something that my wife would have

675
00:34:43,840 --> 00:34:46,480
Speaker 3: to remind me val all the time that it's like,

676
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:49,360
Speaker 3: you know, don't take those moments for granted, and you

677
00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:54,480
Speaker 3: sometimes did. But when she said that to me. She

678
00:34:54,560 --> 00:34:57,600
Speaker 3: said that to me one time when in the off

679
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 3: season that the three of us went to Wildfire for lunch.

680
00:35:01,320 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 2: And it was getting long.

681
00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:06,080
Speaker 3: We were been there like an hour and forty five,

682
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:08,960
Speaker 3: and it's like, you guys want the check. I'm like, yep,

683
00:35:09,040 --> 00:35:11,080
Speaker 3: let's have the check. And Bud's like, whoa, whoa, we

684
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:13,760
Speaker 3: haven't had dessert yet. He's like, we got to have dessert.

685
00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:16,000
Speaker 3: And I go, oh, my goodness, this is going to

686
00:35:16,040 --> 00:35:18,640
Speaker 3: be forever. You know, now we're getting dessert and take forever.

687
00:35:18,680 --> 00:35:19,080
Speaker 2: Get back.

688
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:22,399
Speaker 3: So I remember calling my wife and I got back

689
00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,080
Speaker 3: to the office and I said, yeah, I got some

690
00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:28,240
Speaker 3: things to do. I got waylaid with you know, lunch

691
00:35:28,360 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 3: was two and a half hours of you know, Bud

692
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:33,600
Speaker 3: and Sid. It just you know, kept going on because

693
00:35:33,719 --> 00:35:34,880
Speaker 3: you know, extending.

694
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:37,480
Speaker 2: She goes, listen to yourself. You know that, you know,

695
00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:38,400
Speaker 2: how silly are you?

696
00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:41,640
Speaker 3: I mean anyone would have loved to have been there.

697
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:45,200
Speaker 3: And ever since she said that, you know, it just

698
00:35:45,440 --> 00:35:48,120
Speaker 3: became a little bit more reality to me that, you know,

699
00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:50,000
Speaker 3: I'm not going to be able to do that forever.

700
00:35:50,080 --> 00:35:52,680
Speaker 3: And I mean one time, one time a Bud came

701
00:35:52,719 --> 00:35:55,400
Speaker 3: over to my house. I had some friends over and

702
00:35:55,520 --> 00:35:57,640
Speaker 3: some of these guys he knew, like Dan Andy was

703
00:35:57,680 --> 00:35:58,040
Speaker 3: there and.

704
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 2: Who hired me here?

705
00:36:00,680 --> 00:36:04,560
Speaker 3: And we were watching the Final four final game it

706
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:07,120
Speaker 3: was it was Duke Butler and we went out to

707
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:09,160
Speaker 3: Mexican ahead of time and then we went back to

708
00:36:09,200 --> 00:36:09,560
Speaker 3: my house.

709
00:36:09,640 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 2: He's like, it's like, you got any ice cream here?

710
00:36:12,200 --> 00:36:16,000
Speaker 3: And it's like yeah, and we actually had three flavors

711
00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 3: and I'm like, again, I thought that was pretty good.

712
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:19,960
Speaker 3: And he's like that's it, you know, He's like that's

713
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:21,839
Speaker 3: all you. I go, Yeah, I mean like I mean,

714
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 3: I go, this is we're not basking Robbins. And you know,

715
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 3: it's like we don't have thirty one flavors Bud, I go,

716
00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,360
Speaker 3: you got it like one of these three flavors, don't you.

717
00:36:30,800 --> 00:36:34,200
Speaker 1: It's true. But absolutely loved ice cream. But he also

718
00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:36,719
Speaker 1: knew how to stare down the cold while creating a

719
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,240
Speaker 1: moment frozen in time.

720
00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,879
Speaker 3: And I'm sitting in my office at Winter Park and

721
00:36:41,480 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 3: I looked at the phone rings in my office. I

722
00:36:43,680 --> 00:36:46,080
Speaker 3: look down and it's Bud Grant calling. It's the first

723
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:49,560
Speaker 3: time he's called me in twenty six years. And I'm like,

724
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:53,279
Speaker 3: whoa Bud Grant. You know he's calling me? What's he

725
00:36:53,320 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 3: called me about? So I pick up the phone and

726
00:36:55,239 --> 00:36:57,560
Speaker 3: he's like, hey, you in the office, and go yep,

727
00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,520
Speaker 3: but just answer the phone. He's like, I got something

728
00:37:00,520 --> 00:37:03,640
Speaker 3: I want to run by you, and I go okay.

729
00:37:03,719 --> 00:37:07,120
Speaker 3: He goes, come down to my office. So I went

730
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:10,000
Speaker 3: down to his office. And that was the week We're

731
00:37:10,040 --> 00:37:16,000
Speaker 3: playing the playoff game versus Seattle Seahawks at TCF Outdoors

732
00:37:16,239 --> 00:37:19,799
Speaker 3: and he asked me, he said, hey, you know I'm

733
00:37:19,840 --> 00:37:22,920
Speaker 3: doing the I'm going out for the coin toss this game,

734
00:37:23,760 --> 00:37:26,359
Speaker 3: and he goes, I got an idea and I wanted

735
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,359
Speaker 3: to run it by you. And keep in mind, on

736
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:34,160
Speaker 3: this day, this Monday or Tuesday, it was forty five

737
00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:39,120
Speaker 3: degrees in the middle of January. The parking lot was

738
00:37:39,320 --> 00:37:43,759
Speaker 3: slush everywhere. People weren't wearing jackets into work, and so

739
00:37:44,000 --> 00:37:47,360
Speaker 3: he proceeds to tell me. He goes, I got an idea.

