On Cold Days, Bud Let Their Fingers Do His Freezing

Was Bud Grant impervious to the cold? It seemed so on those frigid December days at Metropolitan Stadium, but former Minnesota Vikings receiver Ahmad Rashad reveals that the coach is indeed human.

“He’d never talk about how cold it was out there, or how cold it was going to be on Sunday; he just ignored it like the cold didn’t exist,” Rashad told the New York Times.

“But he knew how cold it was. He would call over a rookie, hand him a sheet with the plays on it and tell him, ‘Stand next to me and hold these plays where I can see them.’ Then Bud would put his hands in his pocket while the rookie’s hands froze.”

The Vikings did make one concession to the cold. They had huge pots of steaming beef broth on the sideline to keep the insides warm.

Rashad: “I’d take that broth and pour it on my feet.”

Add Rashad: He said no matter how cold the Vikings were, the California teams were colder.

“I remember lining up against Rod Perry of the Rams one time, and his teeth were chattering,” Rashad said. “All those California guys ever did was look at the clock to see how much time was left.”

Trivia Time: Tom LaBonge of Los Angeles notes that five members of the Raiders are products of L.A. City high schools. How many can you name? (Answer below.)

Auburn baseball Coach Hal Baird, on Heisman Trophy winner Bo Jackson, who hit .401 last spring: “He is far and away the best young baseball prospect I’ve ever seen. I think he could play outfield in the major leagues right now.”

Said Auburn track Coach Mel Rosen, who coached Olympic sprinters Harvey Glance and Stanley Floyd: “If Bo had decided to concentrate solely on track, he could’ve been an Olympic sprinter, even at his size.”

Add Jackson: During his speech at the Heisman Trophy banquet, he spotted Herschel Walker, asked him to stand and said: “Everybody has compared me to Herschel Walker. We both wear the same number, 34. We are the same size, and we both have world-class speed. Don’t that beat all? And now we are both in the same fraternity.

“The only way that I can see Herschel and I are different is that I am prettier.”

Would-you-believe-it dept: Yes, there is a way the 11-4 Miami Dolphins could miss the playoffs. If the New England Patriots and New York Jets both win today, and Miami loses to the Buffalo Bills by 39 points, the Dolphins are out.

Jack-of-all-trades dept.: Between the time he was fired as manager of the Texas Rangers and hired as a coach by the Chicago White Sox, Doug Rader was working in his hometown of Stuart, Fla., as a taxidermist and scuba diving instructor.

Said Garry Maddox of the Philadelphia Phillies when asked to describe his first grand slam: “As I remember, the bases were loaded.”

Said former New York Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson at the funeral for Roger Maris: “It’s not far from the truth to say Roger was the greatest fielding right fielder in Yankee history.”

Trivia Answer: Mike Haynes (Marshall), Rod Martin (Hamilton), Mike Davis (Locke), Odis McKinney (Reseda), James Davis (Crenshaw).

Quotebook

Frank Layden, rotund coach of the Utah Jazz: “When I was in high school, the coach told me to haul my butt. It took me two trips.”