MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The NFL draft lasted 20 rounds in 1962, for the 14 teams in the league at the time. More than a dozen centers came off the board among the 280 players who were picked.
Mick Tingelhoff didn’t attain such status.
His prestige was yet to come.
The Minnesota Vikings stalwart who refused to miss a game while playing one of the most punishing positions on the field outlasted all of the centers drafted the year he turned pro. In fact, his career went longer without interruption than all but a handful of players who have ever been part of the league.