740
00:37:47,400 --> 00:37:50,120
Speaker 3: When I go out for the coin toss, I'm gonna

741
00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:52,600
Speaker 3: I'm going to take off my coat and just be

742
00:37:52,680 --> 00:37:56,239
Speaker 3: in my golf shirt and short sleeves. And I'm like,

743
00:37:57,480 --> 00:37:59,480
Speaker 3: you know, that'd be pretty neat. But I said, but

744
00:37:59,640 --> 00:38:02,200
Speaker 3: I don't, you know, he doesn't have an iPhone. You know,

745
00:38:02,280 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 3: it's like he's not looking up weather forecasts. I go,

746
00:38:05,800 --> 00:38:10,799
Speaker 3: do you know on Sunday, I mean, it's forty five

747
00:38:10,840 --> 00:38:15,400
Speaker 3: degrees now, it's gonna be forty to forty five below

748
00:38:15,560 --> 00:38:21,520
Speaker 3: Windshill on Sunday, ninety degree difference than today. And he

749
00:38:21,600 --> 00:38:25,440
Speaker 3: just looked at me and said, if you put your

750
00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,040
Speaker 3: mind to it, you can do anything. For ten minutes,

751
00:38:29,680 --> 00:38:31,920
Speaker 3: and that was the end of the conversation. I mean,

752
00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:36,640
Speaker 3: to me, it's one of the iconic moments in Viking's

753
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:40,960
Speaker 3: history in terms of just I mean, it's Bud Grant

754
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,400
Speaker 3: out in the cold, and you know, I mean, and

755
00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:47,080
Speaker 3: I just remember seeing Pete Carroll is just like He's like,

756
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:50,120
Speaker 3: this is unbelievable. Pete Carroll had like nineteen layers on

757
00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:52,719
Speaker 3: and bundled up. You can only see his eyes, and

758
00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:54,839
Speaker 3: it's just I thought, I just thought it was.

759
00:38:55,280 --> 00:38:56,280
Speaker 2: It was a neat moment.

760
00:38:56,440 --> 00:39:00,000
Speaker 3: Obviously, had we won the game, it was played everywhere

761
00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:02,480
Speaker 3: for the next week. But if if we had won

762
00:39:02,520 --> 00:39:04,719
Speaker 3: the game, it would have it would have just kept

763
00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,720
Speaker 3: growing and growing and growing further.

764
00:39:07,800 --> 00:39:09,880
Speaker 2: But it was. It was pretty incredible.

765
00:39:11,960 --> 00:39:14,880
Speaker 1: We will forever link that iconic moment with Bud Grant.

766
00:39:15,040 --> 00:39:17,200
Speaker 1: On a similar note, when I think of Bob Hagen,

767
00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:19,799
Speaker 1: I'll always start with a visual of his office at

768
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,680
Speaker 1: Winter part part time Capsule Park, cluttered, mess but always

769
00:39:23,719 --> 00:39:24,120
Speaker 1: welcome me.

770
00:39:24,320 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 9: Bob had a museum in his office, so we go.

771
00:39:27,640 --> 00:39:29,920
Speaker 9: He was curated his own fighting museum.

772
00:39:30,239 --> 00:39:33,840
Speaker 12: His office give gives me anxiety, Like I mean, people

773
00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,680
Speaker 12: know me, I'm pretty ocd. Everything's got a place and

774
00:39:37,800 --> 00:39:40,759
Speaker 12: everything needs to be off off of my desk and

775
00:39:41,080 --> 00:39:44,759
Speaker 12: you walk into his office and at Winter Park especially,

776
00:39:44,800 --> 00:39:47,279
Speaker 12: it's like you you you couldn't even find a place

777
00:39:47,320 --> 00:39:49,160
Speaker 12: to sit down a lot of the time, and so

778
00:39:49,239 --> 00:39:52,399
Speaker 12: it would give me severe, severe anxiety. But it worked

779
00:39:52,440 --> 00:39:55,640
Speaker 12: for him, you know, and everybody's got their their system.

780
00:39:55,680 --> 00:39:58,759
Speaker 12: I think he probably knew exactly where everything was in there,

781
00:39:58,920 --> 00:40:02,160
Speaker 12: but it just wouldn't I wouldn't go well for me.

782
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:06,040
Speaker 15: And I think he had every you know, CD that

783
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:10,439
Speaker 15: any rock band ever produced, and he had all those

784
00:40:10,440 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 15: little Viking memorabilia, little knick knacks and just photos of everything.

785
00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,960
Speaker 15: And if you happen to mention a guy, you know,

786
00:40:20,200 --> 00:40:23,200
Speaker 15: maybe he said something about Hugh mcalhany, he'd pull a

787
00:40:23,280 --> 00:40:25,799
Speaker 15: damn photo off of his desk, you know where it was,

788
00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,400
Speaker 15: and it might have to dig a little bit, but

789
00:40:28,520 --> 00:40:30,839
Speaker 15: he would come up with it and say, oh, yeah, this.

790
00:40:30,800 --> 00:40:32,160
Speaker 2: Guy, I mean it was.

