MINNEAPOLIS — They love their history here, revel in it, tortuous as it may be. Glorious new U.S. Bank Stadium boasts of it around every corner. Bud Grant’s first headset, silver footballs to memorialize Cris Carter’s 1,000 catches, photographs by former linebacker Matt Blair of training camp days out at Mankato State, and statues of the Purple People Eaters themselves, sitting on an icy bench when they still had the fortitude to play outside.
As of 7:15 p.m. Sunday here, they had to be figuring out where to memorialize a once-forgotten fifth-round draft choice who people worried peaked during his freshman season at the University of Maryland.