Bud Grant cause of death: Former Vikings legend passes away at 95
Minnesota Vikings legendary head coach Bud Grant has passed away at age 95, the team announced early on Saturday.
Grant was the Vikings' head coach from 1967 to 1983 and also returned for a final season in 1985. Before joining Minnesota, he was the head coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the CFL from 1957 to 1966. He was the first coach to lead teams in both the Grey Cup (CFL) and the Super Bowl (NFL), with Marv Levy becoming the second in 1990.
Before turning into a football head coach, he played both in the NBA and the NFL. He won an NBA Championship with the Minneapolis Lakers (later turned Los Angeles Lakers) in 1950 and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1950 NFL Draft as a wide receiver.
The cause of his death remains unknown. We'll update the article shortly as we gather new information.
Bud Grant's career: legendary coach played in two different major leagues
The legendary Viking suffered from poliomyelitis when he was a child and a doctor recommended he become active in sports to strengthen his weakened leg muscles. He went to the University of Minnesota and became a three-sport athlete, with baseball, basketball, and football.
He played for the Eagles for two years before moving to the CFL to join the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 1953, the same team where he became the head coach four years later. The Bombers were the only CFL team he ever coached, just like the Vikings in the NFL.
Grant had a fantastic career as the head coach, finishing with a 118-64-3 record in the CFL (.646) and a 168-108-5 record in the NFL (.607). He did not win a Super Bowl as a head coach but won the NFL in 1969, the final season before the AFL-NFL merger. The Vikings lost 23-7 to the Kansas City Chiefs of the AFL in Super Bowl IV that year.
He still had his own office at the Vikings' facility until his death, as he was listed as a team consultant after his retirement. His wife, Pat Grant, died of Parkinson's disease in March 2009 at age 81.