791
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:35,279
Speaker 3: It just had a little bit of every piece of

792
00:40:35,960 --> 00:40:40,239
Speaker 3: nostalgia from all time. I get, you know, sometimes I'm

793
00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:43,279
Speaker 3: the person that, you know, my wife accuses of. You know,

794
00:40:43,360 --> 00:40:45,239
Speaker 3: you just don't want to get rid of anything. You

795
00:40:45,239 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 3: don't want to get rid of these, you know, old

796
00:40:48,080 --> 00:40:50,600
Speaker 3: things you have or memories and stuff like that.

797
00:40:50,719 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 2: And you know, I was packing up my second to

798
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:55,120
Speaker 2: last day.

799
00:40:56,080 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 3: I was in our kind of we have a storage area,

800
00:41:00,160 --> 00:41:02,280
Speaker 3: and I was like, and I found this old media

801
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 3: guide for my first year nineteen ninety one.

802
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:07,360
Speaker 2: Ned Dan Indy's name on the front of it. It

803
00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:08,200
Speaker 2: was his own one.

804
00:41:08,239 --> 00:41:10,440
Speaker 10: I mean, there had to be ten thousand plus pounds

805
00:41:10,440 --> 00:41:13,840
Speaker 10: of papers, you know, in that office. But there was

806
00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:17,560
Speaker 10: a little, a little seat, and I mean, my knees

807
00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:20,000
Speaker 10: are touching, you know, touching my chin because that's just

808
00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,719
Speaker 10: how low it is. But you obviously got to move

809
00:41:22,760 --> 00:41:25,560
Speaker 10: this Star Tribune off of the seat, you know, you

810
00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,200
Speaker 10: got to move some papers somewhere in the protective film

811
00:41:29,520 --> 00:41:32,920
Speaker 10: that you know, cases that Bob would put his special papers,

812
00:41:33,040 --> 00:41:36,640
Speaker 10: and the man loves, you know, loves his printed papers.

813
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,239
Speaker 10: But I would sit in there, you know, I don't

814
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:41,640
Speaker 10: know how many hours I would spend in that chair,

815
00:41:42,360 --> 00:41:46,280
Speaker 10: you know, just asking questions about work, you know, about life,

816
00:41:46,840 --> 00:41:49,319
Speaker 10: and just just having fun, just talking about anything other

817
00:41:49,400 --> 00:41:53,080
Speaker 10: than the Minnesota vikings. And so there was just always

818
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:58,680
Speaker 10: a natural connection, just the ability to sit down and

819
00:41:58,800 --> 00:42:02,560
Speaker 10: not feel like you're talking to your boss. Always had

820
00:42:02,560 --> 00:42:05,960
Speaker 10: that respect, but it was always just very relaxed and casual.

821
00:42:06,640 --> 00:42:09,160
Speaker 10: And you know, it's been hours in there with him

822
00:42:09,160 --> 00:42:11,879
Speaker 10: and Tom, just why'd you guys do this? How come

823
00:42:11,920 --> 00:42:15,680
Speaker 10: you didn't do this? Like, help me understand this. He'd

824
00:42:15,719 --> 00:42:17,719
Speaker 10: like to play games where he would go through an

825
00:42:17,800 --> 00:42:21,200
Speaker 10: album and guess how many songs I would know, and like,

826
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:24,440
Speaker 10: I'm not a music buff by any means, but my

827
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:29,560
Speaker 10: favorite music that Bob would play is the Jurassic Park

828
00:42:29,680 --> 00:42:33,400
Speaker 10: theme song. And Sam Newton and I would always laugh

829
00:42:33,520 --> 00:42:36,319
Speaker 10: or we'd always text, like always got the Jurassic Park

830
00:42:36,360 --> 00:42:40,000
Speaker 10: cranked up today, and it's like, I don't think there's

831
00:42:40,040 --> 00:42:43,239
Speaker 10: even words, but it's just like, I'm sure you guys

832
00:42:43,320 --> 00:42:44,160
Speaker 10: know the you.

833
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:44,440
Speaker 14: Know the.

834
00:42:47,680 --> 00:42:49,719
Speaker 10: But like, I don't know why, but Bob would play

835
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,440
Speaker 10: that seemed like all the time. I don't know if

836
00:42:52,440 --> 00:42:54,680
Speaker 10: it helped him relax or it helped him get focused,

837
00:42:55,320 --> 00:42:58,320
Speaker 10: but he would crank the Jurassic Park theme song, and

838
00:42:58,360 --> 00:43:00,160
Speaker 10: I just thought that was so random. The guy he's

839
00:43:00,200 --> 00:43:03,759
Speaker 10: got five hundred CDs in his office and he knows

840
00:43:03,880 --> 00:43:08,400
Speaker 10: every single band. But if I ever hear the Jurassic

841
00:43:08,440 --> 00:43:11,040
Speaker 10: Park theme song, I think of one person, and it's

842
00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:12,600
Speaker 10: it's absolutely Bob Hagen.

843
00:43:12,719 --> 00:43:16,280
Speaker 1: Yeah, not Jeff Goldbloom, No, No, it's Bob.

844
00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:20,400
Speaker 10: And I don't I don't know why that one stuck

845
00:43:20,400 --> 00:43:22,520
Speaker 10: out to him so much, but he seemed to play

846
00:43:22,560 --> 00:43:28,440
Speaker 10: it a whole lot, and that's my favorite musical connection

847
00:43:28,560 --> 00:43:28,960
Speaker 10: to Bob.

848
00:43:29,400 --> 00:43:32,400
Speaker 1: Bob loves live music for the way it brings people together.

