![]() ![]() Great defense wins, nine of 10 times.© 2023 Minnesota Vikings Football, LLC, All Rights Reserved. "My daughter, Angela lives in Seattle," Marshall said. Word Ladder: Vikings Purple People Eater Can you name the 4-letter words in this word ladder to get the name of a Hall of Fame NFL player from the Minnesota Vikings Purple People Eaters defensive line By justindi01. He played his final season, 1979 in Seattle and is rooting for the Seahawks. military, to provide concussion, sleep apnea and legal counsel for former players. Patricio Reyes, chief neurologist for the U.S. 27 dinner at a Scottsdale, Ariz., restaurant along with Dr. Retired Players Association president Eller, 72, will host a Jan. ![]() We play for each other.'Įller and Marshall also have Seahawks ties. What they're doing now we said 40 years ago, 'We're family. "I see a similarity between these Seahawks and us. "Pete's done a hell of a job, his players love him and he traces his roots to Bud," Larsen said. What about Seattle's "Legion of Boom" nickname inspired by the their punishing secondary? Seahawks coach Pete Carroll spent 1985 Grant's Vikings secondary coach. "I told coach he's had a lot of streets named after him – one-way streets, his way," Marshall said. The Purple Gang reunited, minus Page (associate justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court), during a December commemoration of "Bud Grant Way," a street honoring their 87-year-old coach near the Vikings' new stadium opening in 2016. I'm constantly working to keep myself healthy to hang out with my two grandsons." ![]() "I've had two knee, two hip replacements, have bad shoulders, bad back. "I've had in excess of 20 concussions, played 20 seasons, got knocked out at least once every season, sometimes two," Marshall said. His 127 career sacks came with a sobering price. No wonder Marshall doesn't care for his unit's cartoonish identity. These Seahawks are very good, but they're going to have to do it again and win this Super Bowl to get to that upper echelon of great defenses." "When I was at the University of Minnesota, I remember 'The Purple People Eaters' as a smothering defense as well. Our guys said, 'Yeah, we like that.' So it stuck. "It derived from the Iron Curtain during the Cold War. "The Steel Curtain came from a contest won by a fan," said Super Bowl-winning Indianapolis Colts coach Tony Dungy, a Steelers safety with a 1978 team-best six interceptions. It was a play off British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's moniker for the Soviet Union's "Iron Curtain" combined with western Pennsylvania's then-thriving steel industry. Pittsburgh's "Steel Curtain" nickname originated from a 1971 contest sponsored by a local television station. We played in old baseball stadiums like Wrigley Field where there were just three working showers." "We didn't play in billion-dollar stadiums. "We were Vikings proud of playing outside in rain, sleet, snow," Larsen, 74, said. The moniker stems from a 1958 hit by Sheb Wooley about a creature who wanted to come to earth to join a rock-and-roll band long before Minneapolis-born signer "Prince" rose to prominence.Ī local radio station contest generated the identity for a quarterback-devouring front four of Eller, Marshall and defensive tackles Alan Paige and Gary Larsen. We always called ourselves 'The Purple Gang.'" There's no way it takes on the seriousness of our profession or what we accomplished. "A one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater? It's a cartoon character. "We still don't like that nickname, but we've got to ride with it because it's our handle," Marshall, 77, said. The nickname stands out among some of the iconic monikers of dynastic defenses such as the Los Angeles Rams' "Fearsome Foursome," the Dallas Cowboys "Doomsday Defense" and the Pittsburgh Steelers "Steel Curtain" defense that won four Super Bowls during the 1970s. "Seeing Seattle do what they've done matching us (from 1969-1971) by leading the league in scoring defense the last three seasons, it really gives credibility to who we were."Įller was one of 11 players on Vikings teams that lost four Super Bowls from 1970-1977. ''You don't play that many games unless you can play hurt and sacrifice for each other. "Watching Earl and Richard play with just one arm really took me back to our days when Jim Marshall played 301 games and I played 243 games," Eller told USA TODAY Sports. Of course, the Seahawks defense known as the "Legion of Boom" will lead Seattle into Super Bowl XLIX hoping to shut down New England in a bid to become the first repeat champion since the Patriots 10 years ago.Ī shared respect for grit is one piece of the cross-generational connection. Hall-of-Fame Minnesota Vikings defensive end Carl Eller was enjoying flashbacks of another era watching Seattle Seahawks defensive backs Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas gut out injuries in last Sunday's NFC Championship Game.Įller was a member of the famed "Purple People Eaters" that devoured offenses in the 1970s helping the Vikings to three Super Bowl berths in four years. ![]()
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