849
00:43:32,600 --> 00:43:34,959
Speaker 2: I average at least forty shows a year.

850
00:43:35,480 --> 00:43:38,160
Speaker 3: I love seeing live music, and you know, it's just

851
00:43:38,160 --> 00:43:40,919
Speaker 3: something I've been passionate about and I'm like, I've brought

852
00:43:40,960 --> 00:43:42,720
Speaker 3: a lot of other people along for the ride.

853
00:43:42,920 --> 00:43:50,279
Speaker 5: Bob is amazing at knowing things about bands. He's a

854
00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:54,440
Speaker 5: big music aficionado. I mean, I think he has a

855
00:43:54,480 --> 00:43:58,359
Speaker 5: lifetime passed him with Dinah Entertainment Center, I really do

856
00:44:00,120 --> 00:44:04,400
Speaker 5: he I've been to a couple of concerts there. He

857
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 5: was there both times. I think they would slip Bob

858
00:44:08,160 --> 00:44:11,480
Speaker 5: the set list before the concert would begin, so Bob

859
00:44:11,560 --> 00:44:13,160
Speaker 5: knew what was coming all the time.

860
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:13,759
Speaker 7: Yeah.

861
00:44:13,800 --> 00:44:16,480
Speaker 5: I mean, you know, if you just know Bob from

862
00:44:16,520 --> 00:44:19,120
Speaker 5: this job, you wouldn't think those things. And that's the

863
00:44:19,120 --> 00:44:19,839
Speaker 5: beauty of Bob.

864
00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:22,879
Speaker 6: I mean he would literally have set lists printed. This

865
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:26,560
Speaker 6: is pre internet days, so you couldn't or pre cell phone.

866
00:44:26,680 --> 00:44:29,640
Speaker 6: He'd come prepared. I'd kind of just go and be

867
00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:33,000
Speaker 6: happy to hear whatever I heard. He would know what

868
00:44:33,239 --> 00:44:39,680
Speaker 6: was coming up. I mean, yeah, it's his music fandom

869
00:44:40,920 --> 00:44:45,440
Speaker 6: far supersedes mine. And I know a lot of songs

870
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:49,160
Speaker 6: by lyrics, but he'll actually know them like by the

871
00:44:49,280 --> 00:44:52,960
Speaker 6: name whereas I would. So sometimes, you know, an artist

872
00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:55,640
Speaker 6: will have a weird name for a song. I'll know

873
00:44:55,719 --> 00:44:58,080
Speaker 6: the lyrics but have never known what the title is.

874
00:44:58,480 --> 00:44:59,200
Speaker 6: Bob knows them.

875
00:44:59,280 --> 00:45:01,680
Speaker 3: I don't know how I stumbled upon that, but I

876
00:45:01,719 --> 00:45:07,240
Speaker 3: I am mister setlist guy. I love having the set

877
00:45:07,280 --> 00:45:10,360
Speaker 3: list ahead of time. It's also good to no one

878
00:45:10,400 --> 00:45:13,719
Speaker 3: to go to the bathroom, no one to grow grab beveridge.

879
00:45:13,680 --> 00:45:14,359
Speaker 2: Stuff like that.

880
00:45:14,440 --> 00:45:16,799
Speaker 3: But I there's a lot of people that don't want

881
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:19,359
Speaker 3: to know. You know, Trell was at the show last

882
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:20,799
Speaker 3: night and it's like, don't send it to me. I

883
00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:22,560
Speaker 3: don't want it. He wants to be surprised by everything.

884
00:45:22,600 --> 00:45:27,320
Speaker 3: There's people like that, and I like it for just

885
00:45:27,320 --> 00:45:29,680
Speaker 3: just knowing what you know what's coming next.

886
00:45:29,800 --> 00:45:31,200
Speaker 2: And there's you know, a.

887
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:35,160
Speaker 3: Website that has so a set list FM that has

888
00:45:35,239 --> 00:45:36,600
Speaker 3: so many old concerts.

889
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:40,400
Speaker 15: I don't think I could name a rock band that

890
00:45:40,800 --> 00:45:44,000
Speaker 15: he hasn't been to their concert and couldn't remember in

891
00:45:44,080 --> 00:45:49,000
Speaker 15: full detail the list of songs that they sang, and

892
00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:52,720
Speaker 15: he might even know it by which one was first

893
00:45:52,719 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 15: and which one was last.

894
00:45:54,360 --> 00:45:57,600
Speaker 13: Bob's jamming. He's got the whole set list, the whole day,

895
00:45:58,239 --> 00:46:00,120
Speaker 13: you know, and this is when you start you're starting

896
00:46:00,160 --> 00:46:02,440
Speaker 13: to figure out like kind of who he is. And

897
00:46:02,480 --> 00:46:04,759
Speaker 13: he's got the music playing all day, he's getting ready

898
00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:09,280
Speaker 13: for Ribfest that night, did his research, has the exact setlist,

899
00:46:09,400 --> 00:46:11,359
Speaker 13: listening to the songs in the order they're playing them

900
00:46:11,400 --> 00:46:13,960
Speaker 13: that night, And you're excited to go out and we

901
00:46:14,000 --> 00:46:16,399
Speaker 13: go there and go to the crowd and I don't

902
00:46:16,440 --> 00:46:19,320
Speaker 13: see Bob or anybody anywhere, and then all of a

903
00:46:19,360 --> 00:46:22,680
Speaker 13: sudden they go on stage, like the show starts in

904
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:25,759
Speaker 13: Bob's in the back by the drummer jamming. So like

905
00:46:26,160 --> 00:46:29,200
Speaker 13: that kind of set the tone of of how he is,

906
00:46:29,360 --> 00:46:31,680
Speaker 13: you know, concert Bob, for sure, that was That was awesome.

907
00:46:31,719 --> 00:46:32,720
Speaker 13: I'll never forget that one.

908
00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:34,960
Speaker 17: Music is a big common thread with Bob and I.

909
00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:38,640
Speaker 17: We've gone to a lot of live concerts together. We

910
00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:41,160
Speaker 17: talk about music a lot when when we chat on

911
00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:44,600
Speaker 17: the phone, and so so that is forever a common

912
00:46:44,680 --> 00:46:45,839
Speaker 17: thread between he and I.

913
00:46:46,440 --> 00:46:48,919
Speaker 12: Roger Waters is actually one that kind of stands out

914
00:46:49,000 --> 00:46:51,600
Speaker 12: like not a show I would ever think of going to,

915
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:55,640
Speaker 12: you know, Pink Floyd Roger Rotters, but but he he

916
00:46:55,760 --> 00:46:58,400
Speaker 12: convinced me to go to it, and is you know,

917
00:46:58,480 --> 00:47:00,879
Speaker 12: to this day is one of the coolest shows I've

918
00:47:00,880 --> 00:47:04,040
Speaker 12: ever experienced. So you know, there are things that he's

919
00:47:04,160 --> 00:47:09,120
Speaker 12: just innate knowledge of things, and music is right up

920
00:47:09,120 --> 00:47:10,200
Speaker 12: there with pizza.

921
00:47:10,520 --> 00:47:14,200
Speaker 6: Paul McCartney. One stands out because somehow Bob had managed

922
00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:17,240
Speaker 6: to get front row on the side of the stage,

923
00:47:17,480 --> 00:47:20,880
Speaker 6: and when Paul McCartney walked off, Bob reached over and

924
00:47:20,920 --> 00:47:22,880
Speaker 6: Paul McCartney shook his hand.

925
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:24,919
Speaker 3: He was there two nights in a row, and people said,

926
00:47:24,920 --> 00:47:28,240
Speaker 3: why did you go both nights, and I say, because

927
00:47:28,280 --> 00:47:29,920
Speaker 3: he wasn't playing three nights.

928
00:47:30,360 --> 00:47:31,359
Speaker 2: You have to see him.

929
00:47:31,920 --> 00:47:35,440
Speaker 3: And those were seats that went on sale that day

930
00:47:35,520 --> 00:47:38,560
Speaker 3: that they realized where the stage was before and they

931
00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:42,040
Speaker 3: were row one off to the side and Paul McCartney

932
00:47:42,120 --> 00:47:44,359
Speaker 3: came over and shook my hand on his way off.

933
00:47:44,360 --> 00:47:45,799
Speaker 2: But that was the second time I met him.

934
00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:50,520
Speaker 3: I also met him one time prior to the Super

935
00:47:50,520 --> 00:47:54,560
Speaker 3: Bowl that the halftime press conference he was going to do.

936
00:47:54,680 --> 00:47:58,440
Speaker 3: Brian McCartney from the League assigned me to be with them,

937
00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:00,840
Speaker 3: knowing that's my favorite artist of all time, so it's

938
00:48:01,000 --> 00:48:05,000
Speaker 3: it's it's it's Brian McCarthy. Scott Birchild from the Buffalo Bills,

939
00:48:05,040 --> 00:48:09,040
Speaker 3: my boss at the Super bowls myself, Paul McCartney's security guy,

940
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:12,239
Speaker 3: and it's just five of us for fifteen minutes. And

941
00:48:12,320 --> 00:48:14,920
Speaker 3: I got to act like this isn't really cool, Like

942
00:48:14,960 --> 00:48:15,880
Speaker 3: I act like I've.

943
00:48:15,719 --> 00:48:16,279
Speaker 2: Been there, you know.

944
00:48:16,320 --> 00:48:19,240
Speaker 3: And we're sitting there talking to him and all this stuff,

945
00:48:19,239 --> 00:48:21,359
Speaker 3: and he's he's got a he's left handed, and he's

946
00:48:21,719 --> 00:48:24,359
Speaker 3: spinning a football around his hand and everything. And then

947
00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:28,960
Speaker 3: Brian McCarthy says, I don't know how to tell you this,

948
00:48:29,120 --> 00:48:29,920
Speaker 3: sir Paul, but.

949
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:32,320
Speaker 2: We're like two.

950
00:48:32,200 --> 00:48:34,640
Speaker 3: Minutes from going out on the stage or not me,

951
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:37,080
Speaker 3: but Brian's going to bring him out there and introduce him.

952
00:48:37,520 --> 00:48:44,040
Speaker 3: He goes, sir Paul, your your flies down and and

953
00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:49,520
Speaker 3: this is the year after the Janet Jackson justin Timberlake

954
00:48:50,480 --> 00:48:55,000
Speaker 3: were ro malfunction. So he goes, oh, you know, back

955
00:48:55,040 --> 00:48:56,600
Speaker 3: with us. He's like, oh, you know, he has some

956
00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:00,360
Speaker 3: cute little British word for the zipper or whatever. He

957
00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,239
Speaker 3: pulls it up and then he goes out and there's

958
00:49:04,320 --> 00:49:07,680
Speaker 3: fifteen hundred media and he just he just wilds the

959
00:49:07,760 --> 00:49:10,560
Speaker 3: room because he told them what happened backstage. It's like,

960
00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:14,359
Speaker 3: we don't want another ward wardrobe malfunction.

961
00:49:14,760 --> 00:49:17,360
Speaker 1: On more than one occasion, Bob lined up the Vikings

962
00:49:17,400 --> 00:49:20,440
Speaker 1: travel Party for shows on nights before road games. The

963
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:25,120
Speaker 1: good times have included seeing Boston's Tommy DeCarlo in Charlotte.

964
00:49:24,800 --> 00:49:27,560
Speaker 3: The last three times we've played in Charlotte. I mean,

965
00:49:27,600 --> 00:49:30,840
Speaker 3: I've got over fifty people to go all three times,

966
00:49:31,320 --> 00:49:34,000
Speaker 3: and one of them was a sponsor trip.

967
00:49:33,800 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 2: That they were having. They were having some.

968
00:49:36,840 --> 00:49:40,560
Speaker 3: Unrest in the in the town had a curfew, and

969
00:49:40,880 --> 00:49:45,800
Speaker 3: so they had fifty sponsors down there and they couldn't

970
00:49:45,840 --> 00:49:48,880
Speaker 3: go out downtown, so they went someplace else to dinner,

971
00:49:48,920 --> 00:49:51,239
Speaker 3: and he was playing a show in the outer suburbs,

972
00:49:51,719 --> 00:49:53,680
Speaker 3: and they showed up with the whole.

973
00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:55,200
Speaker 2: Bus, you know, of fifty.

974
00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:57,480
Speaker 3: I mean that night we had like seventy five people there,

975
00:49:57,680 --> 00:50:01,080
Speaker 3: Paul Allen and Lieber and Bursy and you know the

976
00:50:01,120 --> 00:50:03,960
Speaker 3: rest of the crew, and it was just a ton

977
00:50:04,000 --> 00:50:07,000
Speaker 3: of fun. And you know, Tommy's a great guy, and

978
00:50:06,960 --> 00:50:09,799
Speaker 3: I love I love I mean those that's what kind

979
00:50:09,840 --> 00:50:12,799
Speaker 3: of makes road trips fun, is that, you know, doing

980
00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:15,760
Speaker 3: something the night before like that, that everybody comes together

981
00:50:16,080 --> 00:50:19,120
Speaker 3: and you become better friends with the different people you

982
00:50:19,200 --> 00:50:22,399
Speaker 3: work with, and you know, the media that works with

983
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:25,600
Speaker 3: you also, So those have been super good times.

984
00:50:26,280 --> 00:50:29,920
Speaker 1: A recurring theme has emerged. We're all a bit better

985
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:33,719
Speaker 1: at our jobs and as humans because of Bob's influence

986
00:50:33,880 --> 00:50:34,640
Speaker 1: in our lives.

987
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:40,279
Speaker 17: His viy not I approach to life is is very

988
00:50:40,440 --> 00:50:45,200
Speaker 17: metaphorical to the way I believe people should live and

989
00:50:45,239 --> 00:50:47,440
Speaker 17: the way I don't believe a lot of people in

990
00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:52,040
Speaker 17: society live now, and that all is born of having

991
00:50:52,160 --> 00:50:55,080
Speaker 17: a pure heart and a heart that is just full

992
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:56,960
Speaker 17: of love. And that's Bob Hagen.

993
00:50:57,360 --> 00:50:59,520
Speaker 8: One of the most loyal people you're ever gonna know.

994
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:04,359
Speaker 8: Loyal to his friends, he's loyal to his employer, he's

995
00:51:04,440 --> 00:51:07,320
Speaker 8: loyal to the Minnesota Vikings, he's loyal to their fans,

996
00:51:07,920 --> 00:51:11,600
Speaker 8: and loyal without being a lapdog. He is loyal because

997
00:51:11,680 --> 00:51:16,279
Speaker 8: he has developed really good relationships based on integrity and

998
00:51:16,600 --> 00:51:18,080
Speaker 8: trust and transparency.

999
00:51:18,280 --> 00:51:21,799
Speaker 6: He's one of my one of my nearest and dearest friends.

1000
00:51:21,840 --> 00:51:27,040
Speaker 6: He's always had my back. He has loved every minute

1001
00:51:27,080 --> 00:51:30,160
Speaker 6: of his time at the Minnesota Vikings, and he's been

1002
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:36,120
Speaker 6: He's been a phenomenal ambassador to the Vikings or for

1003
00:51:36,239 --> 00:51:39,480
Speaker 6: the Vikings, to the to the world at large.

1004
00:51:39,880 --> 00:51:42,080
Speaker 11: He knows a guy and he can give you directions

1005
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:45,840
Speaker 11: all over London and he'll quietly do it without bragging.

1006
00:51:46,000 --> 00:51:49,200
Speaker 11: It's like not even a humble brag. It's like it's

1007
00:51:49,239 --> 00:51:50,680
Speaker 11: like bob Apedia.

1008
00:51:50,320 --> 00:51:50,560
Speaker 2: You know.

1009
00:51:50,680 --> 00:51:54,520
Speaker 11: It's almost like he just gives information in a calm manner,

1010
00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:57,799
Speaker 11: and it's he doesn't just know a guy like he

1011
00:51:57,840 --> 00:51:59,239
Speaker 11: and the guy went to Wimbledon.

1012
00:52:00,000 --> 00:52:05,359
Speaker 16: It's just the funniest, nicest, most thoughtful guy and you know,

1013
00:52:05,640 --> 00:52:08,879
Speaker 16: passionate about the thing he really cares about, cares about

1014
00:52:08,880 --> 00:52:12,120
Speaker 16: his family, cares about the vikings, he cares about tennis,

1015
00:52:12,200 --> 00:52:16,080
Speaker 16: he cares about concerts and music, and he's a guy

1016
00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:21,040
Speaker 16: that once you get to know him, he will evolve

1017
00:52:21,080 --> 00:52:23,600
Speaker 16: into one of your best friends. I mean really will.

1018
00:52:23,880 --> 00:52:26,520
Speaker 16: He's that kind of has that kind of impact on people.

1019
00:52:26,760 --> 00:52:28,839
Speaker 5: He's a fun guy when you get to know him,

1020
00:52:29,000 --> 00:52:31,120
Speaker 5: but if you're just meeting him for the first time,

1021
00:52:31,160 --> 00:52:34,239
Speaker 5: he's he's a pretty serious guy, you know. I mean,

1022
00:52:34,239 --> 00:52:37,719
Speaker 5: he's like I said, he's a pros pro and I

1023
00:52:37,840 --> 00:52:41,800
Speaker 5: just think that he handled everything here with such grace

1024
00:52:43,600 --> 00:52:47,360
Speaker 5: and understood what everybody's role was in the media.

1025
00:52:47,760 --> 00:52:50,600
Speaker 7: I would just say one of the greatest professionals and

1026
00:52:50,719 --> 00:52:53,680
Speaker 7: people I've ever had the chance to work with. Everything

1027
00:52:53,840 --> 00:52:58,280
Speaker 7: you needed he provided, he did it in a fashion

1028
00:52:58,360 --> 00:52:59,920
Speaker 7: that made it really enjoy it.

1029
00:53:00,560 --> 00:53:02,839
Speaker 14: I became really good friends with Bob, and that's very

1030
00:53:02,960 --> 00:53:05,360
Speaker 14: rare in this business. And I will tell you this,

1031
00:53:05,480 --> 00:53:08,759
Speaker 14: Bob never gave me anything that he didn't give somebody else,

1032
00:53:09,320 --> 00:53:12,839
Speaker 14: and I actually totally respected him for that. I've never

1033
00:53:12,960 --> 00:53:15,760
Speaker 14: known a guy who's had a friend in every single

1034
00:53:15,760 --> 00:53:16,840
Speaker 14: city in the NFL.

1035
00:53:17,080 --> 00:53:21,719
Speaker 4: He is authentic to the core and he has been

1036
00:53:21,880 --> 00:53:25,759
Speaker 4: my biggest connection to the Viking since I've retired one

1037
00:53:25,800 --> 00:53:31,960
Speaker 4: hundred years ago. And I appreciate that because you know,

1038
00:53:32,040 --> 00:53:34,400
Speaker 4: we have a few alumni, right we have a few

1039
00:53:34,520 --> 00:53:39,560
Speaker 4: thousand probably alumni, and always Bob Hagen was always there.

1040
00:53:39,600 --> 00:53:44,279
Speaker 4: We chat a lot and it's always good to talk

1041
00:53:44,360 --> 00:53:49,040
Speaker 4: to him. And he is he bleeds purple. He's smart,

1042
00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:50,800
Speaker 4: he's talented, and he's authentic.

1043
00:53:51,120 --> 00:53:54,680
Speaker 15: He's a guy everybody has loved to be around. I've

1044
00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:58,759
Speaker 15: heard him named mister Viking by people. He loves the

1045
00:53:58,880 --> 00:54:04,080
Speaker 15: organization he always has. He loves the team having success

1046
00:54:04,239 --> 00:54:05,760
Speaker 15: on the field off the field.

1047
00:54:06,120 --> 00:54:07,919
Speaker 13: The dude didn't work a day in his life because

1048
00:54:07,920 --> 00:54:10,200
Speaker 13: he loved every second on what he did. And he

1049
00:54:10,239 --> 00:54:12,960
Speaker 13: did it really fricking well, and it made it so

1050
00:54:13,080 --> 00:54:15,919
Speaker 13: much so impactful and joyful for everyone around him.

1051
00:54:16,160 --> 00:54:19,520
Speaker 10: Incredibly proud to work here and be a small part

1052
00:54:19,840 --> 00:54:23,440
Speaker 10: of the success that that you know, we had while

1053
00:54:23,560 --> 00:54:25,719
Speaker 10: while Bob was here for a very long time. So

1054
00:54:26,480 --> 00:54:30,160
Speaker 10: truly enjoyed, you know, working every day next to Bob.

1055
00:54:30,239 --> 00:54:33,400
Speaker 10: And I think that's just where he instilled like if

1056
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:36,640
Speaker 10: you don't love what you're doing, like then it's it's

1057
00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:39,600
Speaker 10: gonna be it's gonna be tough, it's gonna be a

1058
00:54:39,719 --> 00:54:43,560
Speaker 10: long career, and you might be in the wrong field.

1059
00:54:43,840 --> 00:54:46,239
Speaker 10: And so that's something that I've always kept you in

1060
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:49,000
Speaker 10: front of my mind. And you know, I don't think

1061
00:54:49,040 --> 00:54:52,680
Speaker 10: anybody has been prouder to work for the Vikings than

1062
00:54:52,719 --> 00:54:53,360
Speaker 10: Bob Hagen.

1063
00:54:53,800 --> 00:54:57,480
Speaker 12: I think I would just say just a high quality

1064
00:54:57,640 --> 00:55:02,480
Speaker 12: person that you know, really impacted me professionally, personally, like

1065
00:55:02,520 --> 00:55:06,200
Speaker 12: I said before, just he cared about people. And you know,

1066
00:55:06,320 --> 00:55:08,600
Speaker 12: I remind him of this and he reminds me of it.

1067
00:55:08,680 --> 00:55:10,520
Speaker 12: He sends the picture to me every now and then.

1068
00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:13,000
Speaker 12: But you know, he predicted I was going to marry

1069
00:55:13,080 --> 00:55:16,400
Speaker 12: my wife before I did, you know, And you know,

1070
00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:18,000
Speaker 12: he just sent me a text saying I think you're

1071
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:20,960
Speaker 12: going to marry this girl, you know, And that's just

1072
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:23,160
Speaker 12: kind of how he was, you know, I mean he

1073
00:55:23,400 --> 00:55:27,160
Speaker 12: is he he gets people and gets to know you

1074
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:30,120
Speaker 12: so well. Maybe he knows you better than yourself sometimes,

1075
00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:34,000
Speaker 12: you know, but just just a guy that put people first.

1076
00:55:34,040 --> 00:55:34,239
Speaker 4: You know.

1077
00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:37,799
Speaker 9: I've known Bob longer than I've known my wife. I mean,

1078
00:55:38,400 --> 00:55:41,840
Speaker 9: when I started his intern, Bob's wedding was that week,

1079
00:55:42,160 --> 00:55:43,680
Speaker 9: So I've known Bob.

1080
00:55:43,520 --> 00:55:44,920
Speaker 2: Before he was married.

1081
00:55:45,000 --> 00:55:47,920
Speaker 9: He's known before I was married. His kids are getting

1082
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:51,400
Speaker 9: out of college now, and it's wild. It's you know,

1083
00:55:51,480 --> 00:55:54,520
Speaker 9: we've both grown a lot, our families have changed a lot.

1084
00:55:56,400 --> 00:55:58,719
Speaker 9: It's wild, it's been al.

1085
00:56:00,080 --> 00:56:01,520
Speaker 2: Would be remiss if I didn't mention.

1086
00:56:01,800 --> 00:56:06,040
Speaker 3: You know, you know my family, you know, my wife, Val,

1087
00:56:07,360 --> 00:56:09,840
Speaker 3: my three kids, Matt, Carly and Brad.

1088
00:56:10,120 --> 00:56:12,120
Speaker 2: I think what separates.

1089
00:56:13,160 --> 00:56:17,960
Speaker 3: Working here from so many other jobs, and there's so

1090
00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:22,919
Speaker 3: many other great jobs out there, but that when it's

1091
00:56:23,239 --> 00:56:26,240
Speaker 3: something like the Minnesota Vikings, your whole.

1092
00:56:26,040 --> 00:56:27,759
Speaker 2: Family gets to be a part of it, you know.

1093
00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:31,879
Speaker 3: They they get to come to you work, they get

1094
00:56:31,920 --> 00:56:37,239
Speaker 3: to go to the games. It's pretty cool to you know,

1095
00:56:37,480 --> 00:56:40,120
Speaker 3: have this type of an adventure and you know, it's

1096
00:56:40,160 --> 00:56:41,600
Speaker 3: just been an amazing run.

1097
00:56:44,320 --> 00:56:47,760
Speaker 1: An amazing run indeed, and one that I've benefited from personally.

1098
00:56:48,360 --> 00:56:52,120
Speaker 1: I first met Bob before Super Bowl forty six in Indianapolis.

1099
00:56:52,320 --> 00:56:54,360
Speaker 1: I was interning with the Titans at the time and

1100
00:56:54,440 --> 00:56:57,920
Speaker 1: volunteered to help the NFOs PR staff. We then overlapped

1101
00:56:57,920 --> 00:57:00,319
Speaker 1: at super bowls in New Orleans and New York before

1102
00:57:00,360 --> 00:57:03,840
Speaker 1: I was hired here in fall twenty fourteen. I sincerely

1103
00:57:03,840 --> 00:57:08,680
Speaker 1: appreciate Bob's guidance, right personality, and friendship, as well as

1104
00:57:08,680 --> 00:57:11,960
Speaker 1: this opportunity to thank Bob through this podcast and of

1105
00:57:12,080 --> 00:57:15,600
Speaker 1: Vikings dot com written feature. I'd also like to thank

1106
00:57:15,680 --> 00:57:19,440
Speaker 1: the following people for sharing their stories with us. Paul Allen,

1107
00:57:19,800 --> 00:57:26,640
Speaker 1: Jeff Anderson, John Extrom, Dan Indy, Sam Farmer, Fregidelli, Don Mitchell,

1108
00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:33,000
Speaker 1: Sam Newton, Dennis Ryan, Joe Schmidt, Randy Shaver, Michelle Tafoya,

1109
00:57:33,600 --> 00:57:39,320
Speaker 1: Fran Tarkenton, and Tom West. Special thanks to Eric Davidson

1110
00:57:39,520 --> 00:57:43,160
Speaker 1: and Jay Nelson with Vikings Entertainment Network for their work

1111
00:57:43,240 --> 00:57:46,880
Speaker 1: on this presentation and from all of us you've impacted.

1112
00:57:47,320 --> 00:57:47,920
Speaker 1: Thanks Bob,